Uncommon Ephemera's Filmstrip Chapter Featured in New Internet Archive Book

Filmstrip chapter written for the Internet Archive's online report now appears in its first print edition

JOHNSON CITY, NY - April 23, 2026 - Mark O'Brien, founder of the filmstrip preservation initiative Uncommon Ephemera, is featured as a contributor in Vanishing Culture: A Report on Our Fragile Cultural Record, a new book published by Internet Archive Press.

The Internet Archive first published Vanishing Culture as a free online report in 2024, inviting contributors across media preservation to document formats at risk of disappearing. O'Brien wrote the report's chapter on filmstrips, drawing on his work scanning and restoring thousands of them before the only remaining copies, many printed on self-destructing stock like Eastmancolo, deteriorates beyond recovery.

In 2026, the Internet Archive published Vanishing Culture as a physical book, expanding the original report with additional essays and roughly 100 pages of case studies on media preservation and cultural memory. O'Brien's filmstrip chapter appears alongside contributions from archivists and researchers including Brooke Palmieri, Helen Nde, Laura Gibbs, Peter Scholing, Vida Vojic, and Alice Bridgwood. The book was introduced at a launch event at the Internet Archive's San Francisco headquarters on April 23, 2026.

"Being asked to contribute to this report was the first time anyone outside my own audience treated filmstrips as a real preservation problem," O'Brien said. "I'm grateful to the Internet Archive for treating this format with the respect and urgency it deserves."

The book is available as a free download in PDF and EPUB formats through the Internet Archive, with print copies available through Better World Books and other booksellers.

About Uncommon Ephemera

Uncommon Ephemera is a media preservation initiative focused on saving American educational and industrial filmstrips. All preserved materials are made freely available through the Internet Archive. For more information, visit uncommonephemera.org.

Links:

• Vanishing Culture (2026 book): https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026
• O'Brien's original 2024 chapter, "Vanishing Culture: On Filmstrips": https://blog.archive.org/2024/09/23/vanishing-culture-on-filmstrips/
• Internet Archive collections: https://uncommonephemera.org/collections

Media Contact:

Mark O'Brien
[email protected]