On November 6th, we will join our partners and colleagues worldwide to mark World Digital Preservation Day. For us at Internet Archive Europe, this day is a reflection of our core mission. Our commitment is to “Universal Access to All Knowledge,” but what does that mean in practice?
Our collection isn’t just large; it’s on a scale that is hard to comprehend—petabytes of web history, millions of books, and vast audiovisual archives. The first challenge is preservation: saving this digital heritage from being lost to decay, obsolescence, or deletion.
But the second, and equally critical, challenge is access. How do we ensure this material is not just a digital tomb, but a living, useful library for researchers, historians, and the public?
This is where a powerful new partner emerges: Artificial Intelligence.
The “Humans of AI”: A New Perspective on Preservation
We believe AI is a critical tool for unlocking the knowledge buried within our vast digital stacks. That’s why we are so proud to support “Humans of AI,” a new 10-part documentary series from information labs.
This series moves beyond the headlines of disruption. It focuses on the real-world, human-driven projects where AI is being used to make our shared history more accessible, searchable, and understandable.
Activation, Not Just Preservation
This World Digital Preservation Day, we are focused on the challenge of activation. Preserving petabytes of data is one thing; making it discoverable is another. Without new tools, our digital history risks becoming inaccessible, lost in a sea of data.
The “Humans of AI” series tackles this problem head-on.
The series begins with a fantastic example: Transkribus, a platform using AI to do the seemingly impossible—transcribe centuries of complex, unreadable historical handwriting, turning it into searchable data.
But that’s just the first of 10 stories. Over its run, the series explores the breadth of this new field:
- At Scale: You’ll see how national institutions like the National Library of Norway and pan-European platforms like Europeana are implementing AI to manage and share massive collections.
- By Community: It highlights the open-source tools from platforms like Hugging Face and the vital community-building work of groups like AI4LAM.
- New Interactions: The series shows how AI is creating entirely new ways to engage with culture, from chatting with 17th-century literature (Litte_Bot) to exploring complex ideas like Synthetic Memories and ClimateGPT.
- Our Own Work: We are especially proud that the series will conclude with a look at our own work at Internet Archive Europe, showcasing how we use technology to make our vast web archives accessible.
A Global, Collaborative Effort
This series proves we are not alone in this mission. It highlights a vibrant, global community of librarians, archivists, researchers, and engineers working toward a common goal. This collaborative, non-profit spirit is the only way to tackle challenges this big.
This work is part of a larger, systemic shift. For a comprehensive look at how broad this field has become, we highly recommend exploring the AI Opportunity Inventory, a multi-stakeholder initiative hosted at the University of Texas School of Law. It’s a fantastic database that tracks public-interest AI projects, and it proves that this is a global endeavor.
At Internet Archive Europe, our goal remains clear: universal access. AI is proving to be an indispensable tool in that mission, helping us connect the past to the future. We invite you to watch “Humans of AI” to see what this future of preservation looks like in action.
You can find the first episode and subscription links on the information labs website.
Join Our Event in Amsterdam
But preservation isn’t just about algorithms; it’s about people, connection, and community. The web is not just a data set; it’s a “poetic” space built by individuals.
To celebrate this human side of preservation, we are organising a special event at our Headquarters in Amsterdam about the “Internet Phone Book”, a wonderful annual publication that features essays, musings, and a directory of personal websites, exploring the creative, human side of the web. This session will dive into how the world’s collective memory is being indexed and kept accessible, and how digital preservation connects people and knowledge across time. To join the event, please register here.
- What: A presentation of the Internet Phone Book
- With: Kristoffer Tjalve and Elliott Cost
- When: Thursday, November 6th, 5:45 PM – 7:30 PM
- Where: Internet Archive Europe HQ, Oudeschans 16, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland
Let’s work together to ensure our shared past remains a living resource for the future.