why in the Internet archive? why not the pages themselves?

As someone who has worked with EPA since pre-web days, I understand the desire to make their content more easily found.  but it's not clear to me why you'd do that via copies stashed at the Internet Archive, rather than the document URL (on the EPA site) itself? 

After all, EPA has some 750,000 documents, many of which are of transient value at best.  Many of the documents become superceded by new regulations, new interpretation of the rules, new scientific data -- and while that obsolete information probably has SOME historical value, it is not the first thing someone ought to find when they are looking for information on, for instance, the Clean Air Act.

I'm a big believer in social tagging, and look forward to seeing what this experiment accomplishes -- but I'm also a big believer in the idea that the URL IS the document, and should be treated as -- well, perhaps not sacred, but at least with great respect for what it represents, which is the authoritative location of a given document. 

In the case of the EPA, where documents may contain legal interpretations and rulings that directly impact how businesses and individuals behave, this is especially true -- pointing to the "wrong" document can have significant negative consequences for those trying to comply with the regulations.

 

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