This might not be the best time to go to a bookstore or library, but as you have probably heard, the Internet Archive is a great virtual library in its own right. Only sometimes browsing books on the Internet Archive can be a real chore, just try finding a good fiction book, what a nightmare! So in an attempt to emulate the wonder and joy of browsing through the rows and shelves of a real library, the Internet Archive has recently introduced the Open Library Explorer.

Not only is the OLE more visually pleasing, not only is the OLE easier to navigate but the OLE is also very customizable. Want to travel through time? You can apply filters to ensure all books are from a specific time period. Want to rearrange the categories? You can switch between Dewey Decimal Classification and Library of Congress Classification with the push of a button. You can even switch the book layout to replace the front covers with splines for added realism. But don’t take my word for it, watch this guide made by Drini Cadini, the head developer of the OLE!

Drini Cami is a Computer Science undergraduate at the University of Waterloo, interested in Human-Computer Interaction. Drini himself is an avid book-reader, funny enough. I can imagine this is a project he’s deeply invested in.

Then what are you waiting for? Go on and Explore the Open Library for yourself! As for me, I will be reading Find it Fast, readers who know me personally are more than familiar with my obsession to go out of my way to hunt down the most bizarre trivia, here’s hoping this will help me hone my craft!

Have some good fun, watch yourself and Happy Hollidays to all!

What do they do?

First of all IA works to digitize new material, such as books or VHS tapes that probably haven’t made it on the internet yet.

They host a number of collections, which are often curated by libraries or educational institutions such as the New York Public Library and the University of Toronto .

And then there’s the Wayback Machine which started it all! It allows you to capture snapshots of webpages. Hence the name it works like a time machine, allowing you to view past versions of websites or even those which are no longer online.

They also have a whole bunch of other projects, including one which allows users to borrow rare books from libraries and keep a 14-day e-book version. See https://archive.org/projects/ for more information.

How do they do it?
Although it may come as a surprise, the internet archive has a physical location. The physical (books and similar materials) and virtual archives (servers and digitization equipment) are located inside of a former Christian Science church.

Most of their work comes out of here, although they are known to often collaborate with other libraries/archives or acquire collections from different collectors.

How do I sign up?

If you would like to work for the Internet Archive at their physical location you could check out https://archive.org/about/jobs.php.

That being said, anyone can browse the archives* and you can start an account if you’d like to upload items of your own from anywhere in the world**. You heard right! All you have to do to contribute to the Internet Archive is sign up right from the comfort of your home.

So what are you waiting for? Become an Internet Archiver today! https://archive.org/account/signup

*Browsing certain material (generally sensitive or graphic content) might require you to sign in with a registered account.
**Using the WaybackMachine to make captures of websites won’t require a registered account.

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