Before the Web: the early development of history on line

di Lynn H. Nelson
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 3 (1999), p. 115

Before the release of the Mosaic browser in August of 1993, historians had already been working on the Internet for several years to create facilities and assemble materials for the use of historians generally. Although people were fascinated by the wealth of materials available when the World Wide Web was opened, few asked who had prepared these materials and so the work of these men and women is in danger of being forgotten. This articles traces the accomplishments of a group of these pioneers from their gathering on HISTORY@FINHUTC, the first Internet discussion list for historians, through their development of a world-wide network of History-oriented information servers, to the close of 1993 and points out the contributions they have continued to make since that time. In an addendum requested by the editor, the author recounts some of his own experiences during this period of growth. Citations are given to documents made available on the Internet and Web.