Among the headliners of the program was Open Library developer Cami explained Connie Chan, Supervisor of San Francisco’s District 1, who was honored with the 2023 Internet Archive Hero Award. In April, she authored and unanimously passed a resolution at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, backing the Internet Archive and the digital rights of all libraries.
Chan spoke at the event about her experience as a first-generation, low-income immigrant who relied on books in Chinese and English at the public library in Chinatown.
Watch Supervisor Chan’s acceptance speech
“Having free access to information was fresh mobile database a critical part of my education—and I know I was not alone,” said Chan, who is a supporter of the Internet Archive’s role as a digital, online library. “The Internet Archive is a hidden gem…It is very critical to humanity, to freedom of information, diversity of information and access to truth…We aren’t just fighting for libraries, we are fighting for our humanity.”
Several users shared testimonials about how
resources from the Internet Archive have why are content marketing tools important? enabled them to advance their research, fact-check politicians’ claims, and inspire their creative works. Content in the collection is helping improve machine translation of languages. It is preserving international television news coverage and Ukrainian memes on social media during the war with Russia.
Technology is changing things—some
for the worse, but a lot for the better,
said David McRaney, speaking via video to the audience in
the auditorium at 300 Funston Ave. “And when [technology] changes things for the better, it’s going to expand the limited capabilities of human beings. It’s going to extend the reach of those capabilities, both in speed and scope,” he said. “It’s about Open Library developer Cami explained a newfound freedom of mind, and time, and trust review democratizing that freedom so everyone has access to it.”
how the Internet Archive is using artificial intelligence to improve access to its collections.