Internet Memory Foundation

The Internet Memory Foundation was a Dutch nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving material published on the World Wide Web and making selected digital cultural resources available for research and public use. It was incorporated in Amsterdam in 2004 as the European Archive Foundation and later adopted the Internet Memory Foundation name in December 2010. The renaming reflected a broader mission: to retain internet content for present and future generations rather than to operate only as a conventional archival repository. The organization worked from Amsterdam and Paris. Its Paris-based research organization, Internet Memory Research, operated ArchiveTheNet, a service associated with web collection and preservation. Julien Masanès served as its first director and had previously worked at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Masanès also edited a 2007 book on web archiving, contributing to the foundation's role in the emerging professional and research community around preserving online information. The foundation combined collection-building with technical research. Its work included web crawling, data extraction, text mining, search, analytics, and the long-term preservation of complex digital objects. It participated in European Commission-funded research under the Seventh Framework Programme, including Living Web Archives, LivingKnowledge, LAWA, ARCOMEM, SCAPE, and TrendMiner. These projects addressed the difficulty of capturing dynamic websites, preserving ephemeral social-media material, searching multimodal collections, analyzing archived web data, and scaling preservation workflows through open-source infrastructure. Its collections covered several formats and subjects. Before concentrating more strongly on web archiving, the organization assembled a substantial online free classical-music collection containing more than 800 works, ranging from Mozart to Dvořák. It also collaborated with the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision and the UK National Archives on public-information films produced by the British government. In web archiving, it captured material from European Union institutions, political websites connected with the constitutional debate in the EU member states, and websites belonging to institutions such as the UK National Archives, the National Library of Ireland, CERN, the UK Parliament, and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The foundation collaborated with cultural, governmental, library, and research institutions, including the UK National Archives, the Max Planck Institute, Technische Universität Berlin, the University of Southampton, and Institut Mines-Télécom. It was also a member of the International Internet Preservation Consortium. Its technical work used Heritrix version 3 for crawling and stored captured resources in standardized archival container formats, including ARC and the later Web ARChive, or WARC, format. The Internet Memory Foundation was not a conventional consumer-facing brand. Its identity was primarily institutional and technical, serving archives, libraries, researchers, public bodies, and European digital-preservation programs. The organization was reported as defunct by August 2018. Following its dissolution, its data was donated to Arquivo.pt, the Portuguese web archive, preserving at least part of the foundation's accumulated archival contribution.

The institution was incorporated in Amsterdam in 2004 under the name European Archive Foundation. Its original activities included collecting and presenting digital cultural material, including freely accessible classical music and public-information films. The organization later developed a stronger focus on preserving internet content, reflecting the growing recognition that websites, online political communication, and digital media represented an important part of the historical record. In September 2006, at the opening of Cross Media Week in Amsterdam, the foundation publicly articulated its connection to the developing international web-archiving movement. Julien Masanès, previously associated with the Bibliothèque nationale de France, was its first director. The foundation operated across Amsterdam and Paris and promoted access to public-domain collections and selected web archives. Its Paris research arm, Internet Memory Research, operated ArchiveTheNet. Masanès edited a book on web archiving in 2007, while the organization expanded relationships with libraries, archives, universities, cultural institutions, and public agencies. Its collecting work included a snapshot of European Union institutional websites prepared with the Historical Archives of the European Union, political websites from the EU member states during the European constitutional debate, and sites belonging to institutions such as the UK National Archives, the National Library of Ireland, CERN, the UK Parliament, and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. In December 2010, the European Archive Foundation changed its name to Internet Memory Foundation. The new name expressed a mission centered on retaining online information for future generations. The foundation became involved in the International Internet Preservation Consortium and participated in a range of European Commission-funded research projects under the Seventh Framework Programme. Its research agenda covered the full web-archiving lifecycle. The Living Web Archives project, or LiWA, ran from 2008 to 2011 and explored methods for capturing a more accurate and dynamic representation of the web. LivingKnowledge, running from 2009 to 2012, investigated navigation and search across large multimodal datasets. LAWA, or Longitudinal Analytics of Web Archive Data, ran from 2010 to 2013 and examined large-scale analysis of archived web material. ARCOMEM, running from 2011 to 2013, studied the preservation of transient online information, particularly material associated with social-network services. SCAPE, running from 2011 to 2014, worked toward an open-source and scalable preservation environment. TrendMiner, running from 2011 to 2014, developed tools for mining and summarizing real-time media streams across languages, with a particular interest in social media. The foundation's technical work used Heritrix version 3 for web crawling. Captured resources were stored in archival container formats, first including ARC and later WARC, the Web ARChive format that became an international standard. This combination of collection activity and research positioned the foundation as both a service organization and a contributor to European digital-preservation infrastructure. The Internet Memory Foundation collaborated with the UK National Archives, the Max Planck Institute, Technische Universität Berlin, the University of Southampton, Institut Mines-Télécom, and other partners. It was ultimately dissolved, with the organization reported as defunct by August 2018. Its data was donated to Arquivo.pt, transferring a significant part of its archival holdings to another public web-preservation institution.

