Download the AIM Buddy Icon Archive

The first preservation package is being prepared

The public download index has not been published yet. The browsable archive and individual original-file downloads remain available while the initial full package is built.

A deliberately ordinary format

The download is a ZIP file containing a BagIt 1.0 (RFC 8493) bag. Images live under data/icons in SHA-256-addressed paths. manifest-sha256.txt verifies every payload file, and metadata/icons.csv is plain UTF-8 CSV.

The package contains the original stored GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and WebP bytes. It does not resize everything into a new format or flatten animated GIFs.

Incremental updates

The collection index lists the current full snapshot and every immutable update bag. Keep the highest accession ID you have applied; on the next check, download bags with a larger throughAccessionInclusive value.

Each update is its own complete BagIt bag. You can retain the full and update ZIPs side by side, or ingest an update’s data/icons payload and append its metadata/icons.csv rows. Do not unpack an update over the full bag’s tag files, because its manifests intentionally describe only that update.

Because filenames are content-addressed, an update only adds new objects. It does not silently replace an older icon. A fresh full snapshot remains available for anyone who would rather start over.

Before opening the whole collection

This is an unfiltered preservation copy of material recovered from the public web and contributed collections. It may contain mature or offensive imagery, flashing animation, and other material that the public gallery does not show automatically.