What is the Wayback Machine? How can I get my site included in the Wayback Machine?

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine is a service that allows people to visit archived versions of Web sites. Visitors to the Wayback Machine can type in a URL, select a date range, and then begin surfing on an archived version of the Web. Imagine surfing circa 1999 and looking at all the Y2K hype, or revisiting an older version of your favorite Web site. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine can make all of this possible.

How can I get my site included in the Wayback Machine?

Alexa Internet has been crawling the web since 1996, which has resulted in a massive archive.

Method 1: If you have a web site, and you would like to ensure that it is saved for posterity in the Internet Archive, and you've searched wayback and found no results, you can follow these instructions at Alexa's site. Or go directly to the Open Directory site and add your site.

To add your site to the Open Directory, go to http://www.dmoz.org, find the category your site should be listed in, and click the "Add URL" link at the top of the page. We highly recommend reading their submission guidelines first at http://dmoz.org/add.html.

Method 2: If you have the Alexa tool bar installed, just visit a site.

Method 3: While visiting a site using the Internet Explorer browser, use the 'show related links' in Internet Explorer, which uses the Alexa service.

In all cases, ensure that your site's 'robots.txt' rules and in-page META robots directives do not tell crawlers to avoid your site.

Sites are usually crawled within 8 weeks of submission, sometimes much sooner. However, there is a 6-14 month lag between the date a site is crawled and the date it appears in the Wayback Machine.

Yahoo is closing Geocities. Now what?

The Internet Archive has set up this page to help people submit Geocities sites for preservation: http://www.archive.org/web/geocities.php

Yahoo also provides this information: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/geocities/close/

How can I have my site's pages excluded from the Wayback Machine?

The Internet Archive is not interested in preserving or offering access to Web sites or other Internet documents of persons who do not want their materials in the collection. By placing a simple robots.txt file on your Web server, you can exclude your site from being crawled as well as exclude any historical pages from the Wayback Machine.

Internet Archive uses the exclusion policy intended for use by both academic and non-academic digital repositories and archivists. See our exclusion policy.

Here are directions on how to automatically exclude your site. If you cannot place the robots.txt file, opt not to, or have further questions, email us at info at archive dot org.

If you are emailing to ask that your website not be archived, please note that you'll need to include the url (web address) in the text of your message.

What is the Archive-It service of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine?

For information on the Archive-It subscription service that allows institutions to build and preserve collections of born digital content, see http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#Archive-It

Can I link to old pages on the Wayback Machine?

Yes! The Wayback Machine is built so that it can be used and referenced. If you find an archived page that you would like to reference on your Web page or in an article, you can copy the URL. You can even use fuzzy URL matching and date specification... but that's a bit more advanced.

Why isn't the site I'm looking for in the archive?

Some sites may not be included because the automated crawlers were unaware of their existence at the time of the crawl. It's also possible that some sites were not archived because they were password protected, blocked by robots.txt, or otherwise inaccessible to our automated systems. Siteowners might have also requested that their sites be excluded from the Wayback Machine. When this has occurred, you will see a "blocked site error" message. When a site is excluded because of robots.txt you will see a "robots.txt query exclusion error" message.

What does it mean when a site's archive data has been "updated"?

When our automated systems crawl the web every few months or so, we find that only about 50% of all pages on the web have changed from our previous visit. This means that much of the content in our archive is duplicate material. If you don't see ""*"" next to an archived document, then the content on the archived page is identical to the previously archived copy.

Who was involved in the creation of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine?

"The original idea for the Internet Archive Wayback Machine began in 1996, when the Internet Archive first began archiving the web. Now, five years later, with over 100 terabytes and a dozen web crawls completed, the Internet Archive has made the Internet Archive Wayback Machine available to the public. The Internet Archive has relied on donations of web crawls, technology, and expertise from Alexa Internet and others. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine is owned and operated by the Internet Archive."

How was the Wayback Machine made?

Alexa Internet, in cooperation with the Internet Archive, has designed a three dimensional index that allows browsing of web documents over multiple time periods, and turned this unique feature into the Wayback Machine.

How large is the Wayback Machine?

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine contains almost 2 petabytes of data and is currently growing at a rate of 20 terabytes per month. This eclipses the amount of text contained in the world's largest libraries, including the Library of Congress.

What type of machinery is used in this Internet Archive?

Much of the Internet Archive is stored on hundreds of slightly modified x86 servers. The computers run on the Linux operating system. Each computer has 512Mb of memory and can hold just over 1 Terabyte of data on ATA disks. However we are developing a new way of storing our data on a smaller machine. Each machine will store 1 terabyte. For more information go to www.petabox.org.

How do you archive dynamic pages?

There are many different kinds of dynamic pages, some of which are easily stored in an archive and some of which fall apart completely. When a dynamic page renders standard html, the archive works beautifully. When a dynamic page contains forms, JavaScript, or other elements that require interaction with the originating host, the archive will not contain the original site's functionality.

Why are some sites harder to archive than others?

If you look at our collection of archived sites, you will find some broken pages, missing graphics, and some sites that aren't archived at all. Here are some things that make it difficult to archive a web site:

• Robots.txt -- We respect robot exclusion headers.
• Javascript -- Javascript elements are often hard to archive, but especially if they generate links without having the full name in the page. Plus, if javascript needs to contact the originating server in order to work, it will fail when archived.
• Server side image maps -- Like any functionality on the web, if it needs to contact the originating server in order to work, it will fail when archived.
• Unknown sites -- The archive contains crawls of the Web completed by Alexa Internet. If Alexa doesn't know about your site, it won't be archived. Use the Alexa Toolbar (available at www.alexa.com), and it will know about your page. Or you can visit Alexa's Archive Your Site page at http://pages.alexa.com/help/webmasters/index.html#crawl_site.
• Orphan pages -- If there are no links to your pages, the robot won't find it (the robots don't enter queries in search boxes.)

How can I add a thumbnail image to my item's details page?

First, make sure you're logged on to archive.org with the same email address you used to upload the item.

How can I get iTunes to create a new playlist when I stream MP3s?

As an iTunes user, you might have noticed that iTunes loads the Archive's streaming MP3s (M3U files) into your library, and subsequentially the files get shuffled and are out of order. We have come up with a solution to this problem.

How can I play OGG files on a Mac?

On the mac, there is a free component to ogg-ify itunes. The freeware VLC Media Player will also play OGG files. http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20020424233612407

I'm having trouble with a 'blank'/corrupted ZIP file. What do I do?

There are a variety of problems that may be causing this. Here are a couple of the most common. If you have a Mac running OS X, the default unzip utility (Stuffit) does not deal well with those Archive ZIP files that are 'compressed on the fly'. You may see an empty directory - if so, then try downloading Zip Tools for Mac OS X and using the drag and drop software within that to unzip your download. [Make sure you save your download to your desktop before trying things on it.] If you're having any trouble with downloads timing out or being incomplete, especially on Windows, then you may be able to use download managers such as GetRight. These will restart your download if it fails. However, some 'ZIP on the fly' downloads don't play well with download managers. If you find that to be the case, the safest thing to do is to download each track individually in a download manager.

How can I add a logo to the upper right corner of my Netlabels collection?

First, make sure you're logged on to archive.org with the same email address you used when you created your Netlabels collection. Then:

• Go to your collection's front page
• Click the "Edit Item!" link next to the title
• Upload the logo to the item's directory
• Return to collection front page and click "edit" link again
• Find logo file at bottom of page, choose "Collection Header" from the drop down list and click submit.

How can I get my tracks to show up in the right order?

The most reliable way to have your tracks appear on the page in the correct order is to name the individual files with track numbers, like this:
01_nameoffirstsong.mp3
02_nameofsecondsong.mp3
03_nameofthirdsong.mp3

What kind of audio file should I submit?

The archive is all about free access to information, so you should submit file formats that are easily downloadable and/or streamable for other site patrons.

The flash player is covering my files! How do I move it?

If an item has little or no description, sometimes the flash player doesn't have enough room in the top portion of the page and covers the files below. If you don't want to add a description (which would be nice, so that people know what they're listening to), you can add extra space in the description field using paragraph tags.

• Click the "Edit item" link in the lower left box
• Add several paragraph tags to the description field, like this:
  <p>
  <p>
  <p>
  <p>
  
• Click the submit button

For more information...

Check out our Audio Forum

Reading Books

How do I download a book?

Try right-clicking your mouse on the link for the pdf (or text file). This should tell your browser to start downloading the file to your hard drive.

You browser may prompt you to "save link as" or "save target as". That's ok, the download should still be a pdf (or whatever the source file you're selecting).

What's the best way to read the books without downloading them?

Archive.org's Read Online reader has the fullest functionality. Activate by clicking the "Read Online" link at the left of the screen. New features are being tested regularly!

The text on screen is too small. How do I zoom in?

Have you tried following the Read Online link? (It's at the left side of the screen.)

Please note that as beta project of Archive.org, new functionality is added frequently, through the Open Library project (http://OpenLibrary.org)

Another solution is to download the pdf of the book. You can then use a program like Acrobat Reader and view the text size at 120%, 150%, etc.
Adobe Acrobat software is free to download and use. http://www.adobe.com/downloads/#Readers

I'd like to upload a book. What format should it be in? How do you do your sponsored scanning for Contributing Libraries?

