1990 Web Archive / Collections / AltaVista Index Archive

AltaVista Index Archive

Preserved search result snapshots, index metadata, and query logs from AltaVista's operational peak (1995–1999). Originally crawled by Digital Equipment Corporation before its acquisition by Compaq and subsequent integration into Lycos.

ALL SNAPSHOTS 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Showing 12 / 8,492 records
INDEX DATE QUERY / TOPIC TARGET URL RANK / SNIPPET STATUS
1997-03-14 "free email service" geo.cit.yah.../mail.html #1 [snip: web based email... PRESERVED
1996-11-02 "NASA mars rover" jpl.nasa.gov/rover #3 [snip: sojourner mission... PRESERVED
1998-08-21 "best viewed netscape 3.0" members.tripod.com/~user #12 [snip: optimized for 640x480... PARTIAL
1995-06-19 "first world wide web site" info.cern.ch #2 [snip: tim berners-lee project... PRESERVED
1999-12-31 "y2k bug compliance" microsoft.com/y2k #4 [snip: windows nt 4.0 service pack... CACHED
1997-09-05 "online shopping cart" amazon.com/dp/B000000001 #7 [snip: secure checkout process... PRESERVED
1996-04-18 "web rings navigation" webring.org/cgi-bin/whatsit #5 [snip: automated community links... PARTIAL
1998-02-14 "midi background music download" members.xoom.com/~synth #9 [snip: auto-play enabled... CACHED
1999-07-09 "dot com startup guide" techcrunch.com/archive/1999 #6 [snip: venture capital funding rounds... PRESERVED
1995-10-30 "Mosaic browser download" ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG #1 [snip: NCSA Mosaic 2.7 for Win... PRESERVED

Preservation Methodology

Index data was recovered from decommissioned DEC research servers and third-party WARC archives. Each entry includes original ranking algorithms, snippet generation logs, and timestamped query caches.

  • WARC/WARC1 format conversion
  • Original HTML rendering via Netscape Navigator 3.0 emulator
  • Metadata extracted from proprietary AltaVista index dumps

API & Bulk Access

Researchers can query the full index programmatically. Rate limits apply to preserve archive integrity.

GET /api/v1/altavista/index?q=term&year=1997
Accept: application/json

{
"query": "term",
"results": 482,
"index_date": "1997-11-04"
}

Citation & Usage

This archive is maintained for historical, academic, and preservation purposes. All original content rights remain with their respective authors and domains.

  • Recommended citation format: 1990 Web Archive. "AltaVista Index Collection." 2024.
  • Non-commercial research use permitted
  • Redistribution requires written permission
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