The Library of Congress has been in the business of storing American artifacts for 210 years, but when it comes to the new world of social media they realized they were going to need a hand. This week the LOC announced that they've hired the Massachusetts-based software firm Signiant to help them archive one of America's priceless treasures: the tweet.

The LOC's National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program has been digitizing important records since 2000 and has already archived more than 167 terabytes of web-based information. It was authorized by Congress to preserve the enormous amount of digital content being generated by the web. Now that the agency has added Twitter to the mix, the job has become even more massive.

There are some who consider the inclusion of tweets into the Library of Congress archives to be about as significant as saving an 8-track tape of Kansas in a time capsule, but the folks at Twitter make a nice argument to the contrary.

"Recently the Library of Congress signaled to us that the public tweets we have all been creating over the years are important and worthy of preservation. Tweets have become part of significant global events around the world - from historical elections to devastating disasters. It's very exciting that Tweets are becoming a part of history."

Signiant is in the business of moving and managing high-value digital content swiftly and securely. According to Signiant CEO Dennis Albano, "We're to digital files what FedEx is to a package." Along with archiving every single posting on Twitter, the software firm will also be helping the LOC manage and archive its millions of books, audio and video recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts.

"Signiant is proud to support the mission of the Library of Congress to digitize our American heritage," Albano said. The company has done digital archiving for clients including the movie Avatar, the Vancouver Olympics for NBC, and the FIFA World Cup in South Africa for ESPN.