Rick Prelinger says,
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is funding the Internet Archive to scan rare, unusual and culturally significant books and artworks at a bunch of major institutions, including the Boston Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Getty Research Institute. The grant comes out of Sloan's concern that commercial entities are becoming the default repositories of the world's cultural heritage, and that the restrictions corporations impose on access to the works they display don't serve the public good.
"'You are talking about the fruits of our civilization and culture. You want to keep it open and certainly don't want any company to enclose it,' said Doron Weber, program director of public understanding of science and technology for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation."
