Oct 30, 2023 15:00:00

A record of a visit to the physical archive warehouse of the Internet Archive, which preserves not only web pages but also all kinds of media such as books, records, video tapes, etc.

Many people have experience using the archive service '

Wayback Machine ' to check the past appearance of web pages. The Internet Archive , a nonprofit organization that provides the Wayback Machine, stores physical items such as books and records in addition to web pages. Journalist Richard Matsumanus has released a record of his visit to the Internet Archive's goods storage warehouse.

A Visit to the Physical Internet Archive - The New Stack
https://thenewstack.io/a-visit-to-the-physical-internet-archive/

Below are some of the collections published by the Internet Archive. In addition to electronic information such as web pages and Android apps, the Internet Archive also publishes scanned data of physical media such as books and records online.

Since the Internet Archive only publishes scan data of ``physically held items'', the items collected by the Internet Archive are stored in a warehouse located in Richmond, California.

Matsmanus took a tour of the Internet Archive's warehouse. The Internet Archive logo is painted on the outside wall of the warehouse.

Inside the warehouse, containers filled with goods are lined up in a row. The man in the red shirt in the photo is Brewster Kale, the founder of Internet Archive.

The Internet Archive collects items through donations, and books, movie films, etc. are sent to the warehouse one after another. Items arriving at the warehouse are checked for duplicates of previously archived items, scanned and digital copies made available online. According to Karl, the Internet Archive digitizes 1 million books a year. In order to digitize a huge number of books, the Internet Archive has built a unique book scanning system.

The Internet Archive also uses its own scanning system for media other than books. The photo below shows the scanning system used to digitize old film.

Advanced scanning technology is also used to digitize records. The details of the digitization work of records by Internet Archive are summarized in the following article.

What method does the Internet Archive use to digitize records that are over 100 years old? -GIGAZINE

During the tour, Mr. Kale said, ``We have received donations of $5 (about 750 yen) per person from 110,000 people, and we also receive funds from foundations that support the Internet Archive,'' revealing the financial situation of the Internet Archive. It is said that it was made into In addition, the Internet Archive continues to be in financial trouble, and it seems that it is operating on the very edge of ``no air conditioning equipment to cool the server room''.