The World Wide Web Virtual Library was the first index of content on the World Wide Web. It was started by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of html and the Web itself, in 1991 at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Unlike commercial index sites, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are expert; even though it isn't the biggest index of the Web, the Virtual Library pages are widely recognised as being amongst the highest-quality guides to particular sections of the Web. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "WWWVL", the "Virtual Library" or just "the VL".

Where is it?

The individual indicies, or virtual libraries live on hundreds of different servers around the world. A set of index pages linking these pages is maintained at http://vlib.org/. A mirror of this index is kept at East Anglia (UK).

Who runs it?

Each volunteer maintainer is responsible for the content of their own pages, as long as they follow certain guidelines. The central index pages are maintained by the Council of the Virtual Library. Gabriel Fenteany and Michael Chapman are currently maintaining the catalog.

History

The Virtual Library was first conceived and run by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and later expanded, organised and managed for several years by Arthur Secret, before it became a formally established association with Gerard Manning as its Council's first chairman. The late Bertrand Ibrahim was a key contributor to the pre-association phase of the Virtual Library's development, and then served as its Secretary until his untimely death in 2001 at the age of 46.

The central affairs of the Virtual Library are now co-ordinated by an elected council, which took office in Jan 2000. The Virtual Library was incorporated as an association sans but lucratif (non-profit association) in the Republic and Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. Major decisions, including a set of bylaws are decided by the membership at large.

The main Virtual Library Web site was slightly redesigned in 2005 and many old or dead individual Virtual Libraries were removed from the index.

External links

• The World Wide Web Virtual Library