We've been getting a lot of questions about how the Internet Archive digitizes books.

[gloriouscow@oldbytes.space]

@internetarchive

Amazing work but please please please stop using MRC in PDFs.

[korawolfsrain@meow.social]

@internetarchive modern day heroes, you guys deserve all the love and praise
Thanks for putting in the hard work to preserve our culture

[zeborah@mastodon.nz]

@canleaf @internetarchive Sometimes libraries will destroy to digitise because it is a lot cheaper to get high quality which means we can make more info accessible with limited budgets - but it would depend on the book and would be after checking to make sure an appropriate number of other copies remain in print. Not the AI companies' slapdash approach.

[twifkak@mas.to]

@internetarchive That's fantastic! What do you do with the books after you've scanned them?

[760ceb3b9c0ba4872cadf3ce35a7a4@wetdry.world]

@gloriouscow @internetarchive i agree. it is frustrating when i download a pdf from the archive and it's one of those. thankfully i think it happens at some optimization step after the scan(?) so the original is retained and some downloads avoid it?

[montgomerygator@fouroclockfarms.club]

@internetarchive I saw a machine that uses a light vacuum to hold the page to the scanner and just kinda scans as it turns the page. There really was no reason for Amazon to destroy books.

Thanks Eliza, your work will ensure preservation for generations to come.

[thorsted@digipres.club]

@gloriouscow @internetarchive I second this request.

[fazalmajid@social.vivaldi.net]

@twifkak @internetarchive I believe they are put in containers in a warehouse in the East Bay:

https://blog.archive.org/2011/06/06/why-preserve-books-the-new-physical-archive-of-the-internet-archive/

[samd@social.coop]

@internetarchive is this the rig described in “The ‘Why’ in DIY Book Scanning”?

[contrasocial@mastodon.social]

@MontgomeryGator @internetarchive

Yeah, I've seen ones that turn the pages with a little vaccuum arm and also ones that have a "wedge" shaped scanner that kind of plunges into the half open book and scans as it moves the pages.

Not saying we should put archivists like Eliza out of a job, but making their jobs easier and less tedious is an actual good case for automation.

[mason@partychickens.net]

@internetarchive I absolutely love that scanning rig. I want one now. Do you have a design or specs available?

[ghostonthehalfshell@masto.ai]

@internetarchive

The difference between the Internet Archive and the AI jack offs, is that Brewster loves books.

[rl_dane@polymaths.social]

@internetarchive

AI bros destroy books because it's cheaper than scanning them non-destructively.
AI bros steal potable water from municipalities because it's cheaper than aircooling servers.

Something something sharpen the (metaphorical) guillotines, already.

[doomsdayscw@kolektiva.social]

@internetarchive Amazing! I operated a scanner, and yeah, it requires patience and a delicate touch -- especially when dealing with historic documents! Thank you for sharing this! (And yeah, watching the scanner operator footage was so #ASMR for me. Bring that back? Please?)

[julianoe@mastodon.xyz]

@internetarchive and not destroying them in the process for shady legal reasons... amazing.

Thanks for your work !!

[light@noc.social]

@internetarchive
Seriously, fuck the muskrat for this and cease-and-desist-ing nitter.

[jackmexa4@mastodon.social]

@internetarchive

Because guillotines weren’t meant for books!

[lamb@libretooth.gr]

@internetarchive gods bless all of you for the work you do

[sosa@mastodon.uy]

@rl_dane @internetarchive I guess they have a point there. We should start thinking like them. For humanity it would be cheaper to use guilliotines... on biollionares

[lrt_writes@mstdn.party]

@internetarchive
And this is how the bad guys do it: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/17/ai-companies-are-buying-and-destroying-antique-books-heres-why/