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If you think ISBNs are used by any library as shelving numbers, and if you think a research library uses Dewey, and if you think libraries switch shelving schemes in midstream.... then I'm not going to be able to make you understand why changing URLs willy-nilly is common, but foolish. URL changes that occur because you've hired a new director or installed a new technology are inexcusable. Period. And if you insist on changing URLs in a site re-org, you can still build a smart Error 404 handler that redirects to the old content. Link rot is a willful, arrogant act. /rich On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 11:44 AM, David McFarlane <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Rich, > > And why should I expect URLs to persist? Shelf numbers for books do in > fact change -- as time progress, libraries may change from, e.g., the Dewey > Decimal system to Library of Congress numbers to ISBNs, and who is to say > what further scheme will come along to supplant those? Must we forever lock > ourselves into old organizational schemes when better ones come along? And > the street addresses of homes or businesses do in fact change all the time, > every time a family or business moves. It is then up to the family or > business to arrange for mail and visitors to get redirected to the new > address for a short time; anyone who shows up at my address of 20 or 30 > years ago is just a fool, and I feel no obligation to provide redirection > from those old addresses. And if an organization's URL scheme turns out to > be a nightmare, should they remain locked in to it rather than revise it to > one that better fits their and their customers' needs going forward? > > And after all, aren't URLs and all they represent just a *human* > undertaking, and humans notoriously unreliable and fickle, and their systems > subject to constant improvement? I am not saying that I don't want URLs to > persist, in fact I would like that. But I know better than to *expect* such > persistence, that's all. > > -- dkm > > > > Why? Why shouldn't URLs persist? Do LC shelf numbers for books change? >> Does the street address of your house or business change? >> > >