Internet Archives: Look up old web sites and many other things

Photo by Ethan Zuckerman

Just chatted with a friend of a friend at a party and he works at the Internet Archive. Did you know that web sites have been and are currently being archived? Yes. And many other things like live concerts, movies ... like from YouTube. All things digital. And it's international as well. That's what they're doing at the Internet Archive. Here's what their web site says about their mission:

The Internet Archive is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.

Here's what they have:
-- Moving Images
-- Live Music e.g. Grateful Dead concerts
-- Audio
-- Texts
-- Web sites (obsolete ones and current ones)

Moving Images? All kinds of movies. Here's an example ... a piece of propaganda:

The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair
This drama illustrates the contribution of free enterprise, technology, and Westinghouse products to the American way of life. The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair pits an anti-capitalist bohemian artist boyfriend against an all-American electrical engineer who believes in improving society by working through corporations. The Middletons experience Westinghouse's technological marvels at the Fair and win back their daughter from her leftist boyfriend.

Memorable moments: the dishwashing contest between Mrs. Modern and Mrs. Drudge; Electro, the smoking robot; and the Westinghouse time capsule.

The Archives are an incredible resource. Check it out here.

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