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Join SPARC’s Heather Joseph for a chat with author Sarah Lamdan about the companies that control & monopolize our information. Watch the session recording: In our digital world, data is power. Information hoarding businesses reign supreme, using intimidation, aggression, and force to maintain influence and control. Sarah Lamdan brings us into the unregulated underworld of these “data … Read more

The Internet Archive has recently set up its own Mastodon server– a federated/decentralized open source social media package– that has garnered lots of attention lately. We use it in ways that we use twitter now (we are not leaving twitter):• @internetarchive@mastodon.archive.org for events, announcements, and fun things• Staff accounts (e.g. my account @brewsterkahle@mastodon.archive.org) for, well, whatever. Why?  We need … Read more

Ever try to read a physical book passed down in your family from 100 years ago?  Probably worked well. Ever try reading an ebook you paid for 10 years ago?   Probably a different experience. From the leasing business model of mega publishers to physical device evolution to format obsolescence, digital books are fragile and … Read more

In the six weeks since announcing that Internet Archive has begun gathering content for the Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC), the project has quickly grown to more than 25,000 items, including ham radio newsletters, podcasts, videos, books, and catalogs. The project seeks additional contributions of material for the free online library. You are welcome to explore … Read more

On November 9, Internet Archive participated in a webinar hosted by OCLC that showed librarians how to request articles from our library using OCLC tools. The Recording and Slides (PDF download) from the event are now available. How do I request articles from the Internet Archive? Key facts about the Internet Archive Questions?

What do libraries have to do with building a better internet? How would securing certain digital rights for these traditional public interest institutions help make the internet work better for everyone? REGISTER NOW Join Public Knowledge President CHRIS LEWIS as he facilitates a conversation on these issues and the emerging Movement for a Better Internet with library and internet … Read more

Join copyright scholar PAMELA SAMUELSON for a discussion with historian PETER BALDWIN about THE COPYRIGHT WARS, covering three centuries’ worth of trans-Atlantic copyright battles.  Watch recording: Today’s copyright wars can seem unprecedented. Sparked by the digital revolution that has made copyright—and its violation—a part of everyday life, fights over intellectual property have pitted creators, Hollywood, and governments against consumers, pirates, … Read more

We’ve just finished scheduling three new events through the end of the year that you won’t want to miss! All events are virtual, free and open to the public. Can’t make one of the sessions? Go ahead and register so that you’ll receive an e-mail with the session recording. November 30 Join HEATHER JOSEPH, executive director of SPARC, … Read more

The following guest post from legendary software designer Jordan Mechner is part of our Vanishing Culture series, highlighting the power and importance of preservation in our digital age. Read more essays online or download the full report now. In 1993, I was trying to learn everything I could about the 1914 Orient Express, to help our team recreate it accurately in The Last Express (the … Read more

Illustration created with MidJourney Democracies require an educated citizenry to flourish– and because of this, Democratic governments, at all levels, spend billions of dollars publishing reports, manuals, books, videos so that all can read and learn. That is the good news.  The bad news is that in our digital age, much of this is not … Read more