The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, the archive provides free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the general public.
The mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.
The project began in 1996 by archiving the Internet itself, a medium that was just beginning to grow in use. Like newspapers, the content published on the web was ephemeral – but unlike newspapers, no one was saving it. Today the 26+ years of web history accessible through the Wayback Machine and they work with 1,000+ library and other partners through the Archive-It program to identify important web pages.
Today the Internet Archive contains:
- 735 billion web pages
- 41 million books and texts
- 14.7 million audio recordings (including 240,000 live concerts)
- 8.4 million videos (including 2.4 million Television News programs)
- 4.4 million images
- 890,000 software programs
