
How Can You Help the Internet Archive? - Nemo_bis
https://blog.archive.org/2020/06/14/how-can-you-help-the-internet-archive/
======
jawns
I am a fan of the Internet Archive and use the Wayback Machine regularly. I
used it even more frequently when I was an editor at a metro news site.

I am also a nonfiction author who was disappointed that the Internet Archive
launched its national emergency library with flagrant disregard for copyright.

Indeed, as this comment
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23521019](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23521019)
on a previous HN thread pointed out, the choice to move from controlled
digital lending to uncontrolled digital lending was especially foolish because
now the publishing industry is going after it not only because of uncontrolled
digital lending but also because of controlled digital lending. And while
there is solid rationale for why CDL should be considered legal, there isn't
yet any legislation or case law that makes it clear.

So the IA put itself in a position of having to defend itself against the
inevitable lawsuit from the publishing industry, and as a result, it
potentially put its entire operations at risk.

~~~
marcinzm
Unless the leadership at the IA changes I don't see a happy outcome for the
IA. Even if they win this lawsuit that will just make them bolder until they
do something that they don't win.

There is just a conflicting set of goals between being an activist freedom of
information non-profit and being a stable repository of knowledge for future
generations. Right now the former is in charge, it seems, and so it's just a
matter of time before they bite off too much.

edit: Interestingly the mission statement of the IA is to "provide Universal
Access to All Knowledge." So the leadership is arguably following the mission
statement. So, really, the problem is that the IA is simply not a good
custodian for long term knowledge storage and should step aside for a better
aligned organization to take that over.

~~~
xhkkffbf
I agree. This was a foolish, grandstanding move and they didn't back down
until they were really pushed. Many authors wrote them and asked them to stop.
The authors pointed out that books were available digitally or from vendors
like Powell's or Amazon. But they persisted.

It's hard work to create a book. I'm happy to ignore the technical violations
of copyright when the archive is being an archive. But when it's destroying
the livelihood of the authors, I know that we'll have fewer good works from
professionals.

The leadership needs to recognize that the authors are people and are often
very small businesses who feel they are being crushed. If they're counting on
the authors being too small to fighting an effective suit, that's very sad.

------
betamaxthetape
Nice to see that the HyperCard stacks collection (that I maintain) on
archive.org got a mention:

> In our software collections, we have brought back thousands of hypercard
> stacks[1] that used to be easily available for Macintosh computers in the
> 1980s and 1990s – they will boot in your browser and let you enjoy them
> near-instantly.

The collection is certainly something that couldn't exist in it's current form
without the Internet Archive. Sure, there are collections of .sit files
sitting in old FTP mirrors, but it's the Internet Archive's in-browser
emulation that makes them accessible. (It's unlikely that someone is willing
to download an emulator and configure ROMs / system disks, just to play with a
stack for 15 seconds).

Now for my usual shout-out: if you have some old stacks sitting around that
you want to add to the collection, there's an online uploader[2]. I'm always
pleased to see more stacks!

[1]
[https://archive.org/details/hypercardstacks?sort=-publicdate](https://archive.org/details/hypercardstacks?sort=-publicdate)

[2] [http://hypercardonline.tk/](http://hypercardonline.tk/)

------
trustmeimdrunk
Memory is important. While things are in still in recent living memory they
often become lost. Later even the most seemingly banal tidbit can help us
reconstruct our path to now.

------
asdz
Do they have something like BOINC that help them to crawl the Internet? If
yes, I would be interested to donate my CPU resources.

------
Angostura
That last section made me tear-up.

------
matt_the_bass
Live music archive is great. One of my favorite bands has well over 100 high
quality recordings there.

~~~
pinfisher
Well dont leave us hanging! who is it?

~~~
matt_the_bass
Club D’Elf. They are a cross between morrocan trance and jam band. Though
there is a core group of musicians, the only constant is the band leader/bass
player. Depending upon who’s playing that night the style could be anything
from Pink Floyd-esque, gnawa music, MMW-esque, David Bowie-esque.

