Before it became known as the Open Directory Project, the project was known as GnuHoo, then NewHoo.  I won’t go into the history of the Open Directory Project here since it has been done already. A comprehensive history of the Open Directory Project can be found at http://www.laisha.com/zine/odphistory.html

The ODP is an ambitious project, and has been since its beginning. At this writing, our index page says that we have 41,575 editors.  In reality, this includes editors who have been removed, whose accounts have expired, and those who edit only once in awhile.  If I had to guess, I’d estimate we have approximately 5,000 active editors.  Of these, some maintain small categories of personal interest, while others contribute several hours of every day.

The ODP is a volunteer project.  With a small paid staff overseeing the direction of the project, as well as some of the technical matters, the force behind it is the thousands of volunteers who do the work, and make most of the decisions.

The volunteers of the Open Directory Project are not, for the most part, simply a collection of people with too much time on their hands.  In fact, other than our obvious successes, the thing that has impressed me most has been the qualifications of those who have chosen to participate.  From all walks of life, we represent an army of volunteers who have indeed succeeded in our goal of assembling the most comprehensive directory of useful sites on the Internet.