titaniumbones / archivers

let's build a library

Archivers 2.0

Preface

The Library of Alexandria was considered the leading intellectual metropolis of the Hellenistic world. It's enticing to think about, a library that had amassed the most-complete collection of human knowledge at that time. In 48 BC, a large part of the library burned down, taking knowledge with it.

Adding insult to injury, the fire that claimed alexandria was accidental, a spillover from Cesear burning ships in a war maneuver. Today we have much smaller accidents that spark far greater fires: typos that destroy data centers, losing the manual on how to read an entire file format, or not-so-accidental government-sponsored libricide.

As humans, it can sometimes be hard to find something to point to as definitive proof that we're progressing as a species. While that question may be hard to answer, we can definitively state that losing knowledge we worked hard to obtain is not progress. Regardless of how a fire gets started, what matters is making sure that books burn, not knowledge.

The time has come to rebuild Alexandria. This time let's read the fire code first.

It's fair to ask if the internet isn't already the modern day Alexandria. The truth is it's a much, much better version of Alexandria, but like the library that came before it, the internet is not fire-proof. The internet that we know & love today is riddled with weak points that upon failure will destroy knowledge forever. We have to re-think how to build a permanent, distributed library. We have to return to the first principles that guided the birth of the internet, with knowledge conceived as something we share, something we hold together.

Thankfully, we are in no way starting from scratch. Many, many libraries–both physical and digial–already exist. All we need to do is connect these libraries together, and make sure an accurate copy of each book lives in more than one place.

What follows is a proposed set of blueprints for assembling such a library, with openness, distribution and collaboration held as core values. A task this large is inherently something we must take on as a group. "We" being anyone who cares to help. This also makes it something we can participate in, benefit from, and celebrate, together.

So with this in mind, let's read some fire code.

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Contents

This document is broken into two sections. The theory section describes the why, the practice section describes the how.

1. Theory

• 1.1 Distribution
• 1.2 Participation
• 1.3 Context

2. Practice

• 2.1 Distribution
• 2.2 Participation
• 2.3 Context
• 2.4 Roadmap
• 2.5 Definition of a Service
• 2.6 List of services
• 2.7 Friends

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Goals

Build Community

Specifically, focus on galvanizing short-term enthusiasm into long-term community membership & interest.

Reduce barriers to contribution

Broaden the scope of who can contribute by building tools more people can use.

Celebrate contributions

Increase the visibility of a volunteer's contribution, record & distribute success stories both large & small.

Produce dependable, citable data with a proper trail of digital provenance

The data we archive & publish must be of the highest possible standards, enforced by technology, vetted by humans.

Coordinate & share across organizations

Join broader community archiving efforts, favouring collaboration over reinvention.

Keep a space for devs

Provide frameworks for the community to build, contribute, and maintain meaningful tools.

Plan Long-term

Setup a roadmap for long-term stewardship & maintenance.

View information as something we all hold together

Instead of going through someone to get to it, annotate, or comment on it. Truly open data.