Probably the simplest way to contribute a text item currently is as a pdf. That way, the entire set of images can be submitted as a single file, and there are no special naming requirements, beyond ending the filename with ".pdf". If the pdf has no hidden text layer (i.e., isn't searchable), then after doing OCR, Archive.org creates a second pdf with a text layer.

Items can also be submitted as a stack of image files, one image per page. The files can be in JPEG2000, JPG, or TIFF format. We plan to provide a more flexible intake procedure, but at present, there are rather strict requirements for how the files in an image stack are to be named, and the stack needs to be packed into a single .zip or .tar file before submission.

When Archive.org scans a book for a Contributing Library, we use the custom-engineered "Scribe" workstation, but for many materials, adequate images can be made with off-the-shelf scanners or good-quality digital cameras. For best results, use the highest resolution your device is capable of. Most images we process were produced at a resolution of 300-600 ppi.

How do you do your sponsored scanning for Contributing Libraries?

The Smithsonian Institution shares this video about the scanning Archive.org does to help make more of their Libraries' materials accessible:
Smithsonian Institution Libraries: Creating the Digital Library (video)

One Do It Yourself approach can be found here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-High-Speed-Book-Scanner-from-Trash-and-Cheap-C/
http://www.instructables.com/id/SGP6LHRFTM72YMN/

This $300 book-scanning machine is somewhat similar to the Scribe machine used by Archive.org, which also uses open source software for processing book images.

The open source image processing software used by Archive.org:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/scribesw/

Discussion as development proceeded is in the reviews of http://www.archive.org/details/thelatchkey01millarch/

You may wish to also consult http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#140

For more on uploading, see
http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#Uploading_Content

How do I report that something's wrong with a book?

The Internet Archive strives for fidelity with its sponsored scanning for Contributing Libraries.

If you see an error, we'd appreciate knowing about it!

Please send an email with the URL (web address) of the book, and description of the problem, to info -at- archive.org

In some cases, you may know of alternate information about a book that is supplemental to the library bibliographic record. (For example, a new, more modern transliteration of an author's name.)

To share additional information like the above, you may wish to post it for everyone to see using the option to write a review of a book.

What is a book identifier? How is it generated?

For all items at archive.org, the "identifier" is a unique sequence of letters (with numbers also permitted) that is the basic unit of identification of an item. It travels with the digital object, and is involved in all ways of accessing or otherwise referring to an item.

You see the identifier is at the end of a URL (web address).

For this URL: http://www.archive.org/details/lifeworksofabrah112linc the identifier is "lifeworksofabrah112linc".

For sponsored scanning books, the Internet Archive uses a custom algorithm to generate each book identifier.

Example: hereismytitle00auth

Using this algorithm, up to 16 characters are pulled from the 245 field in the MARC record (MARC is a library catalog record format), and these make up the first part of the identifier.

Then, whatever volume information the loader indicates shows up immediately after that (for monographs this will usually read 00). And then the first 4 letters of the creator are pulled from the MARC 100 field.

The algorithm also has rules that pull out any articles or punctuation to decrease the chances of duplicating an identifier.

If an duplicate identifier is generated, the person loading the book record at the beginning of the digitization process is notified, and manually edits it to make it unique.

How do I view the PDF books?

Please see http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#62.

How do I read the books in other formats, like ePub, Mobi, DJVU?

ePub is an open textual format (not images of pages). Many readers are becoming available. A free one is from Adobe.
Mobi is a proprietary textual format from Amazon supported on the Kindle.
DJVU is an open format for scanned documents with free readers for windows, mac os-x, linux. It is compact, searchable, good looking, and open format.

What equipment does the Bookmobile use to print and bind books?

You can find a list of all the hardware and software used in the bookmobile here: http://www.archive.org/texts/bookmobile-in_it.php

You can also see a movie of a book being made here: http://www.archive.org/details/HowToMakeABookmov

What is the status of the Internet Bookmobile?

Internet Archive's Internet Bookmobile is currently out of commission.

What is the directory structure for the texts?

Note re the instructions below:

What is OpenLibrary? How can I make my book available via OpenLibrary.org?

The Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive (archive.org), a non-profit organization in San Francisco, guided by the goal of universal access to human knowledge. Our small team is working to create a web page for every book ever published, at openlibrary.org.

Some facts about Open Library you might like to know:

A recording I uploaded and marked 'no lossy formats' had them created (mp3, ogg, m3u, etc...) . How can I remove them?

If you come across this situation and you are the uploader, click [edit] and then 'Update'. You should see the message "Format Options Updated Successfully". Within 10 minutes the system will create a "_rules.conf" file in the recording's folder. Then, the next time the system performs an automatic sweep looking for changes, it will notice the new rules file and remove the lossy files automatically. The sweep occurs approximately twice a day, so you should see the files removed within 12-24 hours.

If you are not the uploader, fill out an error report letting us know that the derivatives shouldn't be there and an admin will remove them when they get to the error report.

What is the Live Music Archive all about?

This audio archive is an online public library of live recordings available for royalty-free, no-cost public downloads. We only host material by trade-friendly artists: those who like the idea of noncommercial distribution of some or all of their live material. Live recordings are a part of our culture and might be lost in 100 years if they're not archived. We think music matters and want to preserve it for future generations.

The LMA draws strength from the members of etree.org and other online communities of music fans devoted to providing public access to high-quality digital recordings of tradable performances. Typically, recordings are made by the fans themselves. Recordings are preserved in "Lossless" archival compression formats such as Shorten or FLAC (MP3 is not Lossless) for highest quality preservation.

Patrons may download from the LMA with the understanding that the artists still hold their copyrights. All material is strictly noncommercial, both for access here and for any further distribution.

What are MD5 files?

MD5 files contain checksums, strings of characters used to uniquely represent a file. These checksums enable users to verify that music files downloaded correctly.

A recommended tool for creating these files is MD5summer. Please note that before uploading the MD5 created with this tool you should open the MD5 in a text editor and remove the top 3 lines so the first signature is now flush with the top of the file.

What are FLAC files and how can I listen to them?

FLAC stands for free lossless audio codec. It is an open source, lossless compression algorithm for digital music. It compresses music files to 50-60% of their original size, with no loss in quality. More FLAC information can be found on the FLAC sourceforge site and in this etree FAQ.

If you upload FLAC filesets to the LMA, please follow the naming standards to help the checking program here. Directories should be named with .flac16 or .flac24 suffix, not .flac. Otherwise, the program will report failures.

To listen to FLAC files:

Macintosh: Download and install MacAmp Lite, a multi-format audio player, and then install the FLAC Plugin for MacAmp.

Windows: Download and install WinAmp, a multi-format audio player, and then install the FLAC Plugin for WinAmp. If you would like to use FLAC with your Windows Media Player (WMP) download and install the Directshow Filters for Ogg Vorbis, Speex, Theora and FLAC. This will allow WMP to not only play .flac files but .ogg files as well.

Linux or any other UNIX-based architecture: Download and copy "libxmms-flac.so" to your XMMS media player input plugins folder.

What are FFP files?

FFP files contain checksums, strings of characters used to uniquely represent a FLAC file. These checksums enable users to verify which particular source a file comes from.

Why are there no shows by band X?

We'd like to make sure that a trade-friendly band would not mind having their shows in the Archive for public download. The best way for us to find out is by getting permission from a band representative or by the band's having an explicit policy that covers this type of site. If there are no shows by the band, either we don't have enough of this information to go forward with archiving, they have declined participation, or we are ready to accept shows but no one has uploaded anything yet. (Also, see the band status FAQ).

Trade-unfriendly bands will not be found in the Archive, nor will otherwise trade-friendly bands who have declined to have material archived here.

Bands, see other relevant FAQs here and here. Patrons, see more about how you can help here.

There's no setlist for this show - OR - The setlist does not match up with the number of files. Should I submit an error report?

There has been an increasing number of shows uploaded to the Live Music collection without setlist information, or the setlist was not properly matched to the files. When you notice a recording like this, please submit an error report only if you have an updated setlist, or you are able to match the files up correctly.

We would prefer that you do not submit error reports letting us know that there is no setlist - tracking down setlists for every concert and matching them up to the recordings is a monumental task that has grown beyond the capabilities of the small group of Archive.org admins. We would like fans that are familiar with each artist's material to help us with this project - in your error report, please give us specific instructions on what changes to make and we will do so.

How do I burn FLAC files to CD as audio tracks?

You will first need to convert the FLAC files to another format that your burning program is familiar with. Windows users can use the FLAC Frontend, to convert FLAC files to WAV files, which are suitable for burning programs. For Macintosh OS X users, Dan Greuel has created a tool called MacFLAC.

How do I burn SHN files to CD as audio tracks?

You will first need to convert the SHN files to another format that your burning program is familiar with. The following programs will convert SHN files to WAV files, which can be burned to a CD. More resources are listed in this FAQ.

Macintosh: Download and install Doug Hornig's tool, appropriately titled, Shorten for Macintosh.

