American Memory is an

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

-based

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

for

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

image resources,

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

, and archived Web content. Published by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, the archive launched on October 13, 1994, after $13 million was raised in private donations.

History

The pilot for the American Memory project was a digitization program which started in 1990. Selected Library of Congress holdings including examples of film, video, audio recordings, books and photographs were digitized and distributed on

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and

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. When the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

accelerated in 1993, the pilot program was refocused to deliver digitized materials by way of the internet.

Funding

The National Digital Library was created through bipartisan support in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

. Initially publicly funded with $15 million over five years, a public-private partnership of entrepreneurs and philanthropists led to more than $45 million in private sponsorship from 1994 through 2000. At first, only $13 million was donated from private sectors but the project gained momentum as the years went on. Beginning in 1996, the

sponsored a three-year competition with a $2 million gift from the Ameritech Corporation to enable public research, and academic libraries, museums, historical societies, and archival institutions (with the exception of federal institutions) to digitize American history collections and make them available on the library's American Memory site. The competition produced 23 digital collections that complement American Memory, which now features more than 100 thematic collections.

Beginnings

The American Memory project started as a two-part effort of the National Digital Library Project (NDLP). Starting in 1994, the goal of the NDLP to digitize millions of items by the year 2000 would not only be met but would even go beyond that when the year finally came. The first part or phase of the effort was piloted by the American Memory project which would have an extensive amount of the Library of Congress' source-materials digitized. Another segment of the first phase possessed the goal of establishing a way or model to somehow share or distribute such source-materials between libraries. Phase two of the project saw the continuation of the digitization of the materials from the Library of Congress but also other libraries as well. The content included in the digital library through American Memory and the NDLP is vast and includes a wide array of historical items. Some items featured include, but is not limited to, the photographic collection on transportation, Henry Ford and the automobile, the sewing machine, and Robert J. Oppenheimer. As a result of the three-year competition and all the new individual projects making American Memory more readily available, American Memory started to become recognized on a larger scale. In 1996, ''Time'' magazine named American Memory one of the top ten best websites in the United States. The website was also among the six finalists in the Education segment of the National Information Infrastructure Awards Program in 1996. The project continued to receive citations and awards since it was established in 1990 and it has also helped serve on the research front from time to time.

Significance

The National Digital Library exceeded its goal of making five million items available online by 2000. American Memory will continue to expand online historical content as an integral component of the Library of Congress's commitment to harnessing new technology as it fulfills its mission "to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations."

References

* "Mission and History". American Memory. The Library of Congress. Retrieved March 5, 2012. * Roberts, Elizabeth Ann (2007). Crash Course in Library Gift Programs: The Reluctant Curator's Guide to Caring for Archives, Books, and Artifacts in a Library Setting. Crash Course. Greenwood. pp. 82–83. . * Pomerantz, Jeffrey (2009). "Development and Impact of Digital Library Funding in the U.S.". In Danuta A. Nitecki, Eileen G. Abels (ed.). Influence of Funding on Advances in Librarianship. Advances in Librarianship. 31. Emerald Group. p. 56. . * Staff, W. (1997, April 11). American Memory Project Puts History Online. Retrieved fro
American Memory Project Puts History Online

External links

* of American Memory *{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013134729/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/American+Memory+A+Primary+Source-a01073954604 , title=American Memory A Primary Source
American Memory Project Puts History Online
Library of Congress Art websites Public domain in the United States