Archive for April, 2009

The Library of Congress at Your Fingertips

April 29, 2009 at 11:41 am · Filed under Cool Books, Cool items, News

To visit The Library of Congress has long been thought of as a distinguished event for the privileged few. Most people throughout the world are unable to get to Washington D.C., so the plethora of resources housed in the library has remained untapped for the general population. However, as the Library of Congress continues to digitize more and more of the material in their collections, universal access to human knowledge seems in much closer reach. A child on the coast of Oregon or a CEO in Russia will be able to browse the material in the Library of Congress without the expensive plane ticket to D.C. Furthermore, books that were once considered too fragile to lend out will be available for use digitally.

The Library of Congress officially opened its scanning center this past January, and footage from the launch is now available on Internet Archive. The current holdings of Library of Congress books on Internet Archive can be found within their collection page, which now boasts more than 30,000 items.

Internet Archive is extremely pleased to be a part of this wonderful project, which we see as a perfect example of the far-reaching possibilities of digital archiving and open sharing.

–Cara Binder

Bookmark and Share

Comments (16)

Images on the Live Music Archive!

April 20, 2009 at 1:19 pm · Filed under Cool Audio, Cool items, audio ·Tagged ,

A note from the forums…

Hi there,

We want to encourage all of you to attach any image files you may have to the live shows you upload. A good photo of a band playing can really enhance an item; although the recordings are certainly the most important part, it’s always fun to see the band playing.

Here are some examples of items that are rounded out with interesting images:

  • A Trampled by Turtles show with images from the show attached
  • A Yonder Mountain String Band show with a photo of the ticket stub attached
  • A John Mayer show with a photo of the cover of the CD which was made from the show
  • A Mountain Goats show with a photo of John Darnielle attached

    • Please add photos you may have to update your shows and make the Live Music Archive that much more exciting :)

    Thanks for all you do to contribute to archive.org!

    Best,
    Cara

    Bookmark and Share

    Leave a Comment

    Audio and Video improvements

    April 14, 2009 at 4:18 pm · Filed under audio, movies ·Tagged , , , ,

    Hi Patrons,

    Yesterday we made live a large update to the way we create the audio and video displayed on our site.  Most folks might not notice the changes, so here’s a rundown:

    For Audio:

    • We can now read and make mp3s from 24-bit Flac files.  This has been requested for many years and we are thrilled to get it working.
    • The Ogg audio files that we create from audio files will now be using an updated “libvorbis” library.  (The library we were using before today was from 2001! 8-) )
    • We are no longer making 64kb MP3s (or zips or m3u playlists of those files).  This was a judgement call — given how poor the sound quality is for these files and the fact that most people are getting more and more bandwidth to their devices and computers.
    • Simplified back-end system, relying more and more on “ffmpeg” for format conversion.
    • We will now (try to) make derivatives from “.aac” (Advanced Audio Coding) files and “.ra”/”.rm” (Real Audio) files.
    • General ability to read more kinds of audio files more reliably.

    For Movies:

    • The Ogg Video files that we create from movies files will now be using an updated “libvorbis” library for their audio.  (Previously we were using the “non reference” library ogg encoder.  Now we are using the much asked for and newer “libvorbis” library).
    • Updated ffmpeg to v0.5.   This allows for a much wider range of source audio/video containers and codecs.  We will be able to derive HD-quality video formats like DV-50 and DV-100.   (For those interested in ffmpeg, changelog).
    • Better detection of widescreen movies (so less of our movies on our site will incorrectly appear “squooshed”).
    • General ability to read more kinds of video files more reliably.
    • Noting the prior point, we were able to get streaming videos for about 170 TV archive items that we could not process previously.

    Enjoy!

    –Tracey Jaquith

    Bookmark and Share

    Comments (20)

    Swirl, Sniff, Sip With The Bancroft Library

    April 7, 2009 at 11:00 am · Filed under Cool Books, Cool items

    The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley preserves some of the most intriguing rare and hard-to-find books in the country. According to their Web site, their holdings include 60,000 manuscript items, 8,000,000 photographs/pictorial materials, 43,000 microforms, and 23,000 maps. On the Archive, their digitized materials include classics like Joyce’s Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, issues of Pacific Science Monthly, and a copy of Grammar of the Mikmaque Language of Nova Scotia.

    The scope of the collection is large, with arguably some of the best sub-collections sitting in the Regional Oral History Office collection. ROHO is a department preserving Californian and West Coat history based primarily on interviews conducted, recorded, and transcribed. One such topic that ROHO has researched and preserved is wine, vinters, and Napa Valley.

    Below is some required reading for all who wish to out-snob their friends at the next wine night:

  • Creating classic wines in the Napa Valley
  • Launching Bordeaux style wines in the Napa Valley
  • Sonoma County wine making
  • Marketing California wine and brandy
  • Fumé blanc and mertiage wines in Sonoma County: Dry Creek Vineyard’s pioneer winemaking
  • Wines, music, and lifelong education
  • Six decades of making wine in Mendocino County

    • Cheers!

    –Cara Binder

    Bookmark and Share

    Leave a Comment

    “Back Into the Shared Culture it Goes”

    April 2, 2009 at 12:07 pm · Filed under Cool Movies, News, movies

    Sita Sings the Blues is a refreshingly unique animation that has gotten a rise out of people on both sides of the open and shared culture debate. In the film, creator Nina Paley weaves together the strikingly personal story of her own divorce with the ancient Indian tale of Sita and Rama. Set to the alluring vocals of Annette Hanshaw, the soundtrack has elicited dispute over rights issues.

    Paley says on her Web site, “I hereby give Sita Sings the Blues to you. Like all culture, it belongs to you already, but I am making it explicit with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. Please distribute, copy, share, archive, and show Sita Sings the Blues. From the shared culture it came, and back into the shared culture it goes. “

    The Archive welcomes this piece of art with open virtual arms, hoping to share this bit of culture with as many users as possible, as Paley has intended. You can download the full length film here, get high-resolution stills here, watch the trailer here, and see an interview with Paley regarding the connection between expression and copyright here.

    While the cultural arguments have begun to define this work, the film stands firmly on its own as an utterly engaging and enjoyable piece of entertainment. The animation, which seamlessly flows between entirely different styles and story lines, is to be admired by even those who do not regularly seek out animated stories. Assuming the viewer is familiar with heartache and heartbreak (which they likely are), Rama and Sita and Nina and her ex-husband will be relatable in many ways.

    With more than 40,000 downloads on archive.org and nothing but rave reviews it is clear that Paley has created a stand-out film. Enjoy it on the Archive, or, perhaps it’s playing near you.

    –Cara Binder

    Bookmark and Share

    Comments (4)