Since 2021, I have been collecting and digitizing “Internet directory” books—print reference books from the late 1990s and early 2000s that list web page URLs in hierarchical categories with descriptions written by human curators.
Often marketed as "yellow pages" or "handbooks" for the Internet, these books were a common sight in bookstores around the world in the 1990s and early 2000s. I initially focused on Chinese and English directories but later expanded my scope to include Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish directories as well. Although most URLs in these books are no longer accessible, the books are a great resource for researchers today to study the early web.
I am digitizing these books to create an aggregated database of historical URLs from the late 1990s to early 2000s. For each unique URL, I collect archived snapshot timestamps from the Wayback Machine, the number of its appearances across all books in my collection, and the title and description from each appearance.
For now, you can browse and search parts of the digitized collection at dir.pastinter.net. The web interface is accessible to the public and compatible with vintage web browsers from the late 1990s - early 2000s. I am planning to making the raw data available for download on request.
