06 | September 11 Archive
	link opens into new window http://september11.archive.org/
	For an exhaustive overview of web materials devoted to 911 , this site is all you need. The September 11 Web Archive is a collaboration between the Internet Archive (www.archive.org), webArchivist (www.webarchivist.org), and the Library of Congress(www.loc.gov), who commissioned the archive and organized its collection and development. Only hours after the attacks, the collecting activities started, with people around the world contributing URLs. The well designed, clear interface allows to search or surf the archive, to browse through randomly generated thumbnails of collected sites, and to contribute new sites. The browse facility is especially fascinating; site after site of picture galleries, news digests, discussion forums, personal accounts from an enormous variety of sources testify to the fact that this is an inexhaustible subject. Another conclusion that comes to mind is that the Web has become a quite sophisticated means of communication; the distributed high-res photo resource that was in place within hours after the attacks was unthinkable only a few years ago. But what may be the most valuable consequence of the Web as communication channel, is that its many individual threads weave a tapestry of great informational and social value for those who participate in making it and those who browse the results. We may never fully understand why 911 happened, but we sure know how, and what it meant for thousands of people around the globe who were, or felt, affected. Archiving such a body of material is an act of immeasurable cultural importance.