FTT - The Internet Archive - Cultural Artifacts in Digital Form

The Internet Archive

Cultural Artifacts In Digital Form

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

Just as we have done for years and years, humans accumulate a lot of stuff. Lately, much of our stuff is digtital. The Internet Archive is building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. It's a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that began back in 1996. Just like an analog library, it provides free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the general public. Their mission is to provide "Universal Access to All Knowledge". The Internet Archive has millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more. They are also committed to providing digital versions of published works through OpenLibrary.org, which is a California state accredited library. 

The Internet Archive is probably most well known for its WayBack Machine. This tool allows you to explore over 790 billion web pages that have been saved over time. Want to see what Google looked like in 1998? You can! 

Think about how many times you want students to be able to experience an original source. Using the WayBack Machine students can experience the early days of the internet. They can also see the progression of our digital world over time. Instead of telling our students about historical events, why not have them look at the websites from various news outlets on specific dates. Take a look at CNN.com on September 11, 2001 over the course of the day. Have students compare it to different websites from the same day. 

In addition to the WayBack Machine, The Internet Archive's Open Library offers millions of free books to check out and read online. You can brows the Open Library the same way you would browse any library. It also includes textbooks. The loans are very short but you can click renew as many times as you want.

There is also an archive of movies and television. Looking for a television episode from the 1960's ? I bet you're find it here. Want to find a commercial from the 1980's? You can search by topic or keyword and filter by year. You can have students view presidential campaign commercials from specific years. There is also a smaller collection of feature films and movies.

Besides websites, books, and video, the Internet Archive also has audio, software, and images. 

There is a live music archive that I think many of our students would find fascinating and relevant to what they are learning in many of our classes. There is also an archive of audiobooks and poetry, as well as podcasts and old time radio shows.  The image archive has a collection of images from the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Think about how much time we spend trying to help our students understand another time, another perspective, or an event that they have only heard or read about. The Internet Archive and the WayBack Machine can be an outstanding resource to add another layer of understanding as they try to make sense of what they are learning. 

Take a look at the Internet Archive. Poke around and see what is there and how it can be utilized in your classes. I think you'll be surprised at how many connections are made there.

Want some help getting started? Feel free to reach out via email or book a time with me. As always, I'm happy to help.