Protoweb: A Time Machine to Experience the Internet of the 90s

The modern internet is fast and sophisticated, but many people may feel nostalgic for the atmosphere of the early days of the internet. Protoweb is a community-driven public service that revives the internet experience of the 1990s in the present day. What is Protoweb? Protoweb is a proxy server service that hosts websites from the early days of the internet and recreates the browsing experience of that era. By preserving and restoring historical websites, it provides an environment where you can experience the internet as it was around 1995. ...

November 13, 2025 · 8 min · Nakamura

Practicing Long-Term Digital Preservation with OCFL - An Introductory Guide

Introduction Long-term preservation of digital data is an important challenge for libraries, archives, and research institutions. Various factors such as changes in data formats, software obsolescence, and the evolution of storage technologies threaten the sustainability of digital information. In this article, I introduce OCFL (Oxford Common File Layout), one solution to this challenge, covering its concepts, significance, and implementation examples. What is OCFL OCFL (Oxford Common File Layout) is a specification for preserving digital information in a structured, transparent, and predictable manner. It was developed primarily by the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford and Stanford University Libraries, and has now evolved as a community-driven open standard. ...

November 6, 2025 · 13 min · Nakamura

Using a Hex Editor on Mac: HexEd.it as an Alternative to HxD

Introduction When participating in a workshop at iPRES (International Conference on Digital Preservation), the hex editor “HxD” was used for hands-on exercises in digital preservation. It is an essential tool in digital archive practice for tasks such as analyzing binary file structures and verifying file formats. However, HxD is Windows-only and cannot be used on Mac. After the workshop, I searched for alternative tools to perform similar work in a Mac environment and found a web-based hex editor. ...

November 5, 2025 · 7 min · Nakamura