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**Read More****Why                           the Archive is Building an 'Internet Library'**                        **Future                           Libraries**                        **Related                           Projects and Research**                        **Researcher Access**                        **Storage                           and Preservation**                        **Server                           Statistics**                        **Archive                           Statistics**                        **Job Opportunities at the Internet Archive**                        **Report Bugs and Request New Features**Media Coverage [more]New York Times: Threat Is Seen to Heirloom SoftwareOpen Archives ImplementationThe Guardian: "Store the front page"New Scientist: "Way Back When"Mindjack: "Inside the Internet Archive"Christian Science Monitor: "Ancient Egyptian library reborn in modern form"Library of Congress Acquires Prelinger CollectionPC World: Best of Today's Web: Greatest Hits and Hidden GemsVillage Voice: "Other People's Property � Academics Square Off Against Hollywood on Internet Content"Gannet News Service: "Archive site preserves earliest Web pages"Member        About the Internet ArchiveThe                                 Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit                                 that was founded to build an ‘Internet library,’                                 with the purpose of offering permanent access                                 for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical                                 collections that exist in digital format. Founded                                 in 1996 and located in the                                 Presidio of San Francisco, the Archive has                                 been receiving data donations from Alexa                                 Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization                                 started to grow to build more well-rounded collections.**Why                           the Archive is Building an 'Internet Library'**Libraries                             exist to preserve societys cultural artifacts                             and to provide access to them. If libraries are to                             continue to foster education and scholarship in this                             era of digital technology, its essential for                             them to extend those functions into the digital world.                          Many                             early movies were recycled to recover the silver in                             the film. The Library                             of Alexandria  an ancient center of learning                             containing a copy of every book in the world                              was eventually burned to the ground. Even now, at                             the turn of the 21st century, no comprehensive archives                             of television or radio programs exist.                          But                             without cultural artifacts, civilization has no memory                             and no mechanism to learn from its successes and failures.                             And paradoxically, with the explosion of the Internet,                             we live in what Danny Hillis has referred to as our                             "digital                             dark age."                          The                             Internet Archive is working to prevent the Internet                              a new medium with major historical significance                              and other "born-digital" materials                             from disappearing into the past. Collaborating with                             institutions including the Library                             of Congress and the Smithsonian,                             we are working to preserve a record for generations                             to come.                          Open                             and free access to literature and other writings has                             long been considered essential to education and to                             the maintenance of an open society. Public and philanthropic                             enterprises have supported it through the ages.                          The                             Internet Archive is opening its collections to researchers,                             historians, and scholars. The Archive has no vested                             interest in the discoveries of the users of its collections,                             nor is it a grant-making organization.                          At                             present, the size of our Web collection is such that                             using it requires programming                             skills. However, we are hopeful about the development                             of tools and methods that will give the general public                             easy and meaningful access to our collective history.                             In addition to developing our own collections, we                             are working to promote the formation of other Internet                             libraries in the United States and elsewhere.                          **Find                           out**                           How to help                             fund the Archive                            Make a Monetary                               Donation to the Archvive                            How to donate                               a digital collection to the Internet Archive                            About our announcement                               and discussion lists on Internet libraries and                               movie archives**Future                           Libraries - How People Envision Using Internet Libraries**From                             ephemera to artifact: Internet libraries can change                             the content of the Internet from ephemera to enduring                             artifacts of our political and cultural lives.                          "I                               believe historians need every possible piece of                               paper and archived byte of digital data they can                               muster. The Smithsonian Institution sees the value,                               and has affiliated with the Archive to preserve                               the 1996                               campaign Web sites, official and unofficial."                          Dan                               Gillmor, computing editor, San Jose Mercury News,                               1 September 1996                          Protecting                             our right to know: Most states have pre-Internet                             sunshine laws that require public access to government                             documents. Yet while the Internet has generally increased                             public access to information, states have just begun                             to amend those laws to reflect todays Internet                             environment. According to Bill Chamberlin, director                             of the Marion                             Brechner Citizen Access Project at the University                             of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications,                             such laws are being enacted "piecemeal, one state                             at a time," and cover information that varies                             widely in nature  everything from "all                             public records" to specialized information such                             as education reports and the licensing status of medical                             practitioners. In the meantime, while public officials                             are posting more information on the Internet than                             their state legislatures require, there's little regulatory                             control over exactly what is posted, when it's taken                             off, or how often it's updated. This leaves a gap                             that online libraries can help to fill.                          