12 Dec Archive.org – too good…

I am an archive nerd. I always have been. I blame my librarian mother for that. She used to hand me reels of microfilm over the counter after school to entertain me. I wrote a mandatory archive section into my research methods class. I have been known to wander into the Federal Repository at the UW Library in Seattle and not come out for the whole day.

Since moving to England, however, i have been unable to go to archives. Mostly because they don’t offer anything i need (though i am planning a visit to the Pall Mall Gazette archives in London while Jason is away in Belgium and Amsterdam this coming term – there was, apparently, quite a furor over the 1889 essay by Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth). I’d stumbled on Internet Archive while i was in DC at the NARA, and since being here, separated from all things American Military and Health, i have leaned heavily on it for materials that i would normally have just plucked from a library shelf. It has, quite frankly, saved my dissertation.

I finally got myself a membership, and i have to say, run! Quick! Get one! Even if you’re not one for archive research, there are so many amazing tools on there – everything from videos to music to cultural artifacts (they recently uploaded everything ever written in Balinese). They now boast 10 Peta Bytes of data archived.

For educators and students alike, they have also recently added a fantastic TV News Search and Borrow section. That tidbit you overheard at the doctor’s office? That political speech you vaguely remember? Those statistics that were reported differently across different stations and channels? You can look them up – easily.

Okay, i’m gushing. But on that note – and because i can’t help myself: Recently, someone offered to pay 3-to-1 for every donation made before December 31. So i thought i’d pass it along…