Archive Corps: Year One
September 2, 2015 3:35 AM Subscribe
Manuals Plus was going out of business. MeFi's own Jason Scott wanted to save its collection of 200,000 booklets before they were lost forever. He had three days.
Introducing the Archive Corps
The blow-by-blow account from Jason's blog:
In Realtime: Saving 25,000 Manuals
In Realtime: Prepping for the Transfer of 25,000 Manuals
In Realtime: We are barely halfway done
In Realtime: Day 2 Felt Like Week 4
In Realtime: It Is Done
A Small Dark Detour
In Realtime: Post-Mortem
A Little Bit of the Manuals
And the message? Digitize the Planet
Introducing the Archive Corps
The blow-by-blow account from Jason's blog:
In Realtime: Saving 25,000 Manuals
In Realtime: Prepping for the Transfer of 25,000 Manuals
In Realtime: We are barely halfway done
In Realtime: Day 2 Felt Like Week 4
In Realtime: It Is Done
A Small Dark Detour
In Realtime: Post-Mortem
A Little Bit of the Manuals
And the message? Digitize the Planet
Before clicking on the links I had just assumed that it was another electronic repository that they needed to download before it went dark...like the geocities archive..I figured it was a semi-difficult undertaking ..but when I started clicking and realized this was physical, paper, manuals the scope and time frame totally blew me away.
posted by Captain_Science at 4:29 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by Captain_Science at 4:29 AM on September 2, 2015
jscott: doing internet the right way.
posted by lmfsilva at 4:36 AM on September 2, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by lmfsilva at 4:36 AM on September 2, 2015 [6 favorites]
Wow.
(I realize that a monumental effort like that requires more than a one-word response, but it is so vastly hugely overwhelming to me that that's all I've currently got. Also Damn.)
posted by Mchelly at 5:05 AM on September 2, 2015
(I realize that a monumental effort like that requires more than a one-word response, but it is so vastly hugely overwhelming to me that that's all I've currently got. Also Damn.)
posted by Mchelly at 5:05 AM on September 2, 2015
Got a little verklempt reading this. So glad that jscott, the Internet Archive, and the Archive Corps exist.
posted by longdaysjourney at 5:21 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by longdaysjourney at 5:21 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Holy cow. Kudos to jscott and the Corps.
posted by GrammarMoses at 5:38 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by GrammarMoses at 5:38 AM on September 2, 2015
The final chapter of this just had me choking up. What an effort, and what a great deal of time and energy by all involved.
posted by xingcat at 5:46 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by xingcat at 5:46 AM on September 2, 2015
Watched this going down in its early stages and was sorely tempted to leave work for a couple days to help out, the problem mostly being the logistics of taking off on short notice to spend a couple days doing hard (but really awesome) work just beyond the periphery of a daytrip away. Which takes on a different kind of commitment when it's your job vs. it's walking out on your job.
So props to the people who did make that leap for no personal gain. Great work!
posted by ardgedee at 5:56 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
So props to the people who did make that leap for no personal gain. Great work!
posted by ardgedee at 5:56 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Internet of Actually Everything in action right here.
posted by oceanjesse at 5:58 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by oceanjesse at 5:58 AM on September 2, 2015
It's a good project. I'm glad I helped fund it. And I'm looking forward to seeing what weird manual I get.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:01 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by rmd1023 at 6:01 AM on September 2, 2015
Why are these even worth anything or worth keeping, tidy your life, lighten up, etc.
Either you really understand why 80 years of manuals, instructions and engineering notes related to 20th century electronics are of value both historically, aesthetically and culturally, or you don’t.
The cultural trend toward "decluttering" now means that we are "decluttering" be parts of our history - our personal histories, our cultural history, our technical history.
This week, my FB feed has contained a number of posts from a friend of a friend who rescued a shoebox full of WWII photos, letters, and service medals from the trash. I shudder to think what parts of our shared history are tossed every day because people just want to "tidy up".
Thanks for doing this, all of you.
posted by anastasiav at 6:57 AM on September 2, 2015 [8 favorites]
Either you really understand why 80 years of manuals, instructions and engineering notes related to 20th century electronics are of value both historically, aesthetically and culturally, or you don’t.
The cultural trend toward "decluttering" now means that we are "decluttering" be parts of our history - our personal histories, our cultural history, our technical history.
This week, my FB feed has contained a number of posts from a friend of a friend who rescued a shoebox full of WWII photos, letters, and service medals from the trash. I shudder to think what parts of our shared history are tossed every day because people just want to "tidy up".
