📘 Student Worksheet: Trace the Lineage of a Webpage Using RTTcode

RTT/1 Learning Activity — archive_org Module#

This worksheet teaches you how to use RTTcode and the six Internet Archive operators to trace how a webpage has changed over time.

You will:

• retrieve snapshots
• measure drift
• build a continuity map
• identify regime shifts
• analyze substrate stability
• produce a drift‑bounded summary

This is the same workflow used by AI agents in the archive_org module.

🧩 1. Choose a Webpage to Analyze#

Pick any public webpage that appears in the Internet Archive.

Examples:

• a news article
• a government page
• a software project page
• a Wikipedia article
• a blog post

Write your chosen URL here:

TARGET URL:
______________________________________________

🧱 2. Run METADATA_OPERATOR#

Look up the Internet Archive metadata for your URL.

Record:

Substrate type: _______________________________
Regime: ______________________________________
Drift sensitivity (low/med/high): _____________
Coherence: ___________________________________
Lineage IDs (if any): _________________________

Question:
What does the metadata tell you about the kind of object you’re analyzing?

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

🕰 3. Run WAYBACK_OPERATOR#

Visit the Wayback Machine and collect at least three snapshots.

Record them:

Now compare the snapshots.

Drift between versions (none/minor/moderate/high):
___________________________________________________

Continuity breaks (if any):
___________________________________________________

🧬 4. Run LINEAGE_OPERATOR#

Using your snapshots:

• identify what changed
• identify what stayed the same
• map the evolution

Draw a simple lineage graph:

VERSION 1 → VERSION 2 → VERSION 3
(what changed?)   (what changed?)

Or sketch your own:

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Question:
Did the webpage undergo any regime shifts (e.g., layout change, ownership change, purpose change)?

______________________________________________________________

📦 5. Run COLLECTION_OPERATOR#

Check whether your page belongs to an Internet Archive collection.

Record:

Collection ID: _______________________________________________
Coherence clusters: __________________________________________
Related objects: _____________________________________________
Regime profile: ______________________________________________

Question:
How does the collection context help you understand the page?

______________________________________________________________

🧱 6. Run PRESERVATION_OPERATOR#

Identify the substrate formats used across snapshots:

• HTML
• PDF
• OCR text
• images
• video
• mixed

Record:

Format(s): _________________________________________________
Stability score (estimate 0–1): ____________________________
Drift risk (low/med/high): _________________________________
Multi‑layer flags: _________________________________________

Question:
Which formats seem most stable? Which seem drift‑prone?

______________________________________________________________

🧠 7. Run DRIFTBOUND_RETRIEVAL_OPERATOR#

Using all your previous notes, write a drift‑bounded summary of the webpage’s evolution.

Include:

• earliest stable version
• most reliable version
• key changes
• drift warnings
• continuity notes

SUMMARY:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Earliest stable version: _____________________________________
Most reliable version: _______________________________________
Key changes: _________________________________________________
Warnings: ____________________________________________________

🎓 8. Reflection Questions#

1. What surprised you most about how the webpage changed over time?

______________________________________________________________

2. Did the substrate format affect how reliable the snapshots were?

______________________________________________________________

3. How did RTT operators help you avoid drift or misinterpretation?

______________________________________________________________

🏁 You’ve completed the RTT lineage‑tracing workflow.#

You now know how to:

• analyze snapshots
• detect drift
• build lineage
• understand substrate
• place objects in context
• produce continuity‑aligned summaries

This is the same method used by AI agents in the archive_org module.