Link rot and content drift are common internet problems

Even old, out-of-date, rarely used books are somewhere on the shelves in a traditional library but that’s not necessarily the case on the internet. Publishers or other businesses may close, rendering their digital content inaccessible.

When the United States government temporarily shut down in 2013, federal websites were disabled, making countless government documents and crucial information inaccessible.

A link rot study found that half the links in Supreme Court opinions didn’t work, and three-quarters of the links in Harvard Law Review articles failed.