Perma.cc at Virginia Tech: Home

Scholarship depends on evidence ("show me, don't tell me").  In most cases, this means citing previous research in the peer-reviewed literature, using persistent links such as digital object identifiers (DOIs), used by most academic journals, or handles, used by repositories such as VTechWorks.  But if your scholarship depends on citing or footnoting web sites, or anything without a persistent link, there is a good chance these links will not work, or the content will have disappeared or changed, 5 or 10 or 20 years from now.

Over 50% of cited links in Supreme Court opinions no longer point to the intended page, one in five articles suffers from reference rot, and three out of four URI references lead to changed content. 

Scholarship depends on a solid foundation of evidence, one that won't erode as time passes.  Ensure that your future readers can see the same evidence you see.

The University Libraries is a registrar for Perma.cc, a service to provide archiving of web pages for research purposes.  Researchers at Virginia Tech are able to archive, manage, and annotate an unlimited number of web pages with persistent shortlinks for citing, create multiple users with access to the same folders, and receive local support.  Perma.cc is built by Harvard’s Library Innovation Lab, and in alignment with its focus on preservation, the service has a contingency plan and is also open source.

• How do I sign up?
  • Just send an email to permacc@vt.edu to request an account.
• What if I already have an account?
  • We can upgrade you to a VT account, with the added benefits of unlimited link creation, multiple users, and local support.
• How do I use Perma.cc links in a citation?
  • This will depend on citation practices in your discipline, but here is one example:
    • 36. Scott Althaus & Kalev Leetaru, Airbrushing History, American Style, Cline Center for Democracy (Nov. 25, 2008), http://www.clinecenter.illinois.edu/airbrushing_history, archived at http://perma.cc/G8PW-798L.
• Why not just use the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine?
  • Perma.cc provides a more thorough, accurate capture in two forms, a web archive file (WARC), and a screenshot (PNG).  Perma.cc also provides persistent shortlinks that are more convenient for citing, and enables researcher management of the links (with folders, annotation, and public/private control).  Perma.cc is a partner of the Internet Archive.
• Are there any limitations I should be aware of?
  • Perma.cc is intended for non-commercial scholarly and research purposes that do not infringe or violate anyone’s copyright or other rights. Web pages to be archived should be freely available without payment or registration.  Additionally, some web pages employ a “noarchive” restriction, which Perma.cc archives but makes private.  In other words, the shortlink can be shared, but is available only to the researcher and upon request.
• Does Perma.cc have any other features?
  • A bookmarklet and extension are available for easy use in a browser (you must be logged in to use them), users can create links in batches, and links can be deleted within 24 hours.
• I hadn't heard of Perma.cc before; who is using it?
  • Perma.cc is in wide use in the legal research community, in part due to the demonstrated link rot in Supreme Court opinions.  The Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review, hosted by VT Publishing, is an early adopter here.
• What if I have other questions?
  • See Perma.cc's documentation on creating Perma.cc records and links and their FAQ, or email us at permacc@vt.edu.

All original content on this page is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Third-party content including, but not limited to images and linked items, are subject to their own license terms.