The critical window of shadow libraries - Anna’s Blog
peter.suber's bookmarks 2024-07-18
Summary:
"At Anna’s Archive, we are often asked how we can claim to preserve our collections in perpetuity, when the total size is already approaching 1 Petabyte (1000 TB), and is still growing. In this article we’ll look at our philosophy, and see why the next decade is critical for our mission of preserving humanity’s knowledge and culture....
Herein lies the unique role of shadow libraries, and the reason Anna’s Archive exists. We can do things that other institutions are not allowed to do. Now, it’s not (often) that we can archive materials that are illegal to preserve elsewhere. No, it’s legal in many places to build an archive with any books, papers, magazines, and so on....
If these forecasts are accurate, we just need to wait a couple of years before our entire collection will be widely mirrored. Thus, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, “placed beyond the reach of accident.” .."