The FCCN Unit's Renascer project, which preserves millions of files collected from the web since the 1990s, allows us to "bring back historic websites."
Many organizations maintain domains that referenced old websites, but are no longer used. This option may be a way to prevent domains from being purchased, for example, or simply due to forgetfulness.
The new project of Arquivo.pt operates in this field, "bringing back historical websites whose content is no longer available online and whose domains are still owned by their authors," explains this service of the FCCN Unit on its website. This is a way, adds Arquivo.pt, to prevent cybersecurity issues that may arise in cases where the web servers to which the domains point are not up-to-date.
Renascer Project: How are websites reborn?
The case of the Harvard Medical School-Portugal project is offered as an example. In May 2023, the domain hmsportugal.pt pointed only to a predefined page on an active web server. The result of this context is that the original content of the website was inaccessible, despite the domain continues to be held by its author. For this reason, it would be possible to point to the website contents preserved on Arquivo.pt.
To use Renascer, the domain owner only needs to redirect it to Arquivo.pt, through the service Memorial. Another example provided concerns the website mctes.pt – an old version of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education website, which is now available for visiting and browsing.
To see examples of other “reborn” websites, visit the Arquivo.pt page: https://sobre.arquivo.pt/pt/projeto-renascer-traz-de-volta-websites-antigos/
