A senator from the United States has given the Internet Archive federal depository status, which will make it easier for users to access government documents, view their previous versions, and locate deleted ones.
The latest changes are now making the Internet Archive and its services part of the official US government document library, joining the country's massive library network.
For many years, the Internet Archive has provided the world with significant access to online files and information, especially in the United States, with this latest achievement recognizing its relevance on the web.
US Senator Grants Internet Archive Federal Depository Status
California Senator Alex Padilla shared a letter to the Government Publishing Office (via KQED's report), which officially granted the Internet Archive a federal depository status in the state of California. According to Senator Padilla, the Internet Archive is "leading the way" to provide online library services to the entire world amidst the massive technological landscape.
The California Senator recognized the non-profit organization's contributions as a "Universal Access to All Knowledge," emphasizing its free access availability to users.
The granting of federal depository status is under the Federal Depository Library Program that was established by Congress in 1813, and according to Engadget, each congressional member can designate up to two libraries.
Internet Archive Is Now an Official Document Library
With this federal depository status, the Internet Archive is now an official US government document library, which also means that it could get better access to the country's materials, as per Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle.
The founder claimed that the Internet Archive would be able to deliver a more reliable service to the public and partner libraries all over the world. Apart from this, it will also help the Internet Archive and other libraries to expand on digital preservation, which it is already doing.
The Many Features of the Internet Archive
It is almost 30 years since the Internet Archive launched its services on the interweb, with the San Francisco-based digital library hosting one of the largest open-access platforms in the world. As of 2021, the non-profit organization holds as much as 30 petabytes of data featuring 475 billion archived web pages, with as many as 28 million scans of texts and 14 million audio files.
While the idea behind the Internet Archive is to keep copies of everything found on the web, it has been controversial in its own right as it faced opposition from companies that own IPs which the organization made available online.
Particularly, the 'Great 78' project, which digitized and distributed sounds before 1972, faced opposition from record labels such as Sony Music Entertainment, the Universal Media Group, and more, which sued it for copyright infringement.
Originally published on Tech Times