Thanks for doing this, all of you.
posted by anastasiav at 6:57 AM on September 2, 2015 [8 favorites]
I work for the Internet Archive and know Jason. He is a force of nature when it comes to saving dying information sources. He personally spearheaded the Archive's collection of software and video games. It's great to see that he's getting wider recognition for his efforts.
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 7:24 AM on September 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 7:24 AM on September 2, 2015 [7 favorites]
“There’s value and meaning here,” he says. “Everything from the fonts and the layouts... How a company presents its brand, how it appraises things. And other times you pick one up and, wow, nobody writes with this brilliance and clarity about technical subjects. These manuals feel like they’re a project as important as the item they’re describing.”
I can understand this. Apart from the need to preserve information, the artistry of designing manuals for things can also be appreciated. I stumbled across an old Lawson Screen Printing Equipment catalog in the bottom of a dreawr a while back & just liked the look of it enough that it felt worth preserving.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:58 AM on September 2, 2015
I can understand this. Apart from the need to preserve information, the artistry of designing manuals for things can also be appreciated. I stumbled across an old Lawson Screen Printing Equipment catalog in the bottom of a dreawr a while back & just liked the look of it enough that it felt worth preserving.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:58 AM on September 2, 2015
anastasiav: "I shudder to think what parts of our shared history are tossed every day because people just want to "tidy up"."
Well, okay, but am I supposed to keep everything forever? I was recently cleaning out, and found my prom program from 1996. Should I have kept it forever? Should my descendants keep it forever, too? Am I supposed to give it to some kind of historical archive? Should *everyone* be giving their prom programs to the archive?
I think Jason did something valuable here, but you can't keep everything. It's the same issue libraries face when they cull books - not everything is valuable, and there isn't room to save every scrap.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:26 AM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
Well, okay, but am I supposed to keep everything forever? I was recently cleaning out, and found my prom program from 1996. Should I have kept it forever? Should my descendants keep it forever, too? Am I supposed to give it to some kind of historical archive? Should *everyone* be giving their prom programs to the archive?
I think Jason did something valuable here, but you can't keep everything. It's the same issue libraries face when they cull books - not everything is valuable, and there isn't room to save every scrap.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:26 AM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
I was recently cleaning out, and found my prom program from 1996.
I work in an alumni relations office for a University that absorbed a small women's college back in the '90s. That kind of stuff is SO VALUABLE to us now, because it helps us understand who the class officers were and sometimes even helps to document that such and such a person is actually an alumni. On a weekly basis we are contacted by children and grandchildren of alumni who are trying to find out about their family, and our ability to say "well, your grandmother was the editor of the student newspaper, and here is a photo of her shooting archery" often makes a big difference to them.
I know that not everything is valuable. but I wonder - would the school have liked a copy of that prom program? Would they have found it valuable? Or maybe just scanning it and putting it up on Ancestry or the like, to say "hey, here's a list of the kids who were in the senior class at X school in 1996 in Anytown" - isn't that better than just pitching it?
posted by anastasiav at 8:44 AM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
I work in an alumni relations office for a University that absorbed a small women's college back in the '90s. That kind of stuff is SO VALUABLE to us now, because it helps us understand who the class officers were and sometimes even helps to document that such and such a person is actually an alumni. On a weekly basis we are contacted by children and grandchildren of alumni who are trying to find out about their family, and our ability to say "well, your grandmother was the editor of the student newspaper, and here is a photo of her shooting archery" often makes a big difference to them.
I know that not everything is valuable. but I wonder - would the school have liked a copy of that prom program? Would they have found it valuable? Or maybe just scanning it and putting it up on Ancestry or the like, to say "hey, here's a list of the kids who were in the senior class at X school in 1996 in Anytown" - isn't that better than just pitching it?
posted by anastasiav at 8:44 AM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
These people realize that there are manual sellers on eBay, right? If they had anything for vintage stereo equipment manuals they could probably get $10-20 apiece on the popular ones.
posted by Slinga at 9:19 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by Slinga at 9:19 AM on September 2, 2015
I'm with you, anastasiav, though of course this is a constant struggle to figure out how much to keep, and keep it organized and accessible, and also have room to move around my apartment and enjoy my space and also be able to find things when I'm looking for them. It's such a mind trip, though, like I shred credit card statements (or just get them on-line), but if I had a bank statement of my great grandparents' from 1910 or whatever I would find it so interesting and totally treasure it.
