Meet the 1,300 librarians racing to back up Ukraine's digital archives
Using open source tools and Slack, these volunteers have backed up everything from the country’s historical records and census data to children’s poems and basket weaving techniques.
In early March, two weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Carrie Pirmann stumbled upon a website dedicated to Ivan Mazepa, a 16th century Ukrainian politician and patron of the arts. A 44-year-old librarian at Bucknell University, Pirmann had joined an international effort of fellow archivists to preserve the digital history of a country under siege, and the contents of Mazepa’s website, though obscure, seemed worth saving.
The site held a number of things: Lord Byron poems written about Mazepa’s life and a catalogue of centuries-old articles detailing his various conquests. Pirmann opened her website scraping tool, backing up the site and preserving its content.
Now, the original website is lost, its server space likely gone to cyberattacks, power outages or Russian shelling. But thanks to her, it still remains intact on server space rented by an international group of librarians and archivists.
Below is a "gift" link to the Washington Post article... should get around the paywall
https://wapo.st/371uOx3
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I hope this will preserve their history and culture for future generations.
Librarians are awesome!
