[ISHMap-List] 'Map History' - 20th anniversary and broken links

[Tony Campbell]

[with apologies for cross-posting]

On 13 February 1997 the ‘Map History’ site was officially launched.So today is its 20^th   birthday.

Rightly, online longevity is not valued for its own sake but the site does remain dynamic, being
updated on most days.

Besides 7000 links, it covers a wide range of topics, among them, conferences & deadlines,
fellowships, collections and collecting, journals & newsletters, researchers, doctorates, teaching,
marketplace, thefts, fakes, etc. If you don’t already know it, use ‘Map History’ for the full
range of History of Cartography topics, and to get access to its hidden corners. [Check out the
full coverage on the Sitemap].

A geographical hierarchy helps you find map image sites. An index to the largest such gatherings
(i.e., those with over 300 images) now runs to about 300 entries. Freely available web articles
are listed geographically or thematically.

It claims to be a gateway site partly because of the seamless collaboration with a number of
specialist ‘companion’ sites. ‘Related subjects’ and ‘Special topics’ also save the site from being
too inward-looking.

 From the outset it has been a one-man affair. The site is wholly non-commercial. There are no
committees, no supervision, no external influence. Relevance and merit are the only reasons for
inclusion. Changes can and are made in minutes, not weeks or months.

*_However, there is one big problem: BROKEN LINKS_*

Webpages disappear (deleted or moved) without leaving a forwarding address. The webmaster who
carelessly turns an .htm ending into .html has potentially killed off thousands of links that
had previously pointed to it.

It is easy to get a full list of broken links, and a page’s new home can often be found by intelligent
sleuthing.But it takes time.

So this is a plea to one or more people to consider helping me remove the dead wood and, better
still – by detective work or intuition - resurrect pages that have been moved. From my own experience
I can assure you it is satisfying work.

Once the site has been thoroughly refreshed, maintaining its currency will be straightforward.

If you even_might_  be interested please get in touch and I can explain just what is involved.

I always welcome additional information and corrections.

Thank you,

Tony Campbell

tony at tonycampbell.info
tonycampbellockendon at GMAIL.COM
info at maphistory.info

'Map History': http://www.maphistory.info
Academia: https://independent.academia.edu/CampbellTony
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/portolanchart01