I'm kind of my family archivist (for my three siblings and myself), since our parents and grandparents have all passed away. So I do have boxes of stuff and photos and keepsakes, but I'm also a mom now and I'm constantly wanting to save every little thing of my son's. And he's only three! I'll have to throw (and donate) some stuff but curating is difficult when I infuse every item of his with sentimentality and memory. There's not room for everything though (and I know it's not a great message to send my son, that we never get rid of anything).
posted by JenMarie at 9:19 AM on September 2, 2015
I'm kind of my family archivist (for my three siblings and myself), since our parents and grandparents have all passed away. So I do have boxes of stuff and photos and keepsakes, but I'm also a mom now and I'm constantly wanting to save every little thing of my son's. And he's only three! I'll have to throw (and donate) some stuff but curating is difficult when I infuse every item of his with sentimentality and memory. There's not room for everything though (and I know it's not a great message to send my son, that we never get rid of anything).
posted by JenMarie at 9:19 AM on September 2, 2015
> And the message? Digitize the Planet
And be careful how you set your scanner options!
posted by benito.strauss at 9:23 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
And be careful how you set your scanner options!
posted by benito.strauss at 9:23 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
This was an eBay manual seller, I think.
Cataloging and selling obscure books at $10 a pop doesn't sound like a hugely viable business if most of the inventory sits dormant for years and years until somebody bites.
Getting this stuff in the public domain is absolutely the right idea.
posted by schmod at 9:24 AM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
Cataloging and selling obscure books at $10 a pop doesn't sound like a hugely viable business if most of the inventory sits dormant for years and years until somebody bites.
Getting this stuff in the public domain is absolutely the right idea.
posted by schmod at 9:24 AM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
Kudos to the IA for this effort!
Re: selling. I have a literal closet full of expensive/rare car magazines, which I could get between $10 and $20 a copy for on ebay. But it takes me 10 minutes each to list them there (everyone wants a photo or three to show condition, simply key-wording the contents takes five minutes, plus the filling out of ebay forms, etc). Plus there is shipping, packaging, processing payments, etc. Considering the time involved and the profit margin, it's a minimum wage job. You end up feeling like you're just making money for ebay and paypal, which is essentially all you're doing.
If you had 10,000, you could figure out a system, maybe...camera which takes a photo once per second (or with a remote foot switch) mounted above a bed where you could lay the magazine, some sort of reliable OCR to take a table of contents and turn it into keywords, voice recording of the magazine, issue...blah blah. But it would be a project just to do that.
So whenever I hear "ebay that" as a solution to getting rid of something, I just think about that and take a nap.
posted by maxwelton at 10:17 AM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
Re: selling. I have a literal closet full of expensive/rare car magazines, which I could get between $10 and $20 a copy for on ebay. But it takes me 10 minutes each to list them there (everyone wants a photo or three to show condition, simply key-wording the contents takes five minutes, plus the filling out of ebay forms, etc). Plus there is shipping, packaging, processing payments, etc. Considering the time involved and the profit margin, it's a minimum wage job. You end up feeling like you're just making money for ebay and paypal, which is essentially all you're doing.
If you had 10,000, you could figure out a system, maybe...camera which takes a photo once per second (or with a remote foot switch) mounted above a bed where you could lay the magazine, some sort of reliable OCR to take a table of contents and turn it into keywords, voice recording of the magazine, issue...blah blah. But it would be a project just to do that.
So whenever I hear "ebay that" as a solution to getting rid of something, I just think about that and take a nap.
posted by maxwelton at 10:17 AM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I had a *ton* of old magazines I had to throw out when I got divorced. I didn't have the time or emotional resources to do anything else.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:29 AM on September 2, 2015
posted by Chrysostom at 10:29 AM on September 2, 2015
The amount of effort that went into this is amazing. Keep up the great work Jason.
posted by Plug1 at 3:15 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Plug1 at 3:15 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm with you, anastasiav, though of course this is a constant struggle to figure out how much to keep, and keep it organized and accessible, and also have room to move around my apartment and enjoy my space and also be able to find things when I'm looking for them.
Archivist here. You know, most universities and colleges have at least a small archive, often bigger if well-funded, as do cities with historical societies and community archives. Feel free to call the archivist and ask if this is something we'd want or naw. If you don't sound like a demanding alumni who's going to complain if we decline and yell to the board of trustees about us destroying history, we'll be pretty honest and tell you if it's something we want or not.
posted by mostly vowels at 6:13 PM on September 3, 2015
Archivist here. You know, most universities and colleges have at least a small archive, often bigger if well-funded, as do cities with historical societies and community archives. Feel free to call the archivist and ask if this is something we'd want or naw. If you don't sound like a demanding alumni who's going to complain if we decline and yell to the board of trustees about us destroying history, we'll be pretty honest and tell you if it's something we want or not.
posted by mostly vowels at 6:13 PM on September 3, 2015
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