Thoughts on the MN archive

[halfdrunkcoffee]

I have just been idly thinking about the Mumsnet archive. The site has been around for 14 years now and if all the threads apart from the Chat ones have been kept since then, it must now be huge, and set to get even bigger as time passes. So I have the following thoughts and random musings:

1. Does it require a huge number or servers on a server farm somewhere and if so does this produce a massive carbon footprint?
   

1. The archive is certainly very useful in terms of being able to look back on interesting discussions and support received, or to search for information without needing to start a new thread. I presume they're just kept for posterity and reference value given that reviving zombie threads is frowned upon.
   

Could it be that in the future Mumsnet will be the first port of call for someone writing a PhD on "Women's relationships with their mother-in-law in the early 21st century" or stories such as "Britain is warming up: Mumsnet archive reveals that people switch their heating on an average of two days later compared to ten years ago." Sorry if that sounds trivial; I know there's a lot more to MN than that!

[halfdrunkcoffee]

Bump

[KateSMumsnet]

Thus far we've been printing out threads and storing them neatly in filing cabinets. Perhaps we should look into servers (Can you tell I know nothing about servers?)

But as to your second point, we feel it's only a matter of time til the world clocks on to the fact that Mumsnet does actually have the answer to everything. As soon as they do, they'll be queuing up to rifle through our filing cabinets.