Guidelines & Standards | 1990 Web Archive

1. Introduction & Purpose

The 1990 Web Archive is dedicated to the systematic preservation of early internet culture, infrastructure, and personal web expression. These guidelines establish the framework for how materials are submitted, evaluated, preserved, and accessed. Our mission balances historical fidelity with legal compliance, ethical stewardship, and technological sustainability.

ℹ️ Scope

These guidelines apply to all content submitted to, archived by, or retrieved from the 1990 Web Archive, including HTML documents, multimedia assets, CGI scripts, email archives, and network logs from 1990–1999.

2. Submission Guidelines

We accept submissions from individual creators, historians, institutions, and automated crawlers. All submissions undergo a standardized intake workflow.

2.1 Request Process

Register: Create a researcher or contributor account via the Portal.
Submit Manifest: Provide a structured manifest detailing URLs, creation dates, authorship, and historical context.
Upload/Point: Either upload local files or provide accessible URLs for our crawlers to harvest.
Review: Our preservation team validates integrity, checks for duplicates, and assigns archival metadata.

2.2 Bulk & Institutional Submissions

Universities, museums, and corporate archives may submit bulk collections under institutional agreements. These require:

Formal data transfer agreement (DTA)
Chain-of-custody documentation
Proof of rights or public domain status

3. Technical Standards

Preservation integrity relies on strict adherence to format standards and metadata schemas.

3.1 Formats & Preservation

Asset Type	Accepted Formats	Preservation Method
Web Pages	`HTML`, `HTM`, `SHTML`	WARC/ARC with CSS/JS bundling
Images	`GIF`, `JPEG`, `PNG`, `BMP`	Lossless ZIP + IIIF manifest
Audio/Video	`MIDI`, `WAV`, `AVI`, `FLI`	Container migration + checksum verification
Scripts/Data	`CGI`, `PL`, `HTX`, `TXT`	Sandboxed emulation + static snapshot

3.2 Metadata Requirements

All archived items must include Dublin Core metadata mapped to our internal schema:

{
  "title": "Personal Homepage - CyberJunkie 95",
  "creator": "A. Smith",
  "date": "1996-04-12",
  "format": "text/html",
  "source": "GeoCities/Niles/742",
  "rights": "archival-license-v2",
  "preservationChecksum": "sha256:e3b0c44298fc1c149...")
}

⚠️ Format Note

We do not accept proprietary or encrypted formats without decryption keys. Content must be renderable or extractable using open-source tools.

4. Review & Acceptance Criteria

Submissions are evaluated against historical significance, technical viability, and compliance standards.

Accepted: Original content with verifiable provenance, intact structure, and clear historical value.
Conditionally Accepted: Partially corrupted files or missing assets that can be reconstructed via contemporaneous sources.
Rejected: Duplicate entries, modern content mislabeled as vintage, illegal material, or submissions violating DMCA/privacy standards.

Decisions are communicated within 5–10 business days. Rejected submissions may be appealed with additional provenance documentation.

5. Usage & Licensing

Archival materials are released under tiered access licenses based on creator intent and legal status.

License Tier	Allowed Uses	Restrictions
Open Archive (CC0)	Research, education, commercial reuse	Attribution recommended
Archival Use Only	Academic study, non-commercial display	No redistribution, no AI training
Restricted / Sealed	Authenticated researchers only	Embargoed until clearance or rights expiration

✅ Citation Standard

When referencing archived content, use: 1990 Web Archive. [Title]. Archived [Date]. Accession #[ID]. https://archive.1990web.org/[path]

6. Legal & Ethical Policy

We operate under strict compliance with international copyright, privacy, and digital preservation laws.

6.1 Copyright & Takedown

While we prioritize preserving public and historical content, we honor valid DMCA takedown requests. Submitters must warrant they hold rights or have explicit permission. Fraudulent claims may result in account suspension.

6.2 Privacy & Redaction

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) discovered in archived personal pages is evaluated case-by-case. Sensitive data (addresses, phone numbers, private emails) may be redacted or access-restricted to protect living individuals, in accordance with GDPR and archival ethics.

7. Access & Research Protocols

Public content is freely browsable via our web interface and API. Restricted tiers require:

Verified academic or institutional affiliation
Accepted research proposal outlining intended use
Non-disclosure agreement for sealed collections

API rate limits: 100 requests/minute for free tier, 1,000/minute for verified researchers. Batch downloads require prior authorization.

8. Contact & Support

For submission assistance, technical queries, or legal matters:

Submissions: submit@1990web.archive
Technical/API: dev-support@1990web.archive
Legal/Takedowns: legal@1990web.archive
Research Access: Use the Credentials Portal

Response times: 1–3 business days for standard inquiries. Urgent preservation requests are prioritized.