• 2018

  Foundation becomes defunct

  [1]Internet Memory Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The organization was reported as defunct by August, and its data was donated to Arquivo.pt.

• 2014

  SCAPE and TrendMiner projects conclude

  [1]Internet Memory Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Two major European research programs involving the foundation reached their scheduled conclusions after developing preservation and media-mining approaches.

• 2011

  Major preservation research programs expand

  [1]Internet Memory Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  SCAPE, TrendMiner, and ARCOMEM were active alongside other European projects addressing scalable preservation, social-media archiving, and multilingual media analysis.

• 2010

  Organization renamed Internet Memory Foundation

  [1]Internet Memory Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The European Archive Foundation adopted its later name in December to emphasize long-term preservation of internet content.

• 2008

  Living Web Archives begins

  [1]Internet Memory Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The LiWA project began work on methods and tools for creating more accurate, dynamic web archives.

• 2007

  Publication on web archiving

  [1]Internet Memory Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  First director Julien Masanès edited a book on web archiving, reflecting the foundation's involvement in professional and research discussions.

• 2006

  Public profile at Cross Media Week

  [1]Internet Memory Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The organization was presented during the opening of Cross Media Week in Amsterdam as part of the emerging European digital-archiving field.

• 2004

  European Archive Foundation incorporated

  [1]Internet Memory Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The nonprofit organization was incorporated in Amsterdam under its original name, European Archive Foundation.

A nonprofit European web-archiving and digital-preservation institution combining public-interest collections with applied research into scalable crawling, preservation, mining, search, and long-term access.

• Web archiving service

  ArchiveTheNet

  ArchiveTheNet was a web-archiving service operated by Internet Memory Research, the foundation's Paris-based research organization. It represented the foundation's practical service layer for collecting and preserving online material, complementing its institutional partnerships and European research projects.

• Digital audio collection

  Free classical music collection

  Before its principal emphasis shifted toward web archiving, the organization assembled a large online collection of freely available classical music. The collection contained more than 800 pieces and covered composers including Mozart and Dvořák, providing public access to digitized cultural audio.

• Digital video collection

  Public Information Films collection

  This collection preserved public-information films produced by the British government. It was developed in cooperation with the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision and the UK National Archives, linking audiovisual preservation with the foundation's wider public-interest digital-library mission.

• Institutional web archive

  Selective European web archives

  The foundation captured selected websites and online collections from European public institutions and political actors. Examples included European Union institutional sites, websites related to the European constitutional debate, the UK National Archives, the National Library of Ireland, CERN, the UK Parliament, and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

• 2018

  Dissolution and transfer of archival dataOther

  Background

  The foundation ceased operating and was reported as defunct by August 2018.

  Action taken

  Following dissolution, its data was donated to Arquivo.pt.

  Aftermath

  The transfer allowed another national web-archiving institution to retain and potentially provide access to material accumulated by the foundation.

  Source

• 2010

  Rename the organization around internet memoryStrategy

  Background

  The original European Archive Foundation identity no longer fully conveyed the institution's expanding emphasis on web preservation and internet history.

  Action taken

  In December 2010, the foundation changed its name to Internet Memory Foundation and presented the new name as an expression of its intergenerational preservation mission.

  Aftermath

  The renamed foundation continued combining web collections with European research into crawling, preservation, search, and analysis.

  Source

1. 1Internet Memory Foundationen.wikipedia.org