How Important is Archiving the Real-Time Web?

You may recall earlier this year when URL-shortening service Tr.im announced it was going to shut down and sparked a big discussion about what happens to all of these links if such a service just decides it doesn't want to exist anymore. It is an interesting discussion, and it ultimately led to Tr.im having a change of heart and deciding to remain functional. Now, the Internet Archive has announced the launch of 301Works.org , a service, which archives shortened URLs. The organization sums up the need for such a service pretty well: The use of shortened URLs has grown dramatically due to the popularity of Twitter and similar micro-streaming services where posts are limited to a small number of characters.