What is the pastinter.net directory?
It is a searchable collection of URLs featured in printed Internet guidebooks published around the world in the 1990s-early 2000s. Visitors can search for historical URLs by keyword, and visit these URLs via web archives. It is still an ongoing project - so expect many rough edges - with more URLs and features to be added in the coming year. The site is designed to be compatible with old web browsers (think IE and Netscape versions from the late 90s) running on emulation or actual old hardware.
Why did you start it?
Printed Internet guidebooks are today a largely forgotten chapter in historical accounts of information retrieval on the Internet. By building this website, I intend to allow researchers, artists, and anyone interested in the early web to (re)visit these historical URLs through web archives, and highlight the role these books played in shaping how vernacular Internet users in the 1990s imagined and used the Internet and the web (which will be part of my PhD dissertation).
Who or what inspired you?
My biggest inspiration for this project is of course the books themselves and their authors. I am also inspired by recent attempts at curating thematic web directories; the game Hypnospace Outlaw; and the various ongoing movements in reviving the creative, social, and navigational practices of the early web. I believe these books have something valuable to teach us as we start to look into alternatives to algorithms for curating and presenting online information.