07
November
2013
|
02:31 AM
America/Los_Angeles

'Library Of Alexandria 2.0' Asks For Help To Recover From Fire

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The Internet Archive in San Francisco is asking for help in recovering from a two-alarm fire that caused more than $600,000 in damage.

The archive often compares its mission to that of the famous library of Alexandria, Egypt, destroyed by fire more than 2,000 years ago. It underscores that connection with mirror servers located in Alexandria. 

Sarah B. reporting for RichmondSFBlog:


Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle said the 7 to 10 office staff that worked in the building will temporarily relocate to their Richmond, CA facility. The damaged building was originally built in the 1940′s and used as a Christian Science reading room.

The former church next door, which also belongs to the Internet Archive, was not damaged in the fire.

Kahle was in remarkably good spirits when we spoke to him around 9am this morning, and was optimistic about their plans to rebuild the office. He said they mostly lost electronic equipment including cameras and scanners, and thankfully no cultural materials were destroyed in the fire. He said he was still waiting for word from the SFFD on what exactly caused the fire.

 Part of Internet Archive building badly burned in early morning fire


The fire comes just two weeks after the Internet Archive announced a series of new initiatives, some were in response to NSA snooping. 

Donations can be made here: http://archive.org/donate

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On Friday, November 8, the Internet Archive is hosting a fund raising to celebrate the 27th birthday of activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide earlier this year.

Below: A clay figurine of Aaron Swartz in the Great Room of the Internet Archive building, stands next to a figurine of Brewster Kahle.

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Please see:

Scanning Center Fire -- Please Help Rebuild | Internet Archive Blogs

Alexandria 2.0: One Millionaire's Quest to Build the Biggest Library on Earth Wired.com

To Those That Would Martyr Aaron Swartz: Where Were The Activists When He Needed Them? -SVW