Contributing to the Internet Archive's DLARC

January 06, 2024

The Internet Archive recently added Amateur Radio Weekly (ARW) to their Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications (DLARC) collection and I couldn't be more excited! I've been producing ARW since 2014 (minus a two year pause to focus on grad school) collecting the most interesting stories and projects related to ham radio each week and sending that summary out as an email newsletter. Needless to say, it's an honor to be added to this special collection.

As the web matures we're beginning to see more discussion around preserving content as creators age beyond this life. It's certainly something I've thought about over the last few years, which is why the inclusion into DLARC is so wonderful. There's an opportunity for the content that I've created to live on for other generations to explore. If nothing else, each newsletter is a time capsule of that period in time.

Kay Savetz, the curator behind DLARC recently published an update in an issue of Zero Retries and it provides a great overview of what the Internet Archive is trying to accomplish, and how far they've come since starting this project in 2022. This update calls out some incredible finds from some of the biggest contributors to the ham radio hobby. It's humbling to have my newsletter mentioned in the same article.

Newsletters, meeting minutes, and other documents from the KARO-ECHO Ham Radio Association, based in central California, are now in DLARC. We’ve added all 15 issues of Hambrew magazine, "for amateur radio designers and builders," which was published by George DeGrazio WF0K (SK) 1993 through 1997. And, a complete archive of Amateur Radio Weekly, Cale Mooth K4HCK’s wonderful email newsletter that highlights exceptional ham radio content on the web.

I noticed a collection of Apple II software that's recently been included and now I'm ready to pull the old Apple out of the closet and try to receive RTTY on that old hardware!

It's worth mentioning that the entire DLARC project wouldn't be possible without the support of Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), a leading organization that funds forward-facing projects across the hobby.

Here's to many more years of Amateur Radio Weekly, and many more lifetimes of exploration provided by the Internet Archive's DLARC!