Windows: Download and install Michael K. Weise's tool, mkwACT. Or, another good tool is Foobar2000 - make sure you get the "Special" version to have Shorten compatibility!

Linux or any other UNIX-based architecture: Download and install shorten.

What is the status of band X for the Archive?

5/2006, significant site changes in progress: Formerly, you could check on the status of a band relative to the Archive on the Trade-Friendly Band Information page, which is no longer updated. This FAQ question has been updated for the new-system presentation of info. We have 3 categories:

May be Archived- Band sections have been activated by Archive admins. Shows can be hosted here to the extent permitted by the band. Click on the band name and then through to their Policy Notes link to see what limits they may have placed on taping, trading or archiving.

Pending- When a patron sends us information about having contacted an additional trade-friendly band, the new band is considered to be "Pending". Admins will update notes we keep on the band based on the information that people send to etree at archive dot org. (Sensitive parts of the info- such as email addresses used- will not be posted in the public notes.)

Important: Under the new system, we cannot create a "collection page" for the band name unless and until we know that the band May Be Archived. Further, no shows may be uploaded for any band in advance of a band section's activation. Under the new system, there is no temporary "upload area" to store filesets for bands whose sections are not prepared yet. Please send shows for bands on the active list only.

Opted Out- Some bands that may be otherwise trade-friendly may have explicitly said, "No, thanks" to our project. We respect their wishes. We still keep notes of their taping/trading policies for reference.

If your favorite band name is not in any of these 3 categories, there are several possible reasons: They may not be trade-friendly in the first place. No one may have contacted them yet. Someone who contacted them may not have informed us yet. The band may not have written us back yet. If a band did write to us, we may not have had a chance to activate a section yet, or we may not have received enough information back from them to setup their section. In some cases, we may not have received the email successfully, so that a resend may be necessary.

Bands, see other relevant FAQs here and here. Patrons, see more about how you can help here.

I'm an artist who would like to be included in the Archive, what do I need to do?

We'd love to have you! Just write to us at etree at archive dot org in English giving some kind of permission for us to archive your shows for public download and noncommercial, royalty-free circulation. It does not need to be a formally worded declaration, and can come from anyone you feel has the "say-so." We just need to be clear on how you feel about the project. We will put relevant quotes onto a new "collection" page (examples) for your performances, along with a link to your official website.

It is necessary for you to email us at etree at archive dot org in order to create a new section. We want to be sure that the go-ahead really is coming from you. Please do not attempt to create your own collection, or to upload any of the band's shows, in advance of receiving an emailed confirmation message from curators; such attempts may significantly complicate or delay the curators' setup process.

You can give as much or as little scope for archiving as you like. Some bands place limits on what can be hosted, and we can accomodate those. Archive Curators, volunteer fans who have proven to be in line with the spirit of this archive, will attempt to screen contributions for OK'ed material only.

At the same time you give the go-ahead, feel free to pass along any notes or policy links on your general taping/trading stance as well. You don't need to have a formal written or posted policy before inclusion, but we'd like to know how you feel about the topic.

Besides fans' sending their copies of your shows, you can also prepare and upload your own live recordings to the Archive, if you like. In fact, if you'd like to limit your material to selected contributions from you only, please just let us know.

If you have any questions about the project, please ask us anytime at etree at archive dot org.

Can I upload concert videos?

At this time, video uploads are not being accepted, namely because most of the bands archived prohibit the video taping of their shows. Moreover, unlike audio, where we actually have a shot at archiving the vast majority of any given band's live concerts (in very high quality format), video is scarce and, unless made by the artist (in which case, it's typically for commercial purposes), is not of particularly good quality.

The progress of my upload says 'File metadata XML invalid. Waiting for user to correct.' How can I fix this?

This is typically caused by illegal symbols being used somewhere in the information that was put into one of the forms submitted with the show (either the import form or "File Options"). Double check that the only characters being used are those visible on a standard English-language 104 key keyboard. More information and a few examples are here.

If you have trouble finding the cause, please post to the forum for help. An admin will have to resubmit the recording for another try, so please send an email including a link to the recording to etree AT archive DOT org if you believe you have cleared the issue.

More information on what XML files are and how they are created can be read here.

I have more Live Music Archive questions...who do I ask?

Feel free to email etree at archive dot org with any questions, and we'll do our best to post the answers here as soon as possible. Also, the message board is a great resource; with so many kind, knowledgable folks out there, you can often get a speedy answer to your question.

I have a different source for a show that is already in the archive, should I upload it anyway?

Yes! In keeping with the nature of this Archive, it is appropriate for multiple sources of the same show to be available for download. When you upload the new source, be sure to name the source in the show's top level folder to avoid confusion. Some bands do place limits on the types of sources allowed (such as soundboard recordings), so please check the policy for any given band.

How can I help get bands into the Live Music Archive?

If you know of a trade-friendly live-performing band that is a good candidate for the Archive, you can initiate contact. Some tips and letter templates can be found here. When you write, make it clear you are asking about the Live Music Archive at archive.org. Don't just ask about their general taping/trading stance. We want bands to know what's up.

Next, follow up with a message to etree at archive dot org. Mention when you tried to contact the band and what contact point you used. These are important in order to update our contact records. Admins will update the contact status in an announcement forum about Pending Bands based on the message you send us.

If you receive a reply from the band, positive or negative, send a complete copy of the email, complete with its sender's address/brief header info, to etree at archive dot org. It's a good idea to send a copy of what you asked them as well (if not quoted in the reply), since it will give context to the answer. We need to have full info in hand in order to set up the band appropriately in the Archive, and we may need to contact them for followup questions.

If you are hesitant to make contact yourself, you can mention the band to Archive admins (send email to etree at archive dot org) and they can try a contact as time permits. To help out, supply any contact or policy info you may already know about the band.

When I download concerts, I constantly get disconnected before the download completes. What can I do to fix this?

Most web browsers now support robust http downloading. For questions, see the support website for your browser.

What are the WAV MD5 files that are sometimes in filesets?

MD5 checksums files are not exclusive to SHN files. An MD5 checksum can be used to ensure the accuracy of any data file (e.g. .doc, .mp3, .mpeg). Some seeders produce MD5 checksums for their WAV files, as well as for their SHN files. This is just an extra level of confirm to ensure exact copies of the original WAV files are being burned from the SHN files. Checking a WAV file with a MD5 cheksum is no different than checking a SHN file. If you use mkwACT, you can just right click on the wav MD5 and choose "verify."

I just uploaded a directory that contained WAV MD5 checksums, is that OK?

The WAV MD5 checksums are ignored by our robot and will not cause problems for your recording.

My failure email is indicating that the text file failed. What can I do?

Unlike FLAC or SHN, text files do not translate identically from 1 platform to another. Since the archive.org servers run Unix, text files created on other Operating Systems will fail their MD5check. We recommend uploaders remove any text files from their MD5's if they are having this problem.

Can bands place restrictions on material to be archived?

Yes. Each band can tailor the extent of their permission to the Archive. We quote the band's wishes in the Rights section of the band's Collection page. Here are some examples of special restrictions bands have requested. We point out different cases in a band's policy information using a shorthand "Limited Flag" tag.

We have a contribution system set up to accomodate individual bands' requirements. During the upload process, contributors are urged to double check the band's policy notes at different stages. Archive Curators, volunteer fans who have proven to be in line with the spirit of this archive, will attempt to screen contributions for OK'ed material only. In addition, access to a particular item can be removed if it becomes restricted later (for example, a date newly chosen for commercial release must be removed under some band's policies).

Bands, please contact us at etree at archive dot org anytime to let us know how we can work with you to make things happen.

I just uploaded a show and all the files fail the MD5 check, what's the deal?

Please be sure that if you are choosing any upload format, you are uploading the files in "binary" mode. If you try to upload .shn or .flac files in "ASCII" mode the files will fail the MD5 check. ASCII is the standard format for encoding plain text files (actually a subset of binary), while binary is used to encode almost all other types of files. More information on binary vs. ASCII can be found here.

If this does not solve the problem, be sure that all the file names in the MD5 file match the .shn file names. Be aware that the UNIX system the Internet Archive runs on is case-sensitive.

If you upload FLAC filesets to the LMA, please follow the naming standards to help the checking program here. Directories should be named with .flac16 or .flac24 suffix, not .flac. Otherwise, the program will report failures.

Where have all the Dave Matthews Band concerts gone? Will they be back?

At the request of the band's management and as a result of the band's 2003 policy change, Dave Matthews Band concerts (as well as Dave Matthews solo concerts and Dave and Tim shows) have been removed from the Internet Archive. We're very sorry about this unfortunate turn of events but feel like it is important to honor the wishes of the band and its management.

For more information and discussion see this post:
http://www.archive.org/iathreads/post-view.php?id=3670

Why is there no Phish? What about Widespread Panic?

Phish has decided not to participate in the Archive at this point in time. Their official response can be viewed here.

Similarly, Widespread Panic has opted out of the project for the time being. They were last contacted on 11/9/2004. Their response can be seen here.

I used to use a download manager and now it stopped working. What's the deal?

