On December 10, 1901, German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize for his discovery of what came to be known as X‐rays. Since that time, more than 850 distinguished individuals and organizations have received the coveted medal along with worldwide recognition for achievement in the fields of chemistry, economics, literature, medicine, peace, and physics. Generally acknowledged as the most prestigious tribute given for outstanding intellectual accomplishment, the Nobel Prize is conferred at a ceremony that takes place each year in Stockholm and includes for each winner a cash prize currently amounting to more than $1 million. Over the past 110 years, information surrounding the honor has increased significantly both in volume and in interest to the general public.
Created in the 1990s, this website was developed as an easily accessible and searchable archive for relevant information pertaining to the award and its recipients. From the main page, visitors can perform a keyword search of the site's contents as well as browse by prize category and other topic areas. Winners for each year are given, along with brief biographical information. The site features links to news items, a searchable directory to affiliated universities or laboratories of the laureates, an alphabetical record of award recipients by category or discipline, a three‐question trivia quiz, an interview with the 1958 Nobel Prize winner in medicine, a monthly listing of birthdays, and a section on female awardees. An essay on why no prize is given in mathematics and a random generator page make up the remainder of the site. Want to know who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1999? Can Harvard University claim more or fewer laureates than MIT? Who has a birthday in January? The Nobel Prize Internet Archive provides answers to those questions and more.
A total of 15 years ago, finding content of this kind that was compiled, organized, and searchable in one place was far more difficult and labor‐intensive than today. Unfortunately, while the information looks to be correct and the site appears to be currently maintained – it includes information about all 13 of the 2011 laureates – it is sorely in need of editing and redesign. The latest Nobel News Bytes page has not been updated since 2005. Further, a prominent index page link to the Ig Noble Prize, a parody site affiliated with Harvard and MIT, is long‐dead. Similarly, the site layout with its side scroll bars, lists of links, and advertiser logos represents an earlier style of web design that looks and feels dated. For current web users, discovering information about the Nobel Prize and its current and past laureates is now available through a variety of sources, many of which are more current and more attractively designed.
