September 11 Digital Archive

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The September 11 Digital Archive launched in January 2002,{{Cite news |date=5 September 2006 |title=A digital snapshot of 9/11 takes shape on the Internet ; Online archive holds 150,000 e-mails, photos, much more |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/409036041 |access-date=6 August 2024 |work=USA Today |id={{ProQuest|409036041}}}} several months after the September 11 attacks of 2001. It is developed at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University in partnership with the American Social History Project of the City University of New York.{{Cite news |date=4 September 2003 |title=Digital Project on Sept. 11, 2001, Gets National Repository |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/409495247 |access-date=6 August 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |id={{ProQuest|409495247}}}}{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=McGreevy |first2=Nora |title=These Free Online Resources Tell the Story of 9/11 and Its Aftermath |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/learn-more-about-september-11-attacks-through-these-free-online-resources-180978601/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Smithsonian |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=October 29, 2015 |title=Sustaining the 9/11 Digital Archive |url=https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/sustaining-the-911-digital-archive |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=PCMAG |language=en}} The project started with a $700,000 grant from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation{{Cite web |last= |title=Sloan Foundation Supports September 11 Digital Archive Project |url=https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/sloan-foundation-supports-september-11-digital-archive-project |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Philanthropy News Digest (PND) |language=en}} and aims to "create a permanent record of the events of September 11, 2001".{{Cite news |date=11 September 2010 |title=9 Long Years Have Passed Since Sept. 11: Web Site Keeps A Permanent Digital Archive Of The Attacks |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/750228883 |work=The Daily Review |id={{ProQuest|750228883}}}} In September 2003, a copy of the September 11 Digital Archive collection was acquired by the Library of Congress.{{Cite news |date=October 2003 |title=Symposium Marks the Acquisition of 9/11 Archives |url=http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0310/911.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050403151231/http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0310/911.html |archive-date=3 April 2005 |access-date=6 August 2024 |work=Library of Congress}}{{Cite web |title=Library Accepts September 11 Digital Archive, Holds Symposium |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-03-142 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}

From 2003 to 2011 the project did not have adequate funding, which led to concerns about lack of sustainability, such as a need to redesign the website and update metadata. The archive also worried they would not be able to defend against a potential anniversary cyberattack.{{Cite web |date=October 29, 2015 |title=Sustaining the 9/11 Digital Archive |url=https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/sustaining-the-911-digital-archive |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=PCMAG |language=en}} In 2010 it was reported that the website design had not been changed since 2004, and that although the project would still accept new submissions, they would not appear on the website.{{Cite news |date=11 September 2010 |title=9 Long Years Have Passed Since Sept. 11: Web Site Keeps A Permanent Digital Archive Of The Attacks |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/750228883 |work=The Daily Review|id={{ProQuest|750228883}} }} Many of these problems were solved after a Save America's Treasures grant.

The types of information stored in the archive include photos, emails, videos, animations and cartoons, stories from survivors and witnesses, audio, videos, documents, instant messages, slideshow presentations, and web blogs.{{Cite news |date=5 September 2006 |title=A digital snapshot of 9/11 takes shape on the Internet ; Online archive holds 150,000 e-mails, photos, much more |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/409036041 |access-date=6 August 2024 |work=USA Today |id={{ProQuest|409036041}}}}{{Cite news |date=4 September 2003 |title=Digital Project on Sept. 11, 2001, Gets National Repository |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/409495247 |access-date=6 August 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |id={{ProQuest|409495247}}}} Images include photos of the World Trade Center and the New York skyline before the attacks. It also has post cards and flyers from New York streets.{{Cite news |date=11 September 2010 |title=9 Long Years Have Passed Since Sept. 11: Web Site Keeps A Permanent Digital Archive Of The Attacks |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/750228883 |work=The Daily Review |id={{ProQuest|750228883}}}}

The archive contains documents taken from the New York City Fire Department, National Guard, the Smithsonian Institution, Red Cross and other organizations. It also contains interviews of people with ancestry from the Middle East who were affected by backlash and harassment following the attacks. The archive also went through Arabic websites and worked with the Museum of Chinese in America to record and translate interviews of Chinatown residents.

The archive originally aimed for 1,000 'stories'. By September 2002, it had 90,000, and had a total storage of 50 gigabytes in September 2003. As of 2021 there are over 150,000 digital files in the collection, including 40,000 first-hand accounts and 15,000 images.{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=McGreevy |first2=Nora |title=These Free Online Resources Tell the Story of 9/11 and Its Aftermath |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/learn-more-about-september-11-attacks-through-these-free-online-resources-180978601/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Smithsonian |language=en}}

The archive encourages many people to contribute. They do not have to be survivors or witnesses, nor to have been at the scene in New York or the Pentagon or Pennsylvania at the time. Foreigners are also encouraged to contribute;{{Cite journal |last=Haskins |first=Ekaterina |date=October 2007 |title=Between Archive and Participation: Public Memory in a Digital Age |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02773940601086794 |journal=Rhetoric Society Quarterly |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=401–422 |doi=10.1080/02773940601086794 |issn=0277-3945|url-access=subscription }} a Spanish version of the website archive was created to encourage contributions from Spanish speakers.

Because anyone can contribute to the archive, it contains some incorrect or misleading information. In the archive's FAQ section, they argue that a misleading story in the archive is still useful for historians because it "could reveal certain personal and emotional aspects of the event that would otherwise be lost in a strict authentication and appraisal process." However, it can make it difficult for historians looking through the archive to determine what is real and what is not.

• Canterbury Earthquakes Digital Archive, for New Zealand's Canterbury earthquakes. It was inspired by the September 11 Digital Archive.{{Cite news |last=Cairns |first=Lois |date=23 October 2011 |title=Canterbury quake to be with us forever |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/5835660/Canterbury-quake-to-be-with-us-forever |access-date=6 August 2024 |work=The Press}}

{{Reflist}}

• The September 11 Digital Archive: Saving the Histories of September 11, 2001

{{September 11 attacks|state=collapsed}}

Category:September 11 attacks

Category:Online archives of the United States

Category:Library of Congress

Category:Works about the September 11 attacks