Download managers increase your download speed by connecting to the server multiple times. Doing this does not significantly increase download speeds but dramatically hurts the performance of the server. If you wish to use queue to download from the HTTP servers, be sure you set your download program to only use one connection at a time.

What's the deal with magic number errors?

If you get a magic number error when listening to or decoding a SHN file, the SHN file is most likely corrupt. First, make sure the SHN file passes MD5 verification; if it does not, redownload the file. If the file passes MD5 verification and you are still getting the magic number error, leave am error report via the show details page noting the magic number error and which track the error occurs on. Hopefully others who have download the show will confirm or deny the error. If the error occurs for all downloaders, the seeder will be contacted to provide a new, uncorrupted track. Please note that there is nothing the Internet Archive administrators can do about a magic number error, becuase the only solution to the error is re-encoding the SHN file from the original WAV file.

Do you provide an RSS feed of new updates to the LMA?

Indeed! The URL of the feed is http://www.archive.org/services/collection-rss.php?mediatype=etree&collection=etree You can plug this into a front end like AmphetaDesk (available at: http://www.amphetadesk.com)

What does the 'Transferred by' field mean?

This field indicates the person who did the original DAT/MD/Cassette to WAV conversion. Also, note that in the case of recordings made directly to laptops there is no transfer.

Why don't I get an email when my uploads fail MD5 checksums?

The system currently only sends emails when MD5 files are included. This means that, if you're uploading FLAC files, you still need to generate and include an MD5 file if you want to receive informational emails about the failures.

A recommended tool for creating these files is MD5summer. Please note that before uploading the MD5 created with this tool you should open the MD5 in a text editor and remove the top 3 lines so the first signature is now flush with the top of the file.

Can I log into an FTP server to download concerts?

Update (2009April): To allow us more flexibility on access, we are discontinuing FTP read access. HTTP read access (as in downloading through your web browser), remains more popular with users, and shall continue.

My in-progress upload says ' No metadata describing files found. Waiting for user to enter metadata' - what do I do?

There are 2 XML files that get created during the import of any recording in the collection:

showfolder_meta.xml
showfolder_files.xml

The first file gets created when you submit the import form to the collection. If that file does not exist, you can create it by editing the details page and clicking Update.

The second file gets created by filling out File Options. Just click the link on the left side of the details page and fill out the form as accurately as you can.

If either of these files are missing, your Contribution may give you this message. Please note that once the files get created, it takes 5-10 minutes before the system notices them and moves on to the next stage.

Can I upload live recordings that were broadcast on XM Radio or Sirius Satellite Radio?

At this point in time, Archive.org cannot host recordings that were broadcast over either of these services. Subscribers have informed us that they were required to sign a "Terms of Use" document that forbids the recording/hosting/rebroadcasting of any material received from these services. Until we hear otherwise, these recordings cannot be hosted here.

The Grateful Dead is here, when will we see Jerry Garcia recordings?

The taping policy of the Grateful Dead does not extend to recordings of Jerry Garcia's other lineups. Jerry's solo work is controlled by his estate. Representatives have said No to the idea of hosting shows in the Live Music Archive.

Regarding removing the lossy files ... I edited my show, checked the box to remove them and clicked update. Now when I click update again, the box is still not checked. Why?

It takes 2-10 minutes for your checking of that box to 'stick' ... see this discussion board post: http://www.archive.org/iathreads/post-view.php?id=22816 for an explanation of why.

The upload instructions require a 'FLAC Fingerprint' file with my recording - how can I create this?

In Windows:

1. Open FLAC Frontend
2. Drag all of the FLAC files of your recording into Flac Frontend window. (you can also use the "add" button to do this)
3. Click the "Fingerprint" button.
4. Save the fingerprint file with a name like this: bandYYYY-MM-DD.ffp

I've got a great 'filler' for the recording I am about to upload to the collection - should I include it?

A 'filler' is music from a different performance in addition to the main recording, typically used to fill up extra space on a CD. Sometimes the filler is a different artist, other times it is the same artist, but a different show and date.

While this is convenient for burning full CD's, it is not appropriate to include fillers on recordings here in the collection since they get filed under the artist and date of main performance. Please only include the performance for the artist and date you are importing. Fillers should be filed under their own entries elsewhere in the collection.

Where can I find other recordings by [trade-friendly band] that aren't in the collection?

If the artist is OK with Internet trading, you may be able to find downloadable recordings through http://bt.etree.org or http://www.furthurnet.net. Also, check http://db.etree.org to find people who have copies of shows and who may be willing to trade. Etree.org has additional trading forums at http://forums.etree.org Lastly, you can check out a band's own fan forums and mailing lists. Good luck!

In contrast, the Live Music Archive forum at the Internet Archive is not a good place to post about trades, or to ask for shows that are not yet archived here, whether or not the band presently has a section here. Moderators may delete these posts. More posting etiquette tips for that forum are here.

I tried downloading a show and I got a '403 Forbidden' page. Why?

As part of the new (as of May 2007) QA/QC checks that the archive conducts on shows that are uploaded, more refined checks are conducted on shows. For more detail, see this forum post: http://www.archive.org/iathreads/post-view.php?id=124098 What happens though, when a show either fails it's md5 check, it's internal flac checksum check, or is missing an info.txt file, every non .xml file in the show fileset (the flac files, the mp3's, etc) all become non-downloadable. If you try and click any of the music files, you will be taken to a webpage titled "403 Forbidden" that will say: "Forbidden You don't have permission to access "ARCHIVE.ORG_Server/show_location/file" (specific to your show file) on this server. **** What this means is that the uploader has a problem with their show files, and as a measure to 'stop the spread' of bad files, the system is preventing people from downloading until the uploader contacts the archive to fix the show. If you as a user find a show that has the above problem, please check back later and once the uploader has fixed the problem, the show will be downloadable as normal.

How do I upload a show to the LMA?

As of 5/2006, the upload method has changed significantly. Here is a walkthrough in PDF with screenshots. Another text description is here.

Before uploading any show, read the band's policy notes for this site. Many artists place limitations on their material here, and info is often updated. Please do not upload shows for any band that does not yet have a curator-created collection page here, even if you know the band has recently emailed their permission. Advance attempts may significantly complicate or delay the curators' setup process for the band.

Next, be sure that you are logged in as an Internet Archive member. Have the fileset on your computer already, correctly prepared and correctly named. Files must be in lossless format (.flac or .shn), from lossless parent source material; we will optionally create the extra "lossy derivative" copies (.mp3, .ogg) onsite. Prepare to create an item, following example tips here or here.

How do I make corrections to shows?

Sometimes people make typos or other mistakes on uploads, or leave gaps in info that can be filled in later. You can help supply good information for archived items. Here is the current best method to submit corrections:

If you uploaded the show, you can make the changes to the details page yourself. Make sure you are logged in as the user who uploaded the show and go to the details page of the show you are trying edit. Click on the "edit" link next to the band name at the top of the details page and you will be able to edit the show details including venue, location, source, setlist, etc. Be aware that editing these fields will only change the show details, not the files themselves.

5/2006 update: If you uploaded the item and would like to replace or add to files within your item, under the current system this can be done without reuploading the entire fileset. More description may follow; meanwhile there is a walkthrough as a Word document with screenshots. Specifically to fix your items derived between 5/11-22/2006 that sound too fast in the onsite flash player (chipmunk problem), see this PDF document with screenshots.

If you did not upload the show, please click the 'Report Error' button and state concisely and precisely what the problem with that particular show is (If the problem is a missing setlist, please see this FAQ). If there are one or more missing or broken files that you can provide, please re-upload and re-import the entire show under a new directory name, and then hit 'Report Error' for the old, broken show, asking for that show to be removed.

What file formats are accepted for contributions to the Live Music Archive?

Currently, the Live Music Archive will only accept audio files in either of two lossless formats: FLAC (.flac) or Shorten (.shn). Please Note that MKW files (.mkw) are *NOT* an acceptable file format for your contributions because they lack cross-platform compatibility (Mac users are unable to play or decode MKW files)

In addition, please do not upload the lossy files (MP3 or OGG) next to your FLAC or SHN format files - the Archive creates those files automatically, provided that the contributor agrees to having them available. This ensures that all the files here have uniform quality options selected.

Please follow etree.org's Seeding Guidelines when preparing your contributions for addition to the collection. Pay particular attention to the Naming Standards section. A well-named identifier helps patrons find your show in our large collection. A well-named set of files allows files to be listed in the proper order at the site, and allows patrons to listen to them in playlists and burn them to CD in the proper order, too.

I like adding concerts. Do you have a preference on the way I put in information?

First of all - thank you so much for contributing to the Archive. Yes, here are some guidelines that will help us maintain good records for each concert.

• Do not include HTML in the source and lineage fields.
• Do not repeat information in the notes fields (such as source information, or number of discs). Only include information in the notes fields that is not already in any other field.
• If at all possible, keep absolutely nothing but song names in the setlist (even things like disc splits, set splits, etc. should not be in this field). If possible, putting all song names on one line, separated by commas is wonderful.
• Do not fill in unknown field with questions marks or N/A - just leave them blank. The exception to this guideline is the venue, setlist and source fields (which are mandatory) - in the event that this information is not known, simply write "unknown".

