All articles tagged with #digital preservation
Anna's Archive claims to have scraped and archived metadata for 256 million tracks from Spotify, creating the largest publicly available music database aimed at preservation, though this activity violates copyright laws and Spotify has taken measures against such scraping.
The article discusses the recent cracking of Spotify's DRM, enabling large-scale downloading of music, which raises concerns about piracy, research datasets, and the music industry's response. It highlights the ideological motivations behind archiving efforts like Anna's Archive, debates the value and impact of piracy on artists and the industry, and touches on the broader implications for digital rights, AI training, and cultural preservation.
The UK House of Commons discussed the need for stronger consumer protections for digital games, citing Concord's sudden shutdown as an example, and emphasizing the importance of preserving gaming culture and safeguarding players' investments, despite the government's stance to maintain current laws.
Cambridge University Library is working to rescue valuable historical data stored on old floppy disks, including materials from Stephen Hawking, amid concerns that digital data from the past 50 years could be lost due to degradation and obsolete technology, risking a 'digital dark age.'
Game historian Bruno de Figueiredo has successfully preserved and shared online the ISO of TRIPITAKA, one of the rarest video games with only one known physical copy, highlighting ongoing efforts and challenges in video game preservation amid industry shifts and legal hurdles.
The BBC is in talks with major tech companies to explore using artificial intelligence to improve access to its vast archives, aiming to make it easier for users to find and view historical content. The broadcaster is looking to collaborate with companies like Google and Microsoft to develop AI tools that can help with tasks such as tagging and categorizing content, as well as preserving digital materials for future generations.
A study of over seven million digital publications found that more than two million articles with active DOIs were not properly archived, highlighting the failure of systems to preserve papers online. This poses a significant challenge to the long-term sustainability of the research ecosystem, as the inability to verify past research could lead to a reliance on blind faith. The study suggests measures to improve digital preservation, including stronger requirements at DOI registration agencies and better education and awareness among publishers and researchers.
After 32 years, New Mexico State University announced the closure of its Hobbes OS/2 Archive, a significant resource for IBM OS/2 users. The archive, set to shut down on April 15, 2024, contains a wealth of OS/2 software, games, and utilities dating back to 1987. Despite efforts to mirror the files elsewhere, the closure marks the end of an era in Internet history. OS/2, once a competitor to Windows, continues to have a legacy in specialized applications, and the loss of Hobbes underscores the importance of preserving digital heritage for future generations.
Curators and conservators are facing the challenge of preserving and updating artworks that were created using obsolete technology. Museums are relying on businesses like CTL Electronics, which specializes in repairing video artworks made with outdated hardware. The rapid pace of technological advancements poses a dilemma for art institutions, as they must find ways to protect and conserve art that relies on technologies that are no longer in use. Some solutions include replacing old hardware with newer alternatives, using emulation techniques, or even exploring unconventional methods like archiving art in DNA. The preservation of digital art and the prevention of digital obsolescence are becoming increasingly important in the art world.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk's planned purge of dormant accounts, which he claims number 1.5 billion, could result in the loss of cherished accounts, including those of deceased celebrities and brands, and could be chaotic. The move has been compared to "burning the public record to sell personalized number plates." Twitter is seen as a de facto public square of the internet, and the loss of potentially billions of accounts could break it. The planned purge highlights Musk's struggles to understand what he owns, and the importance of effective and carefully managed preservation of social media accounts.
Members of the Something Awful forums have been working to download and preserve a three-terabyte collection of images and short videos from Imgur, one of the longest-running communities on the web. The project, dubbed the Great Imgur Download Caper, is part of a constant struggle to preserve digital culture and convince people that it matters. Something Awful's owner, Jeffrey of YOSPOS, plans to have the images hosted by the end of May, leaving a minimal gap if anything is deleted. The forum's managers will have to update posts to make sure they link to archived images, keeping their original context preserved.
YouTuber The Completionist spent almost a year buying every single video game on the Wii U and 3DS eShops before they closed, purchasing a total of 866 Wii U games and 1547 3DS titles, spending $22,791. He plans to donate everything he downloaded to the Video Game History Foundation for digital preservation.