Karen, your efforts are much appreciated. The automated link checker idea would help for the sites that have just gone away but it's probably a good idea to do a manual check is the site is still there. It's conceivable the item may still be there, just moved and the link not updated I suppose. I agree that even the old items are still valuable to someone. Just for fun, try doing an image with some of those old gems.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken