What is the Internet Archive?
Q: What is the Internet Archive?
A: The Internet Archive (IA) is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, California that has an on-line library and archive of Web and multimedia resources. It was founded by Brewster Kahle in 1996.
Q: What does the Internet Archive contain?
A: The Internet Archive contains "snapshots of the World Wide Web", software, movies, books, and audio recordings.
Q: How are books made available on the Internet?
A: Books are first placed into special scanning machines by volunteers and employees of the library. These machines take very high quality pictures of the books' pages, and then images and text of the books are freely available on the Website. This process is called "digitization".
Q: Where are original collections stored?
A: Original collections such as films and sound recordings are digitized before being made available online, but they are also stored in a giant warehouse in California just like normal libraries store their smaller collections of books or other records.
Q: What is Open Library?
A: Open Library is a collection created by computer programmer and activist Aaron Swartz with the aim to create "one web page for every book ever published."
Q: How can readers access electronic books from The Internet Archive?
A: Electronic books can be read by viewing The Internet Archive's Website, on a reader's own computer or electronic reading device, or even in special reading areas inside The Internet Archive where tables have touchscreens and computers built into them.
Q: How does The Internet Archive ensure its stability?
A: To ensure its stability and endurance, The Internet Archive is mirrored at Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt which is the only library in the world with a mirror.
