Created in 1993, REESWeb served for over 25 years as the Virtual Library covering Russia and Eastern Europe. In its history, REESWeb sought to help users identify high quality web content located in or focusing on the region stretching from Bohemia to Central Asia.

All web sites listed in REESWeb were vetted by the editors, categorized for easy searching, and annotated to provide users with a good idea of what they will find upon visiting a site. That hands-on orientation placed a high value on precision and quality in its listings rather than volume and, as such, was helpful to researchers, academics and casual users who wanted to find relevant material on the web rather than sifting through thousands of search results.

The development of multiple Internet search engines, however, has rendered REESWeb redundant.  Numerous mechanisms now exist for quickly collecting site information and providing full-text searching and other refinement tools to help users identify relevant material.  As a result, the REESWeb maintainers have decided to retire the project.

We would like to recognize those who supported REESWeb over the years: Casey Palowich, who gave birth to the site and fostered it in the early days of the World Wide Web; Jake Jacobson and Karen Rondestvedt, who championed the site through the mid-90s and greatly advanced its categorization structure; Mark Weixel, who rebuilt REESWeb in its second and third incarnations by introducing managed content technologies; and Brenda Carter, whose keen catalogger's eye significantly contributed to the site's classification vocabulary.  Additionally, we must acknowledge the University of Pittsburgh, at which the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, the University Center for International Studies, and the University Library System all contributed support. Lastly, we would like to thank the thousands of users who visited REESWeb daily and found its contents informative and helpful.