They have a dedicated taper following and their own sound man for nearly every
show resulting in at least 1 high quality recording for nearly every show
they’ve played in the last 20 years. And the vast majority of their shows are
at a small venue in Cambridge Ma.

I strongly recommend them.

But there’s lots of other good stuff on the live music archive.

------
sonofgod
I think it's more interesting what's missing:

* any mention of funding

* any mention of legal issues with controlled sharing

And I think that's deliberate.

I'm going to read this as "It's OK. We've got this. (But we don't want to say
that too explicitly for legal reasons)."

------
Good_Karma
tl;dr :

> While your donations during this time have been appreciated, there’s
> actually many things you can do beyond that, which will have a lasting
> effect.

> Take a walk through our stacks, browse, meander… enter a search term of
> something that interests you and see what pops up and what collections it’s
> part of.

> Become a Patron

> Curate and Upload to the Archive

> Tell People That the Internet Archive Exists

> Get Involved In Our Many Projects, Including The Wayback Machine

> But Most of All, Please Help Yourself First.

> We’re touched by everyone who has spoken of their love and support of the
> Archive and its many missions, but this is also a time of much general
> uncertainty: economic, health concerns, and upheaval in society.

> The Internet Archive is our job and mission. Your job and mission is to take
> care of yourself and those closest to you. Without you, we’re a bunch of
> hard drives on the Internet.

> We’ll be here when you’re ready.

------
PikachuEXE
I know it exists but I cannot think of anything that uses it yet.

What do you people use it for?

~~~
seisvelas
I recently needed to use the documentation for HTMLHint, only to find it had
been deleted. So I went on Waybackmachine, and there it was.

I ended up going on the repo and asking them to undelete it, which they did,
but in that moment I was lucky waybackmachine had it. This is one of hundreds
of times I've used it.

------
seneca
Unfortunately the IA showed that their leadership jeopardize their stated
goal. Flagrantly disregarding copyright law, however noble the stated reason
may be, showed an extreme lack of prudence. Making rash choices like that are
exactly the wrong sort of temperament you need for a long term archive. I
would love to see their mission continue, and would happily continue to
support it, but I have a hard time supporting the current people who are
executing it.

Losing the IA would be a big loss for humanity, but the blame for that rests
squarely with the IA leadership. Hopefully a more stable group is able to
continue the efforts somehow.

~~~
marcinzm
The mission statement of the Internet Archive is NOT to be a "long term
archive." Their mission statement is to "provide Universal Access to All
Knowledge." They're following their mission statement quiet accurately with
this action I feel.

That said, the IA shouldn't have sold itself as a long term archive if it's
mission statement contradicted that goal. So, I agree, that another
organization with a more aligned mission statement should take over as a long
term archive.

------
peace2all
I no longer support the IA. They are a few people who needed a “mission” in
life. But they aren’t true librarians or historians.

They waver between flighty utopian idealism and arrogance and self-justifying
activism.

It’s getting old. For every “practical” use of the IA, there are just as many
concerns.

No one really needs the old internet or all the old Geocities website and
first design interactions or personal blogs. There’s no market for it and no
one would pay for it.

If these folks had to hand-copy items or make photocopies, they would have
quit a decade ago.

They use scraping and cheap hardware to “brag” about their massive knowledge
base in the petabytes. Honestly, no one cares.

Outside of the circles of other digital borders and some tech circles,
everyone else is playing with their kids, mowing their lawns, reading books,
and such. Try to get your neigbor to go look at an IA website from 1996.
They’ll just go watch Netflix instead.

~~~
doomrobo
Funny, I recently stared in wonder at a cuneiform tablet in a museum. When I
looked at the description, I found out that it was a log of how much wheat was
sold in a transaction several thousand years ago. Why do you think we consider
that kind of thing interesting?

~~~
peace2all
Who is “we”? How many people go to museums and really explore them?

But at least you made my point. IA is a museum, but run by amateurs displaying
not Egyptian history, but homepages of 13-year olds from 1997.

