Happy Birthday, GALILEO!

The year is 1995. The World Wide Web is 5 years old. 18 million American homes are now online, but only 3% of online users have ever signed on to the Web, according to the Pew Research Center.* The first planet outside our solar system is found using telescopes on the ground. President Clinton signs the National Highway Designation Act, which ended the 55 mph speed limit. Netscape Navigator faces a competing web browser in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Microsoft also released Windows 95. eBay, originally Auctionweb, lists its first item, a broken laser pointer. The final original Calvin and Hobbes comic strip is published. Google, MySpace, YouTube, and Facebook are all in the future. Jerry Garcia dies a little over a month before GALILEO goes online on September 21st.

For many users, GALILEO was their first introduction to the Internet, as well as the benefits this technology had for learning and research. Institutions that had only a few journals suddenly had access to hundreds of titles. Over 20 years, GALILEO grew with the fast-paced technological world, adding content to meet the needs of different kinds of researchers and adding tools and services to make that content more discoverable. And over 20 years, GALILEO’s user base grew, demonstrated by more than 1.7 billion user experiences.

What was your first research project using GALILEO? Were you looking for information on animals and their habitats, for peer-reviewed articles for a research paper, for authoritative information on cancer research, for ancestors to fill out your family tree? What did the GALILEO environment look like then? Check out the video and timeline to tweak your memory.

20th Birthday Video
GALILEO Timeline

Whether you’re hosting a party in your library or just sending good wishes, lift a real or imaginary glass to the future. There are great things to come!

COMO attendees are invited to the GALILEO birthday break on Thursday, October 8, at 2:30 to help celebrate the 20-year milestone.