About Grateful Dead concerts on the Archive

Audience-made Grateful Dead concert recordings are available as downloads while available soundboards are accessible in streaming format only.

The Grateful Dead is being separated from the Live Music Archive into its own collection (with its own forum) to avoid confusion about lossless availability. The metadata and reviews for shows and recordings, even those not available for regular download, will remain available for those who maintain direct links. No filesets have been deleted from the Archive; certain items are simply not public now. Prior to our completing the changes, text files are easily referenced at a separate database.

At this time, the Grateful Dead collection is not open to public uploads. The Grateful Dead Internet Archive Project (GDIAP) will continue its direct management of this collection for the time being.

As far as we know, there has been no change to standard GD fan trading. It is common for bands to have policies that differ between fan trading, versus archiving here.

What are the options for streaming a full recording?

Hi-Fi: An MP3 playlist, readable by most players, that has the addresses of MP3 files encoded with a variable bit rate.

What are the options for downloading a full recording?

Update 5/2006: Please note that due to a major system transition, many items' ZIP files (for their "Lossless" links) have been deliberately disabled for the time being. Engineers are still working on the best method for the new system.

Lossless: A ZIP file containing Shorten files or Flac files. Unlike formats like MP3, lossless formats are true to the original - there is no degradation in quality.

Other Web Options: All files are displayed as individual links on any item's details page. Web-based download managers can be set up to download all the files you want from the page, as a group. For Firefox, the extension DownThemAll is a popular option.

Where can I see the rest of the 'Most Downloaded Items' in the Live Music Archive?

To view the entire Live Music Archive (everything in the "etree collection") sorted by 'Most Downloaded Items' go to this link: http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Aetree&sort=-%2Fmetadata%2Fdownloads

And here's one that lists everything but the Grateful Dead (like the one on the LMA front page): http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Aetree%20AND%20NOT%20collection%3AGratefulDead&sort=-%2Fmetadata%2Fdownloads

Where can I see the rest of the 'Top Batting Averages' of shows in the Live Music Archive?

To view the entire Live Music Archive sorted by 'Batting Average' go to this link: http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Aetree&sort=-%2Fmetadata%2Fndba

For more information...

Check out our Live Music Archive Forum

What's the significance of the Archive's collections?

Societies have always placed importance on preserving their culture and heritage. But much early 20th-century media -- television and radio, for example -- was not saved. The Library of Alexandria -- an ancient center of learning containing a copy of every book in the world -- disappeared when it was burned to the ground.

Special projects include OpenLibrary.org (link to faq) and NASAImages.org:

NASA Images was created through a Space Act Agreement between the Internet Archive and NASA to bring public access to NASA's image, video, and audio collections in a single, searchable resource. The NASA Images team works closely with all of the NASA centers to keep adding to the ever-growing collection at nasaimages.org. The site launched in July 2008 and now has more than 100,000 items online.

What is the nonprofit status of the Internet Archive? Where does its funding come from?

The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It receives in-kind and financial donations from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to: Alexa Internet, the Kahle/Austin Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and you.

Does the Archive issue grants?

No; although we promote the development of other Internet libraries through colloquia, and other means, the Archive is not a grant-making organization.

How do I get assistance with research? How about research about a particular book?

The Internet Archive focuses on preservation and providing access to digital cultural artifacts. For assistance with research or appraisal, you are bound to find the information you seek elsewhere on the internet. You may wish to inquire about reference services provided by your local public library. Your area's college library may also support specialized reference librarian services. We encourage your support of your local library, and the essential services your library's professional staff can provide in person. Local libraries are still an irreplaceable resource!

What statistics are available about use of Archive.org?

Aggregated statistics are graphed here:
http://www.archive.org/stats

Additionally, each individual item shows a download counts are shown on the details page for individuals items, and collections pages list the most downloaded items for that collection.

What software can play the downloaded movies?

VLC Media Player is the most versatile player we've found for playing the wide variety of movies found in the Archive. And, it's free! We also recommend MPlayer.

For Windows:
MPEG1 (VCD) most players;
MPEG2 (DVD) freeware VLC, shareware player from http://www.elecard.com, or for-pay quicktime6 plugin: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/mpeg2playback/ ;
MPEG4 quicktime6 from www.apple.com or VLC . Latest flash plugin for browsers.

For Mac OSX and 9:
MPEG1 (VCD) most players;
MPEG2 (DVD) freeware VLC ( http://www.videolan.org/ ) the for-pay quicktime6 add-on (see http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/mpeg2playback/ ).
MPEG-4 Quicktime6. Latest flash plugin for browsers.

Some Mac users have written to us suggesting MPlayer (OS X), BBDEMUX, and MPEG2DECX -- free on www.versiontracker.com.

For more details, troubleshooting, and how to play movies on other operating systems, see this how-to page.

Why do I get errors when I try to play a movie?

The best all-around, free player is VLC Media Player - it handles most of the movie files you will find on this site. If you're seeing errors when you try to play movies, please try downloading VLC and using that instead. This clears up many people's problems.

Can I use these movies in FinalCutPro -- in the Quicktime format?

You can Re-encode Mpeg2 movies to quicktime for FinalCut Pro using Cleaner5.0.2 using the following settings. There is no de-interlacing, so you don't lose anything. The files increase in size 10 fold, so make sure you have enough HD space. This procedure gives you quicktime movies suitable for use with final cut.

Cleaner 5 -- if you don't have 5.0.2, you can download.0.2 from the terran.com site.
- output > quicktime, .mov
- tracks > process everything
- image > image size constrain to 720*480, display size normal, do not deinterlace, field dominance-SHIFT DOWN
- encode > apple DV-ntsc codec, millions of colors, spatial quality 100%, frame rate, same as source
- Audio > we're still not sure about which is best. start with mono, 48kb, experiment.

Some have had good results with their decoder cards. compare a few films done both ways on a good monitor with scopes and see which method is best.

Sometimes when I play a movie, the video is choppy or very pixelated. Why is that?

Try downloading the movie to your computer and watching it locally. Sometimes choppiness occurs when we can't stream it to you quickly enough (because your connection is slow or our servers are overloaded).

Who owns the rights to these movies?

This will vary from movie to movie.

Is there a discussion list about the movies?

Yes — our list is about both movie content and technical issues. You can subscribe at moviearchive-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Are there other similar archives on the Web?

There are many sites that allow users to upload videos, but most of them only display very low quality video and/or do not let you download the videos.

What are those animations associated with each movie and how did you make them?

The animations on the details pages and on the browse pages are animated GIF files. In most cases, still shots from each minute of the program were grabbed and saved as JPG files (these are the thumbnails which you can reach by clicking on the "View thumbnails" links). Then a tool called ImageMagick was used to create the animated GIF files from the JPGs.

Can I stream the movies?

There are several programs you can use to stream movies in the Archive. Because we allow users to upload video files in any format, the same player will not always work for every single file, so it's a good idea to have a couple of programs available that you can try. Also, some files simply can't be streamed. Usually, this happens when the program that created the video file uses a codec that our software doesn't understand. So if you click on a stream link and get an "unsupported media" sort of error, use the download links instead.

Encoding Parameters

We attempt DVD, VCD, and MP4 streaming for broadband. We want these parameters to easily work with low-end video editors.

MPEG-2, DVD -- 720x480 or 702x480 interlaced. With a system header on each pack to be compatible with DVD. (Prelinger movies are 1/2 D1 352x480 29.97 fps which causes some players to make them look skinny)

MPEG-1, VCD -- Video Resolution SIF (352 x 288
PAL, 352x240 NTSC)
Framerate 29.7 or 25 for PAL
Video Compression MPEG-1
Video Bitrate Up to 1151 kbps constant bitrate (CBR)
Audio 224 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2
Stereo 44.1khz
Created with ffmpeg.

MPEG-4 -- 512Kbps h.264 VBR 320x240 video with 64Kbps AAC audio. Hinted for streaming. Created with ffmpeg and mp4creator.

What is an editable file?

An editable file is a file which can be downloaded and used in an editing program. The MPEG-4 are the highest bitrate versions we could do with the linux mpeg-2 to mpeg-4 conversion tools we use. These files can be read directly into FinalCut-Pro from Apple, and can be converted to mov using Quicktime-pro and read directly into iMovie from Apple.

How do I make DVD's from Internet Archive movies?

Please read this forum posting about how to create DVDs from many of the movies found in the Archive: http://www.archive.org/iathreads/post-view.php?id=26467. If you have further information to add, please email us.

How can I make a DVD using linux?

An Archive user sent in the following instructions for creating DVDs on a linux system:

To do this under linux from the command line: This requires a few common programs. Using any modern package distribution of linux installing these should be quite simple.

• mplayer (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/)
• transcode (http://www.transcoding.org)
• mjpegtools (http://mjpeg.sourceforge.net/)
• dvdauthor (http://dvdauthor.sourceforge.net/)

1. The first command copies just the video out of input.mpeg and produces output.video:
   mplayer input.mpeg -dumpstream -dumpfile /dev/stdout | tcextract -t vob -a 0 -x mpeg2 > output.video
   
2. The second command copies just the audio out of input.mpeg and produces output.audio:
   mplayer input.mpeg -aid 128 -dumpaudio -dumpfile output.audio
   
3. The third command combines the video and audio back together again in a format ready for dvdauthor:
   mplex -f 8 -V -o complete.vob output.video output.audio
   
4. This step creates the dvd structure. Create a new file with any text editor with the following:
   <dvdauthor dest="DVD_folder">
   <vmgm />
   <titleset>
   <titles>
   <pgc>
   <vob file="complete.vob" chapters="0,15:00,30:00,45:00,60:00"/>
   </pgc>
   </titles>
   </titleset>
   </dvdauthor>
   The chapters line lists the points to include chapter marks on the DVD for jump navigation.
5. Now let dvdauthor create our dvd:
   dvdauthor -x dvdauthor.xml

Done! You should now have a folder called "DVD_folder" with your movie. You can create an ISO or BIN image with mkisofs:
mkisofs -dvd-video -V "Movie Title" -o movie.iso DVD_folder/

You can play movie.iso in most any video player or burn it to a DVD:
growisofs -speed=16 -dvd-compat -Z /dev/dvd=movie.iso

If you just want to burn the film to a DVD you do not have to create the movie.iso image file:
growisofs -speed=16 -dvd-video -dvd-compat -V "Movie Title" -Z /dev/dvd DVD_folder/

Can I upload this movie?

You may upload movies that you own the copyright to, or that are in the public domain.

What kind of movie file should I submit?

The archive is all about free access to information, so you should submit file formats that are easily downloadable and/or streamable for other site patrons.

How can I embed a flash player with my movie on my web page?

It's really easy to embed our flash player with your movie into your web site. To do so, go to the item page for the movie you want to embed. Then click the flash player as if to watch the movie. When you do, you'll see a small question mark beneath the player. Click on this and you'll get the instructions and code you need to embed the movie into your web page.

For more information...

Check out our Moving Images Forum

Can I download files via FTP?

Update (2009April): To allow us more flexibility on access, we are discontinuing FTP read access. HTTP read access (as in downloading through your web browser), remains more popular with users, and shall continue.

What are some good FTP clients?

Update (2009April): Please note that to allow more flexibility on access, we are discontinuing FTP read access. HTTP read access (as in downloading through your web browser), remains more popular with users, and shall continue.

How do I download files?

To download the files on a PC, right click the link to the file, and select "Save Target As" or "Save Link As" (or something similar depending on which browser you're using).

If I remove my account, will my items also be removed from the Archive?

No, your items will stay on archive.org once you delete your account. If you would like your items removed, please contact us at info AT archive DOT org.

I forgot my password, what can I do?

As long as you remember the email address which you originally used when signing up for your virtual library card, you can use this form to have your password emailed to you. Bear in mind that your password will be sent in clear text, which means that anyone who views the email (or anyone with sophisticated "packet sniffing" software) can obtain your password. For this reason you should return to the Internet Archive website once you have your old password and change it to something new.

When I attempt to log in using my username and password, I am told that the username or password is invalid. What could be wrong?

There are several things to keep in mind when you encounter this error.

• Your username is your email address, not your screen name. Make sure you enter the same email address that you supplied when signing up for your virtual library card.
• Your password is case-sensitive. Check to see if the CAPS-LOCK key is engaged (typically a light would be illuminated on your keyboard).
• You might have forgotten your password. If you think this is the case, you can have your password emailed to you here

What is the difference between a virtual library card and an account?

These two terms are used interchangably.

How do I change my password?

You can use this form to change your password.

How do I change my screen name?

You can use this form to change your screen name.

What happens to my forum posts and movie, software, audio, and book reviews when I change my screen name?

Your old reviews and posts will be updated with your new screen name.

What happens if my email address changes? How can I change my email address?

You can use this form to change your email address.

How can I remove my account?

You can use this form to remove your account.

What is an Open ID? Do I have to register for one to use Archive.org?

For what an Open ID is and how you can use it, see http://openid.net

An Open ID is not required to obtain a library card (account) for Archive.org

My account is locked. What can I do?

It is likely that your account was locked because you uploaded multiple items that seemed to have rights issues or the content you uploaded was inappropriate for the Archive. If you do have rights to the content you uploaded and you believe it is appropriate for Internet Archive, please contact us with your thoughts at info AT archive DOT org.

Why not Squid or mod_proxy?

Both Squid and mod_proxy are great for reducing the load on web servers, and we encourage everybody to use them. The disadvantage of these caching proxies are that they only work "vertically", i.e., they reduce the bandwidth downstream from the originating web site to the users' browsers. That web site still gets 1 download per (non-cascading) proxy. The FreeCache system works more "horizontally", i.e., FreeCaches fill themselves up from neighboring FreeCaches if at all possible. Hence, the load on the originating web site is much lower. FreeCache and caching proxies are complementary technologies. Both can be used to reduce the impact on web sites.

Why FreeCache?

FreeCache is a demand-driven, distributed caching system. Cooperating caches exchange files without burdening the original site too much.

Why not BitTorrent?

BitTorrent is good and similar to FreeCache in that it balances download "horizontally". BitTorrent uses other BitTorrent clients for this balancing; these clients often become un-available after a particular file is not popular anymore. The FreeCache system utilizes permanent FreeCaches that don't go away (although particular files get flushed out after a while). Unlike BitTorrent, the FreeCache system is transparent to the end-user. No new client or server software is required, and the files do not need to be converted. To offer a file via the FreeCache system, all you need to do is prefix the URL with http://freecache.org/

What files are being served by FreeCache?

FreeCache can only serve files that are on a web site. If the link to a file on that web site goes away, so will the file in the FreeCaches. Also, there is a minimum size requirement. We don't bother with files smaller than 5MB, as the saved bandwidth does not outweigh the protocol overhead in those cases.

What's a good download manager?

We like wget, because you can tell it to play nice and go slow. It's highly configurable and very powerful. Wget runs on all Unix platforms (incl. Mac OS X), and it comes standard with Cygwin on Windows. If you prefer something graphical, Mozilla's built-in download manager works fine.

What is DocuComp?

DocuComp is a sophisticated technology that compares inserted, deleted, replaced and moved text and content in Web pages. It's patented algorithm has been specially designed and licensed for use in the Wayback Machine.

What do I need I to know to use DocuComp in the WayBack Machine?

You only need to know the basic functions of the Wayback Machine. Begin by typing an URL into the Wayback Machine and hit the 'Take Me Back' button. Once you've found your choices on the results page, click the 'Compare Archive Pages' button in the upper right hand corner of the page. The reloaded page will have a series of check-boxes before each page date. Check any two dates and select the 'Compare two dates' button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. The system is designed to automatically generate results for any URL's indexed by the Wayback Machine.

What Archive Pages are comparable?

You can compare any two pages from the Archive's library dating from 1996 to the present (approximately 55 billion pages).

Why should I compare results of past Web pages?

Access to the Archive's Collections is provided at no cost to you and is granted for scholarship and research purposes only. The DocuComp feature is intended to provide interesting insight into how content on pages in every field-- from the government to entertainment to business sites-- changes over time.

Where can I find out more about DocuComp?

Please visit the ww.docucomp.com site. DocuComp is a widely-used technology that is licensed by it's parent company, Advanced Software, into many of the software products and content management systems available today. Formerly a standalone application for Advanced Software, the company now focuses exclusively on licensing the DocuComp technology and patent to software vendors.

How are images compared?

When compared pages contain different images, only the new (or latest) set of images is shown. Images that were either changed or removed are not displayed in the comparison results.

Some images are missing in my comparison?

In certain cases, images within the Web pages are not available. Not all images are archived nor are retrievable from the original site. If they no longer exist on the original site then the images will not be available and not displayed within the archived pages.

Certain links or actions are not working in the comparison results?

Links to other pages may not be live if those pages (or links) no longer exist and are not in the archive library. Also, javascript enabled links and actions are disabled in the comparison results to prevent errant scripts from being run.

How can I report problems?

After comparing two pages, the upper frame on the results page includes a hyperlink to report results which return any page faults. By clicking this hyperlink, an automatic error report is generated to both the Internet Archive webmaster and DocuComp's technical team. If you wish, there is an additional help screen to describe the issue. Please keep in mind that with over two billion pages to index and compare, not all being created alike; some pages will differ greatly and not have a common frame of reference to effectively compare.

Can I copy and use my results?

The results of any comparison done on the Internet Archive site are governed by the terms of use listed at: http://www.archive.org/about/terms.php. Additionally, any use of the DocuComp trademark or logo without express written permission by Advanced Software, Inc and any of it's affiliates is prohibited by law.

Guidelines for Press, Magazines and General Media

DocuComp is a registered trademark of Advanced Software, Inc. Please contact the company at (866) 329-7480 or info@docucomp.com for background information on the company's history, technology data, or to schedule executive interviews.

How did you digitize the films?

The Prelinger Archives films are held in original film form (35mm, 16mm, 8mm, Super 8mm, and various obsolete formats like 28mm and 9.5mm). Films were first transferred to Betacam SP videotape, a widely used analog broadcast video standard, on telecine machines manufactured by Rank Cintel or Bosch. The film-to-tape transfer process is not a real-time process: It requires inspection of the film, repair of any physical damage, and supervision by a skilled operator who manipulates color, contrast, speed, and video controls.

