Victorian Web

The Victorian Web is a hypertext project derived from hypermedia environments, Intermedia and Storyspace, that anticipated the World Wide Web. Initially created between 1988 and 1990 with 1,500 documents, it has grown to over 128,500 items in July 2023. In contrast to archives and web-based libraries, the Victorian Web presents its images and documents, including entire books, as nodes in a network of complex connections.^[1] It emphasizes links rather than the searches.

In 2020 victorianweb.org became a 501(3)c non-profit corporation. The Victorian Web Foundation’s Board of Directors are Jacqueline Banerjee (President and Secretary); Noah M. Landow (Treasurer); and Diane Josefowicz (Board Member). ^[2]

The Victorian Web has many contributors, but unlike wikis, it is edited. Originally conceived in 1987 as a means of helping scholars and students in see connections between different fields,^[3] the site has expanded in its scope and vision. For example, commentary on the works of Charles Dickens is linked to his life and to contemporary social and political history, drama, religion, book illustration, and economics.^[4] Translations of this and earlier versions: Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish.

The Victorian Web incorporates primary and secondary texts (including book reviews) in the areas of economics, literature, philosophy, religion, political and social history, science, technology, and the visual arts. The visual arts section ranges widely over painting, photography, book design and illustration, sculpture, and the decorative arts, including ceramics, furniture, stained glass and metalwork. Jewelry, textiles, and costume are amongst other topics discussed and illustrated on its website. Awards indicate that it is particularly strong in literature, painting, architecture, sculpture, book illustration, history and religion.

^ George P. Landow. "The rhetoric of hypermedia, some rules for authors." Journal of Computing in Higher Education 1(1).
^ http://www.victorianweb.org/misc/vwintro.html Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^ George P. Landow and Paul Kahn. "Where's the hypertext: The Dickens Web as a system-independent hypertext". ACM. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
^ George P. Landow. "The Victorian Web and the Victorian course wiki: comparing the educational effectiveness of identical assignments in web 1.0 and web 2.0". ACM. Retrieved 22 April 2012. See also Landow's Hypertext 3.0: New Media and Critical Theory in an Era of Globalization." Baltimore; Johns Hopkins, 2006, especially Ch. 6, "Reconfiguring Writing" (pp. 144–214), and Ch. 7, "Reconfiguring Literary Education" (pp. 272–320).

[1] George P. Landow. "The rhetoric of hypermedia, some rules for authors." Journal of Computing in Higher Education 1(1).

[2] ttp://www.victorianweb.org/misc/vwintro.html Retrieved 17 July 2023.

[3] George P. Landow and Paul Kahn. "Where's the hypertext: The Dickens Web as a system-independent hypertext". ACM. Retrieved 22 April 2012.

[4] George P. Landow. "The Victorian Web and the Victorian course wiki: comparing the educational effectiveness of identical assignments in web 1.0 and web 2.0". ACM. Retrieved 22 April 2012. See also Landow's Hypertext 3.0: New Media and Critical Theory in an Era of Globalization." Baltimore; Johns Hopkins, 2006, especially Ch. 6, "Reconfiguring Writing" (pp. 144–214), and Ch. 7, "Reconfiguring Literary Education" (pp. 272–320).

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