Exercising                             our "right to remember": Without paper                             libraries, it would be hard to exercise our "right                             to remember" our political history or hold government                             accountable. With much of the publics business                             now moving from paper to digital media, Internet libraries                             are certain to become essential in maintaining that                             right. Imagine, for instance, how news coverage of                             an election campaign might suffer if journalists had                             only limited access to previous statements that candidates                             had made in the media.                          "The                               Internet Archive is a service so essential that                               its founding is bound to be looked back on with                               the fondness and respect that people now have for                               the public libraries seeded by Andrew Carnegie a                               century ago.... Digitized information, especially                               on the Internet, has such rapid turnover these days                               that total loss is the norm. Civilization is developing                               severe amnesia as a result; indeed it may have become                               too amnesiac already to notice the problem properly.                               The Internet Archive is the beginning of a cure                                the beginning of complete, detailed, accessible,                               searchable memory for society, and not just scholars                               this time, but everyone."                          Stewart                               Brand, president, The                               Long Now Foundation                          Establishing                             Internet centers internationally: What is a country                             without a memory of its cultural heritage? Internet                             libraries are the place to preserve the aspect of                             a countrys heritage that exists on the Internet.                          Tracing                             the way our language changes: During the late                             19th century, James Murray, a professor at Oxford                             University, built the first edition of the Oxford                             English Dictionary by sending copies of selected                             books to "men of letters" who volunteered                             to search them for the first occurrences of words                             and to trace the migration of their various meanings.                             Internet libraries could allow linguists to automate                             much of this extremely labor-intensive process.                          Tracking                             the Webs evolution: Historians, sociologists,                             and journalists could use Internet libraries to hold                             up a mirror to society. For example, they might ask                             when different ethnic groups or special interests                             or certain businesses became a presence on the Internet.                          "We                               don't know where this Internet is going, and once                               we get there it will be very instructive to look                               back."                          Donald                               Heath, president of the Internet                               Society in Reston, Virginia                          Reviving                             dead links: A few services  such as UC Berkeleys                             Digital                             Library Project, the Online                             Computer Library Center, and Alexa                             Internet  are starting to offer access to                             archived versions of Web pages when those pages have                             been removed from the Web. This means that if you                             get a "404  Page Not Found" error,                             youll still be able to find a version of the                             page.                          Understanding                             the economy: Economists could use Archive data                             such as link structures  what and how many links                             a site contains  to investigate how the Web                             affects commerce.                          Finding                             out what the Web tells us about ourselves: Researchers                             could use data on links and traffic to better understand                             human behavior and communication.                          "Researchers                               could use the Archives Web snapshots in combination                               with usage statistics to compare how people in different                               countries use the Web over long periods of time....                               Political scientists and sociologists could use                               the data to study how public opinion gets formed.                               For example, suppose a device for increasing privacy                               became available: Would it change usage patterns?"                          Bernardo                               Huberman, Xerox                               Palo Alto Research Center                          "The                               Internet Archive has created a kind of test tube                               that allows a broad range of researchers to analyze                               the Web in ways that have never been possible before.                               What makes this type of research unique is that                               it often requires the fusion of traditional tools                               and techniques with new methods, and it results                               in the development of new theories, techniques,                               and metrics."                          James                               Pitkow, Xerox                               Palo Alto Research Center                          Looking                             back: With a "way-back machine"                              a device that displayed the Web as it looked on a                             given date  historians and others would literally                             have a window on the past.                          How                               would you use an Internet library?**Related                           Projects and Research**Internet                           libraries raise many issues in a range of areas, including                           archiving technology, copyright, privacy and free speech,                           trademark, trade secrets, import/export issues, stolen                           property, pornography, the question of who will have                           access to the libraries, and more. Below                             are links to projects, resources, and institutions                             related to Internet libraries.                          Internet                               Libraries and LibrarianshipArchiving TechnologyInternet MappingInternet StatisticsCopyrightPrivacy and Free Speech                          Internet                             Libraries and Librarianship                          Alexa                               Internet has catalogued Web sites and provides                               this information in a free service.www.alexa.com                            The                               American Library Association is a major trade                               association of American libraries.www.ala.org                            The                               Australian National Library collects material                               including organizational Web sites.pandora.nla.gov.au/documents.html                            The                               Council on Library and Information Resources                               works to ensure the well-being of the scholarly                               communication system.www.clir.org                              See its publication Why Digitize? at www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub80-smith/pub80.html                            The                               Digital Library Forum (D-Lib)publishes an online                               magazine and other resources for building digital                               libraries.www.dlib.org                            Attorney                               I. Trotter Hardy explains copyright law and                               examines its implications for digital materials                               in his paper Internet Archives and Copyright.copyright_TH.php                            The                               Internet Public Library site has many links                               to online resources for the general public.www.ipl.org                            Brewster                               Kahle is a founder of WAIS Inc. and Alexa Internet                               and chairman of the board of the Internet Archive.                               