The videotape masters created in the film-to-tape transfer suite were digitized in 2001-2003 at Prelinger Archives in New York City using an encoding workstation built by Rod Hewitt. The workstation is a 550 MHz PC with a FutureTel NS320 MPEG encoder card. Custom software, also written by Rod Hewitt, drove the Betacam SP playback deck and managed the encoding process. The files were uploaded to hard disk through the courtesy of Flycode, Inc.

More recently, Prelinger films have been digitized and uploaded by Skip Elsheimer at AV Geeks.

The files were encoded at constant bitrates ranging from 2.75 Mbps to 3.5 Mbps. Most were encoded at 480 x 480 pixels (2/3 D1) or 368 x 480 (roughly 1/2 D1). The encoder drops horizontal pixels during the digitizing process, which during decoding are interpolated by the decoder to produce a 720 x 480 picture. (Rod Hewitt's site Coolstf shows examples of an image before and after this process.) Picture quality is equal to or better than most direct broadcast satellite television. Audio was encoded at MPEG-1 Level 2, generally at 112 kbps. Both the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 movies have mono audio tracks.

To convert the MPEG-2 video to MPEG-4, we used a program called FlasK MPEG. This is an MPEG-1/2 to AVI conversion tool that reads the source MPEG-2 and outputs an AVI file containing the video in MPEG-4 format and audio in uncompressed PCM format. We then use a program called Virtual Dub that recompresses the audio using the MPEG-1 Level 3 (MP3) format. This process is automated by the software that runs the system.

An article on re-coding Prelinger Archive films to SVCD so you can watch them on your DVD player.

See archived version of www.moviebone.com/

Do I need to credit the Internet Archive and Prelinger Archives when I reuse these movies?

We ask that you credit us as a source of archival material, in order to help make others aware of this site. We suggest the following forms of credit:

Archival footage supplied by the Internet Moving Images Archive (at archive.org) in association with Prelinger Archives

or

Archival footage supplied by the Internet Moving Images Archive (at archive.org)

or

"Archival footage supplied by archive.org"

Do I need to inform the Internet Archive and/or Prelinger Archives when I reuse these movies?

No. However, we would very much like to know how you have used this material, and we'd be thrilled to see what you've made with it. This may well help us improve this site. Please consider sending us a copy of your production (postal mail only), and let us know whether we can call attention to it on the site. Our address is:

Rick Prelinger
c/o Internet Moving Pictures Archive
PO Box 29064
San Francisco, CA 94129
United States

How can I get access to these movies on videotape or film?

Access to the movies stored on this site in videotape or film form is available to commercial users through Archive Films, representing Prelinger Archives for stock footage sales. Please contact Archive Films directly:

Archive Films/Archive Photos
75 Varick Street
New York, NY 10013
United States
+1 (646) 613-4100 (voice)
+1 (646) 613-4140 (fax)
+1 (800) 876-5115 (toll free in the US)
sales@archivefilms.com

Please visit us at www.prelinger.com/prelarch.html for more information on access to these and similar films. Prelinger Archives regrets that it cannot generally provide access to movies stored on this Web site in other ways than through the site itself. We recognize that circumstances may arise when such access should be granted, and we welcome email requests. Please address them to Rick Prelinger.

The Internet Archive does not provide access to these films other than through this site.

What parameters were used when making the Real Media files on the website?

Rod Hewitt posted some very useful information here

Are there restrictions on the use of the Prelinger Films?

There are no restrictions. You are warmly encouraged to download, use and reproduce these films in whole or in part, in any medium or market throughout the world. You are also warmly encouraged to share, exchange, redistribute, transfer and copy these films, and especially encouraged to do so for free.

Any derivative works that you produce using these films are yours to perform, publish, reproduce, sell, or distribute in any way you wish without any limitations.

Descriptions, synopses, shotlists and other metadata provided by Prelinger Archives to this site are copyrighted jointly by Prelinger Archives and Getty Images. They may be quoted, excerpted or reproduced for educational, scholarly, nonprofit or archival purposes, but may not be reproduced for commercial purposes of any kind without permission.

If you require a written license agreement or need access to stock footage in a physical format (such as videotape or a higher-quality digital file), please contact Getty Images. The Internet Archive does not furnish written license agreements, nor does it comment on the rights status of a given film above and beyond the Creative Commons license.

We would appreciate attribution or credit whenever possible, but do not require it.

Can you point me to resources on the history of ephemeral films?

See the bibliography and links to other resources at www.prelinger.com/ephemeral.html.

Why are there no post-1964 movies in the Prelinger collection?

Because of copyright law. While a high percentage of ephemeral films were never originally copyrighted or (if initially copyrighted) never had their copyrights properly renewed, copyright laws still protect most moving image works produced in the United States from 1964 to the present. Since the Prelinger collection on this site exists to supply material to users without most rights restrictions, every title has been checked for copyright status. Those titles that either are copyrighted or whose status is in question have not been made available. For information on recent changes in copyright law, see the circular Duration of Copyright (in PDF format) published by the Library of Congress

For more information...

Check out our Prelinger Archives Forum

Can I see a list of the most downloaded movies?

Every collection within Moving Images has a "Most Downloaded" list in the right-hand column of the page. However, if you'd like to see a complete list of all of our most downloaded movies, click here.

Can I see a list of the most downloaded audio files?

Every collection within Audio has a "Most Downloaded" list in the right-hand column of the page. However, if you'd like to see a complete list of all of our most downloaded audio items, click one of the links below:

• All Audio Items (not including Live Music Archive).
• ALL Live Music Archive concerts
• LMA concerts (without the Grateful Dead)
• Grateful Dead only

Can I search by Creative Commons License?

Yes, you can. But it's a little complicated.

• Public Domain
• Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd)
• Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa)
• Attribution Non-commercial (by-nc)
• Attribution No Derivatives (by-nd)
• Attribution Share Alike (by-sa)
• Attribution (by)

How can I add my music, movies, or text?

You may contribute content to the Internet Archive if it's in the public domain or if you own the rights to it. If you own the rights, we recommend that you choose a Creative Commons license for it so that others will know how they may (or may not) use it. You can choose a type of Creative Commons license during your upload process.

For books, please see http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#195

How does the Share button work?

This exciting new uploading feature is a beta release. This means that it's currently under development, and we've made this early release because it improves the upload process and we can't wait for you to start working with it!

I want to add LOTS of individual items to the archive, how do i do that?

If you have a large collection of related items in single media type, like a radio show for example, please contact the Internet Archive. You can email our collections staff at info at archive.org. Please put start your subject line with "Collections:".

Be sure to include the details of your collection; we want to know how many items you have, what format they are in as well as any general information you can give us about the collection.

In general, collection pages are created once the number of uploaded items has reached 50 or more, or there are 50 or more items ready to be uploaded with their associated metadata.

How can I report an error for my item?

First, we recommend that you search the Forums. Many common problems have already been answered there, and you'll have an answer much more quickly.

How can I make changes to my item?

If you want to change your item's metadata (like title, description, file formats and titles, running time, language, etc.), or change the files in your item (remove files, upload new/more files, rename files, etc.), you can do this using the new “Edit Item!” link. Here's how:

• Make sure you're logged in with the account you used to upload the item
• Go to your item's details page
• Click the "Edit item" link in the lower left box.
• Select the "change the information" link

If you would like us to take down an item you have posted, please send an email to info [AT] archive [DOT] org. Please include the exact URLs of the items. Your email must come from the same email address you used to upload the item. This is the only way we can tell that you are the owner of the item.

Can you tell me a bit more about choosing a license?

From the Creative Commons website: "Creative Commons licenses help you share your work but while keeping your copyright. Other people can copy and distribute your work, but only on certain conditions."

You can choose a license to associate with your contribution and this license will be linked to when users see the details page.

How should I name the files for movies I upload?

Take for example a movie called My Home Video. The identifier (AKA base name) for this movie should be something like MyHomeVideo. The naming convention for the files depends on the encoding.

During upload, I get an error message about 'illegal characters' or 'file name prohibited.' What does this mean?

The folder or files that you are attempting to upload have characters in the name that cause problems with the system - so we have designated them "illegal". This includes the following characters in the name:

* ( ) { } [ ] / \ $ % @ # ^ & | < > ' ~ ` ! ? +

In addition, files and folders may not have spaces in their names.

You will need to remove any of these illegal characters by renaming the file(s) in order for the system to accept your contribution.

What languages are supported by Archive.org? How can I use accented or special characters in my title or description?

What languages are supported by Archive.org?

Archive.org supports all metadata about items in just about any language so long as the characters are UTF8 encoded.

(1) example of language:korean
http://www.archive.org/details/Shall_We_Protest_the_Candlelight_Documentary-iso

(2) example of language: Arabic
http://www.archive.org/details/ktb_tragm_rgal_pdfbook_ara

Filename support:

Support for Filenames is limited to pretty basic ASCII characters, like
A-Z
a-z
0-9
_
-
.

