Written by Web Collections Librarian Miranda Siler

The Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation is pleased to announce the launch of the Ideas of the Anthropocene Web Archive, curated by librarians at Columbia University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. This collection brings together websites that document concepts and critiques of the “Anthropocene.” From the earth sciences (geology, climate science, etc.) to the environmental arts and humanities, ideas of the Anthropocene have influenced a wide range of scholarly and creative work. The collection seeks to preserve an interdisciplinary sample of sites, including the website of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG), the body officially charged with considering the “Anthropocene” as a potential geologic epoch. The focus is on a selection of only those websites where the term “Anthropocene” is formally referenced or invoked, and in which significant emphasis is placed on notions of the Anthropocene. (Note: The AWG’s recommendation that an Anthropocene Epoch be added to the geologic timescale was rejected in March 2024, and this decision was upheld by the International Union of Geological Sciences. However, the impact and reach of Anthropocene ideas will continue into the future.)

Web archives preserve vulnerable information that may disappear from the live web and capture the ways in which selected websites have evolved over time. The Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation’s Web Collecting Program is a collaborative collection development effort to build curated, thematic collections of freely available, but at-risk, web content in order to support research. Learn more about the program or explore the collections here.