<s>
The	O
World	B-Application
Wide	I-Application
Web	I-Application
Virtual	I-Application
Library	I-Application
(	O
WWW	O
VL	O
)	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
index	O
of	O
content	O
on	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
and	O
still	O
operates	O
as	O
a	O
directory	O
of	O
e-texts	O
and	O
information	O
sources	O
on	O
the	O
web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Virtual	B-Application
Library	I-Application
was	O
started	O
by	O
Tim	O
Berners-Lee	O
creator	O
of	O
HTML	B-Language
and	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
itself	O
,	O
in	O
1991	O
at	O
CERN	O
in	O
Geneva	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
sometimes	O
informally	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
WWWVL	O
"	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
Virtual	B-Application
Library	I-Application
"	O
or	O
just	O
"	O
the	O
VL	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
individual	O
indexes	O
,	O
or	O
virtual	B-Application
libraries	I-Application
live	O
on	O
hundreds	O
of	O
different	O
servers	O
around	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Virtual	B-Application
Library	I-Application
was	O
first	O
conceived	O
and	O
run	O
by	O
Tim	O
Berners-Lee	O
in	O
1991	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
expanded	O
,	O
organised	O
and	O
managed	O
for	O
several	O
years	O
by	O
Arthur	O
Secret	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
virtual	O
librarian	O
"	O
,	O
before	O
it	O
became	O
a	O
formally	O
established	O
association	O
with	O
Gerard	O
Manning	O
as	O
its	O
Council	O
's	O
first	O
chairman	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
late	O
Bertrand	O
Ibrahim	O
was	O
a	O
key	O
contributor	O
to	O
the	O
pre-association	O
phase	O
of	O
the	O
Virtual	B-Application
Library	I-Application
's	O
development	O
and	O
then	O
served	O
as	O
its	O
Secretary	O
until	O
his	O
untimely	O
death	O
in	O
2001	O
at	O
the	O
age	O
of	O
46	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Virtual	B-Application
Library	I-Application
grew	O
over	O
the	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
the	O
WWW-VL	B-Application
History	O
Central	O
Catalogue	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
launched	O
on	O
21	O
September	O
1993	O
by	O
Lynn	O
H	O
.	O
Nelson	O
at	O
Kansas	O
University	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
April	O
2004	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
relocated	O
at	O
the	O
European	O
University	O
Institute	O
,	O
Florence	B-Application
,	O
Italy	O
,	O
where	O
a	O
history	O
of	O
the	O
catalogue	O
is	O
also	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Virtual	B-Application
Library	I-Application
museums	I-Application
pages	I-Application
(	O
VLmp	B-Application
)	O
were	O
added	O
by	O
Jonathan	O
Bowen	O
to	O
the	O
Virtual	B-Application
Library	I-Application
to	O
cover	O
museums	O
in	O
1994	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
Virtual	B-Application
Library	I-Application
as	O
a	O
collective	O
of	O
indexed	O
sites	O
and	O
their	O
maintainers	O
has	O
waned	O
,	O
many	O
individual	O
virtual	B-Application
library	I-Application
sites	O
continue	O
to	O
be	O
important	O
and	O
valuable	O
academic	O
resources	O
.	O
</s>
