19 reactions | This year the Wayback Machine turns 20! And we've been archiving web pages since 1996. Many don't realize that the Wayback Machine captures more than just screenshots! It's a complex set of tools. Our intern, University of Southern California computer science student Bridget Bell, lifts up the hood & gives you a look at how the #WaybackMachine actually works. Take it for a spin yourself: https://web.archive.org | Internet Archive | Facebook

At the Internet Archive, this is how we digitize a book. We never destroy a book by cutting off its binding. Instead, we digitize it the hard way--one page at a time. We use the Scribe, a machine our engineers invented, along with the software that it runs. Our scanning centers are located in universities and libraries around the world, from Boston Public Library to the University of Toronto. Eliza is one of our fastest and most accurate scanners. Next she will execute quality control checks and