Blog

Democracies need an educated citizenry to thrive. In the 21st century, that means easy access to reliable information online for all.  To meet that need, the Internet Archive is building Democracy’s Library—a free, open, online compendium of government research and publications from around the world. “Governments have created an abundance of information and put it in the … Read more

This weekend, the Grateful Dead will be celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors, recognizing their impact on music and culture. You can join in the celebration by listening to one of the 17,000 Grateful Dead concert recordings preserved at the Internet Archive. The Grateful Dead Collection, part of the Live Music Archive, features more than 17,000 concert recordings spanning … Read more

Friends and supporters of the Internet Archive gathered October 19 at the organization’s headquarters in San Francisco to celebrate the launch of Democracy’s Library. Plans to collect government documents from around the world and make them easily accessible online were met with enthusiasm and endorsements. Speakers at the event expressed an urgency to preserve the public … Read more

The following interview with singer-songwriter Elliott Adkins 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. Elliott Adkins has a passion for recording old songs that have largely been forgotten. The 23-year-old musician was inspired after finding boxes of sheet music in his parents’ … Read more

As deep-cuts in the Archive go, these staff-recommended resources are ones you won’t want to miss! Time off over the holidays? Need a little break while visiting family? Sourcing recommendations for movie night? The Internet Archive has you covered.  We’ve gathered some of our staff’s favorite items (holiday-themed and otherwise) in our collections to share … Read more

A developer came to me a week ago with a project they’d been working on for over a year. The proposition of what they offered and the importance of what it would mean to historical software at Internet Archive was so compelling that within 48 hours, we’d announced it to the world. The site is DISCMASTER.TEXTFILES.COM, … Read more

Join journalist and editor Maria Bustillos in conversation with author Glyn Moody for a discussion about copyright, digital rights and the 21st-century walls blocking access to culture. Book Talk: Walled Culture with Glyn Moody & Maria BustillosCo-sponsored by Internet Archive & Authors AllianceThursday, November 10 @ 10am PT / 1pm ETWatch the virtual discussion. Watch the session recording: While Ed … Read more

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