Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle with the mission to provide "universal access to all knowledge." It serves as a comprehensive repository of digital content, capturing and preserving websites, software, music, movies, books, and images. Here are some key aspects:
History and Foundation
- Internet Archive was officially established in 1996, although its roots can be traced back to the work done by Kahle in the late 1980s on a project called WAIS (Wide Area Information Server).
- The project began with the aim to create an Internet library, offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format.
Services and Collections
- Wayback Machine: Perhaps its most well-known service, the Wayback Machine provides access to archived versions of web pages, allowing users to see how websites looked in the past. It has captured over 400 billion web pages since 1996.
- Digital Library: The Internet Archive hosts millions of free books, movies, software, music, and more, available for download or streaming. This includes:
- Project Gutenberg texts
- Public domain works
- Creative Commons materials
- Open Library: An initiative to create a web page for every book ever published, providing access to millions of books.
- TV News Archive: A searchable collection of news programs recorded from TV stations around the world.
- Software Archive: A collection of vintage software and computer games, including abandonware.
Technology and Operations
- The Internet Archive uses a combination of custom software and open-source tools to crawl the web, archive content, and make it accessible. This includes technologies like Heritrix for web crawling and NutchWAX for indexing.
- It operates a number of data centers, with significant facilities in San Francisco and Richmond, CA.
Legal and Ethical Considerations
- The Internet Archive has faced legal challenges, particularly regarding its book lending program, where it lends digital copies of books. This has led to lawsuits from publishers regarding copyright infringement.
- It operates under the principle of fair use, arguing that its activities are transformative and serve educational purposes.
Funding
- The organization is funded through a mix of donations, grants, and contributions from members of the public. It does not rely on advertising revenue.
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