See his paper The Ethics of Digital Librarianship                               atethics_BK.php                            Michael                               Leskof the National Science Foundation has                               written extensively on digital archiving and digital                               libraries.www.purl.net/NET/lesk                            The                               Library of Congress is the national library                               of the United States.www.loc.gov                            The                               Museum Digital Library plans to help digitize                               collections and provide access to them.www.digitalmuseums.org                            The                               National Archives and Records Administration                               oversees the management of all US federal records.                               It also archives federal Web sites including the                               Clinton White                               House site.www.nara.gov                            The                               National Science Foundation Digital Library Program                               has funded academic research on digital libraries.www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/dli/start.htm                            National Technical Information Service (NTIS), U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration.  NTIS is an archive and distributor of scientific, technical, engineering and business related information developed by and for the federal government.www.ntis.gov                            Network                               Wizards has been tracking Internet growth for                               many years.www.nw.com                            Project                               Gutenberg is making ASCII versions of classic                               literature openly available. www.gutenberg.org                            The                               Radio and Television Archive has many links                               to related resources.www.rtvf.unt.edu/links/histsites.htm                            Revival                               of the Library of Alexandria is a project to                               revive the ancient library in Egypt.www.unesco.org/webworld/alexandria_new                            The                               Society of American Archivists is a professional                               association focused on ensuring the identification,                               preservation, and use of records of historical value.www.archivists.org                            The                               Royal Institute of Technology Library in Sweden                               is creating a system of quality-assessed information                               resources on the Internet for academic use.www.lib.kth.se/kthbeng/kthb.html                            The                               United States Government Printing Office produces                               and distributes information published by the US                               government.www.access.gpo.gov                            The                               University of Virginia is building a catalog                               of digital library activities.www.dlib.vt.edu                          Archiving                             Technology                          The                               Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) computing                               and public policy page includes papers and news                               on pending legislation on issues including universal                               access, copyright and intellectual property, free                               speech and the Internet, and privacy.www.acm.org/serving                            The                               Carnegie Mellon University Informedia Digital Video                               Library Project is studying how multimedia digital                               libraries can be established and used.www.informedia.cs.cmu.edu                            The                               Intermemory Project aims to develop highly survivable                               and available storage systems.www.intermemory.org                            The                               National Film Preservation Board, established                               by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, works                               with the Library of Congress to study and implement                               plans for film and television preservation. The                               site's research page includes links to the board's                               1993                               film preservation study, a 1994                               film preservation plan, and a 1997                               television and video study. All the documents                               warn of the dire state of film and television preservation                               in the United States.lcweb.loc.gov/film/filmpres.html                            The                               National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)                               posts IEC International Standard names and symbols                               for prefixes for binary multiples for use in data                               processing and data transmission.www.physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html                            The                               Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) encourages                               research in information retrieval from large text                               collections.trec.nist.gov                          Internet                             Mapping                          An                               Atlas of Cyberspaces has maps and dynamic tools                               for visualizing Web browsing.www.cybergeography.com/atlas/surf.html                            The                               Internet Mapping Project is a long-term project                               by a scientist at Bell Labs to collect routing data                               on the Internet.www.cs.bell-labs.com/who/ches/map                            The                               Matrix Information Directory Service has good                               maps and visualizations of the networked world.www.mids.org                            Peacock                               Maps has maps of Internet connectivity.www.peacockmaps.com                          Internet                             Statistics                          WebReference                               has an Internet statistics page (publisher: Internet.com).webreference.com/internet/statistics.html                          Copyright                          The                               Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) copyright                               information page includes text of pertinent                               laws and pending legislation.www.acm.org/usacm/copyright                            Tom                               W. Bell teaches intellectual property and Internet                               law at Chapman University School of Law.www.tomwbell.comHis site includes a graph showing the trend                               of the maximum US copyright term at www.tomwbell.com/writings/(C)_Term.html                            Cornell                               Universityposts the text of copyright lawatwww4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/unframed/17/107.htmlwww4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/unframed/17/108.html                            The                               Digital Future Coalition is a nonprofit working                               on the issues of copyright in the digital age.www.dfc.org                            The                               National Academy Press is the publishing arm                               of the national                               academies.                              "The Digital Dilemma: Intellectual Property                               in the Information Age"http://www.nap.edu/html/digital_dilemma/                              "LC21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of                               Congress"www.nap.edu/books/0309071445/html                            Pamela                               Samuelson is a professor in the School of Information                               Management and Systems at UC Berkeley.info.berkeley.edu/~pam                            Title                               17 of US copyright codewww.loc.gov/copyright/title17/                            US                               Government Copyright Officewww.loc.gov/copyright                          Privacy                             and Free Speech                          The                               Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) free-speech                               information page includes the text of pertinent                               laws and pending legislation.www.acm.org/usacm/speech                            The                               Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) privacy                               information page includes the text of congressional                               testimony and links to other resources.www.acm.org/usacm/privacy                            The                               Benton Foundation Communications Policy and Practice                               Program has the goal of infusing the emerging                               communications environment with public-interest                               values.www.benton.org/cpphome.html                            The                               Center for Democracy and Technology works to                               promote democratic values and constitutional liberties                               in the digital age.www.cdt.org                            The                               Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference has                               a site containing information on each annual conference                               held since 1991.www.cfp.org                            The                               Electronic Frontier Foundation works to protect                               fundamental civil liberties, including privacy and                               freedom of expression in the arena of computers                               and the Internet.www.eff.org                            The                               Electronic Privacy Information Center, a project                               of the Fund for                               Constitutional Government, is a public-interest                               research center whose goal is to focus public attention                               on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect                               privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional                               values.www.epic.org                            The                               Internet Free Expression Alliance is an information                               and advocacy organization focused on free speech                               as it relates to the Internet.www.ifea.net                            The                               Internet Privacy Coalition aims to protect privacy                               on the Internet by promoting the widespread availability                               of strong encryption and the relaxation of export                               controls on cryptography.www.privacy.org/ipc                            The                               Privacy Page includes news, alerts, and links                               to privacy-related resources. Related organizations                               include the Electronic                               Privacy Information Center, the Internet                               Privacy Coalition, and Privacy                               International.www.privacy.org                            Privacy                               International is a London-based human rights                               group formed as a watchdog on surveillance by governments                               and corporations.www.privacy.org/pi                          Please                             suggest                             other pages that may be appropriate here.**Storage                           and Preservation**The                           Archive has two practical considerations in dealing                           with digital collections: How                               to store massive amounts of dataHow to preserve the data                               for posterity                          **Storage**                          Storing                             the Archive’s collections involves parsing,                             indexing, and physically encoding the data. With the                             Internet collections growing at exponential rates,                             this task poses an ongoing challenge.                          Our                             hardware consists of PCs with clusters of IDE hard                             drives. Data is stored on DLT                             tape and hard drives in various appropriate formats,                             depending on the collection. Web data is received                             and stored in archive format — 100-megabyte                             ARC files made up of many individual files. Alexa                             Internet (currently the source of all crawls in                             our collections) is proposing ARC as a standard for                             archiving Internet objects. See Alexa for the format                             specification.                          **Preservation**                          Preservation                             is the ongoing task of permanently protecting stored                             resources from damage or destruction. The main issues                             are guarding against the consequences of accidents                             and data degradation and maintaining the accessibility                             of data as formats become obsolete. **Accidents:**                               Any medium or site used to store data is potentially                               vulnerable to accidents and natural disasters. Maintaining                               copies of the Archive’s collections at multiple                               sites can help alleviate this risk. Part of the                               collection is already handled this way, and we are                               proceeding as quickly as possible to do the same                               with the rest.                            **Migration:**                               Over time, storage media can degrade to a point                               where the data becomes permanently irretrievable.                               Although DLT tape                               is rated to last 30 years, the industry rule of                               thumb is to migrate data every 10 years. Given developments                               in computer hardware, we will likely migrate more                               often than that.                            **Data                               formats:** As advances are made in software                               applications, many data formats become obsolete.                               We will be collecting software and emulators that                               will aid future researchers, historians, and scholars                               in their research.                          **Find                             out**                          How to get free                               access to the Archive’s Internet collections                                                             About our announcement                               and discussion lists on Internet libraries and                               movie archives


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