This site, currently under construction, will ultimately contain 1,001 archival films that will be free for everyone to use for any purpose except resale.   The films have been donated by Prelinger Archives and digitized as MPEG-2 files.   MPEG-2, an emerging standard for video playback, is a full-screen, full-motion compressed video format, most familiar to consumers as the format underlying the digital video disc (DVD).

The films on this site focus on twentieth-century North American history and culture, and also include some coverage of the broader world.   Centered around everyday life, culture, industry and institutions in the United States from 1905 to 1969, this collection presents a wide range of images that have not until now generally been available to the public.