Among the most common problems reported by Web users are the slow speed of Internet access and the proliferation of broken links, or what is commonly referred to as link rot. Link rot can be defined as the decay of World Wide Web links as the sites that they connect to change or disappear. According to the Internet Archive the average life of a Web page is 77 days. *
In a paper to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Science Education and Technology, Professors Brooks and Markwell, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, likened the rate of link rot to the type of "extinction equation" commonly used to describe natural processes such as radioactive decay. They wrote that the hyperlinks in their study had an expected "half-life" of 55 months. In other words, one-half of the original 515 links would no longer be viable after 55 months, half of the remaining links would no longer be viable after another 55 months, and so on. **
Of all domain names on the Web, educational (.edu) links were the least stable, with 17.5 percent of links lost in 13 months, followed by commercial (.com) links at 16.5 percent and nonprofit organization (.org) links at 11.6 percent. The most-stable links were to government (.gov) Web sites, where just two of 53 links (4 percent) were lost in 13 months. According to Markwell, that wasn't surprising since most of the links were to well-maintained sites at federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, which supported the study through a grant. **
The World Wide Web is constantly changing. The lesson to learn from link rot is to regularly check on the status of all links used in course materials. Making sure that all links work properly should be the norm in preparing any courses that rely on Internet resources beyond your control.
* Internet Archive: FAQs
** 'Link Rot' Hampers Web's Usefulness In Education
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