Went to an interesting conference in Exeter a couple of
weeks ago called the Graphical Web. There was one bit of particular interest
(though it was more a side discussion to the actual talk), and that was in
regards to bit rot and archiving of websites and digital information. Now yes there are things like the Internet
Archive which is trying to archive the whole web, and yes there exists places
like the Type Archive older fonts. But both of these have issues and do not lend themselves to the preservation of digital fonts and associated material.
Is there anything or anyone that is trying to archive digital fonts and in particular the websites of the foundries that created them? Ans is this something that should even be pursued?
Comments
Meanwhile, projects like Fonts In Use – where we publish screenshots of websites and other media that use digital fonts, as well as biographical entries for each typeface family – can serve as a partial record. But this doesn’t replace the need for a comprehensive archive which captures the dynamic nature of digital type. With the advent of Variable Fonts, the only way to have a complete archive is to store the files themselves.
On another note, https://typespecimens.io which was mentioned in another topic has a great idea in the categorising of type specimen sites.
Also I have to say I envy you guys in San Francisco, you have some great organisations promoting long term thinking and preservation. With the Letterform Archive, Internet Archive and the Long Now Foundation.