Additional character support for filenames is not an area under development at this time.

How can I use accented or special characters in my title or description?

You can use accented and other special characters in your item text and file titles, but you need to make sure you use the xml-safe code for those characters instead of typing them directly into the forms.

What kinds of formats do you want me to use for uploading?

The Internet Archive strives to archive content in open formats that are friendly to long-term storage and access. In addition to affecting long-term storage and access, giving us media in these formats will assure that they are accessible now, since many problems with long-term accessibility such as DRM and propriatary codecs also cause problems today.

How should I name the audio files I upload?

Take, for example, an audio called My Music. The identifier for this audio should be something like MyMusic. The naming convention for the files depends on the encoding.

How can I make links clickable in my posts?

You may have noticed that some posts have highlighted links in them. Internet Archive forums permit the use of HTML codes. Suppose you want to make a link to the Internet Archive home page, one that looks like this: Internet Archive home page. To do this, you would enter the following HTML code: <a href="http://www.archive.org">Internet Archive home page</a>.

How can I format text in my posts

Since the Internet Archive forum system accepts HTML codes, you can make text bold, italic, underlined, or even colored by using normal HTML codes. See WebMonkey for a list of HTML codes.

How do I subscribe/unsubscribe to a forum email list?

Next to all forums, you will see a small envelope. When logged in, you can click on this envelope which will allow you to subscribe or unsubscribe to any forum.

How can I connect to SFLan?

With a laptop: Be in the vicinity of a SFLan node. Associate with it: The SSID is sflanNN, where NN is the number of node, e.g. sflan13. No WEP. You'll get an IP number assigned via DHCP. With a house: Contact us at info at archive dot org. (Please include your address and a phone number.) Find out if you have line of sight to another SFLan node, buy a node, and we'll put it on your roof.

I live at 123 Main St at Crossing; do I have line of sight access to a node?

Go to our map at: http://woody.archive.org/nagios/cgi-bin/statusmap.cgi and see how close you are to an existing node. Also you can try something like netstumbler or kismet to look for a SFLan ssid.

What is the cost of a node?

The nodes cost $1100, which includes the price of parts and installation. Discounts are potentially available depending on the location.

How can I get a node?

Send an email with your name, exact address and phone number to info at archive dot org. Be sure to write "SFLan node" (or something similar) in the subject line. The information will be passed on to our fantastic installation team who will contact you.

If I get a node, can my neighbors connect also?

Yes, a SFLan node can connect your neighbors and co-condo association members.

What is included in the node?

Most of our nodes are composed of two radios, but some have three. The components are in a weather tight box with a four foot coax cable and two antennas attached. The whole unit is mounted on your roof (generally) on a pole. There is a picture of our lovely 5'3" spokesmodel holding one here: http://www.archive.org/iathreads/uploaded-files/AstridB-PICT0017.JPG

What are the power requirements of a node?

A node takes on average 5 watts.

What are the connection characteristics of the network?

There are no average characteristics, but 2MBs shared among 20 or so people would be an example.

What is the percentage of uptime?

SFLan is an experimental network, so the uptime varies. Right now uptime averages around 90% or more.

What about IP addresses?

SFLan uses real, routable IP addresses. These are usally given out dynically via DHCP. The nodes themselves use static addresses. We can also assign static addresses for servers. For the techies: We use tunneling, layer 2 and layer 3 bridging in parts on the network to make it all appear as a "flat" LAN. There are pros and cons about this approach. It has worked best for us so far. However, it is a moving target, and might change in the future.

I still have more questions, what should I do?

SFLan is a work in progress. If you have more questions, try the SFLan forum. If you still need help, write to info at archive dot org.

How do I report that there's an issue with an item?

The Internet Archive (Archive.org) is a nonprofit library that preserves digital cultural artifacts, and provides online access to over a million users a day with the goal of universal access to all knowledge.

To report an item which violates the Internet Archive's Terms of Use, please send an email with the URL (web address) of the item to info -at- archive.org

The Internet Archive follows the Oakland Archive Policy for Managing Removal Requests And Preserving Archival Integrity. (When reviewing the Oakland Archive Policy, please note that information about requests coming from webmasters is information to assist with archived websites in particular.)
For more information, see http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#Rights.

How do I report that something's wrong with a book?

The Internet Archive strives for fidelity with its sponsored scanning for Contributing Libraries.

If you see an error, we'd appreciate knowing about it!

Please send an email with the URL (web address) of the book, and description of the problem, to info -at- archive.org

In some cases, you may know of alternate information about a book that is supplemental to the library bibliographic record. (For example, a new, more modern transliteration of an author's name.)

To share additional information like this, you may wish to post it using the option to write a review of a book.

For more information on the Internet Archive's sponsored scanning,
please see http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#Texts_and_Books

For more information on books that users upload, or for information on how to upload your own,
please see http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#Texts_and_Books

There's a problem with the item -- what next?

Some changes to our system, to individual items, or to collections can take a day to appear on Archive.org. If you're experiencing a problem with an item, we recommend trying again after a day. Often the issue will then have already been resolved.

How can I take my file off the site?

If you would like us to take down an item that you have uploaded, please send an email to info -at- archive.org

Please note that you need to include the URL (web address) of the item.

Your email must come from the same email address you used to upload the item. This is the only way we can tell that you are the owner of the item.

As always, if you write in, please be sure any spam filter you have is set to accept email from @archive.org.

Please see also the further resources at http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#Uploading_Content

Can I use this ____ for ____ ?

The person who uploads an item usually provides information about what can and cannot be done with the item. This is usually through setting a Creative Commons license.

To find what the uploader specified, look for a Creative Commons logo on the details page of the content in question. This logo will be a link to a description of the specific type of license that the uploader has assigned to the movie.

If there is no creative commons logo, then in most cases there will be contact info for the creator or rights holding company/organization

Archive.org cannot advise on the potential licensing status of uploaded items.

The Internet Archive follows the Oakland Archive Policy for Managing Removal Requests And Preserving Archival Integrity.

You may find these resources helpful:

CreativeCommons.org

Chilling Effects Clearinghouse Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

Electronic Frontier Foundation Electronic Frontier Foundation

Please see also:

Who owns the rights to these movies?

http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#49

Are there restrictions on the use of the Prelinger Films?

http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#197

How do I find out information about use of NASA images?

What is non-Commercial Use?

What is non-Commercial Use? Please see http://www.archive.org/iathreads/post-view.php?id=111591

A link the Terms of Use for Archive.org is at the bottom of each page.

How can I contact the person / group who uploaded an item?

Internet Archive is unable to release any contact information for patrons. However, it may be worth your while to post a review for the item in question - this automatically sends an email to the email address associated with the uploader's account, notifying them that their upload has been reviewed. You could pose your queries/requests for information therein.

What equipment does the Internet Archive use? What APIs?

Storage systems used by the Internet Archive:

What is Archive-It? How can I use it?

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine is a service that allows people to visit archived versions of Web sites. Visitors to the Wayback Machine can type in a URL, select a date range, and then begin surfing on an archived version of the Web. Imagine surfing circa 1999 and looking at all the Y2K hype, or revisiting an older version of your favorite Web site. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine can make all of this possible.

What is Archive-It?

Archive-It is a subscription service that allows institutions to build and preserve collections of born digital content. Through the user-friendly web application, Archive-It partners can harvest, catalog, manage, and browse their archived collections. Collections are hosted at the Internet Archive data center and are accessible to the public with full-text search.

Why would I subscribe to Archive-It instead of using the Wayback machine at Internet Archive?

Subscribers to this service can create distinct Web archives called "collections", containing only the born digital content they are interested in harvesting, at whatever frequency suits their needs. All collections are full-text searchable. The collections created with Archive-It can be cataloged and managed directly by the subscriber. We keep a minimum of two copies of each collection online. These Archive-It features are currently available in the General Archive at www.archive.org.

How frequently can I archive Web sites?

Archive-It is very flexible: you can harvest material from the Web using nine (9) different frequencies, from daily to annual. Subscribers can select different crawl frequencies for each chosen URL. Additionally, your institution can also chose to start a crawl "on demand" in the case of an unforeseen spontaneous or historic event.

Who gets access to the collections created in Archive-It?

By default, all collections are available for public access from the main page at www.archive-It.org. However, a subscriber can choose to have their collection(s) made private by special arrangement.

How can I search the collections?

Archive-It provides full text search capability for all public collections. You can also browse by URL from the list provided for each collection. The public can browse and search collections by partner type or collection from www.archive-it.org.

What types of institutions can subscribe to Archive-It?

Archive-It is designed to fit the needs of many types of organizations and individuals. The 95+ partners include: state archives, university libraries, federal institutions, state libraries, non government non profits, museums, historians, and independent researchers.

Who decides which content to archive in Archive-It?

Subscribers develop their own collections and have complete control over which content to archive within those collections.

Where is the data stored for Archive-It collections?

All data created using the Archive-It service is hosted and stored by the Internet Archive. We store two copies online and are working with partners to have redundant copies in other locations at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt and other locations in the U.S. Subscribers can also request a copy of their data for local use and preservation either on a hard drive or over the internet.