UN’s World Library Project
May 27, 2009 – 12:04 pmA free, multilingual world-wide resource center was recently launched by a team at the U.S. Library of Congress called the World Digital Library.This site gives readers the opportunity to
discover, study, and enjoy cultural treasures from around the world on one site, in a variety of ways. These cultural treasures include, but are not limited to, manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings. [from About: This Site page]
Resources can be searched by Place, Time, Topic, Type of Item, or the Institution that houses them.
The principal objectives of the WDL are to:
- Promote international and intercultural understanding;
- Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet;
- Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences;
- Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.
As this site expands in scope and depth it could prove to be a helpful tool for locating and utilizing primary source material from around the world. Though the tenor of the site will have a distinct UNESCO flavor, as they support the project, it should nevertheless be a helpful resource for cultural analysis.
For further analysis read the entire Washington Post review:
A globe-spanning U.N. digital library seeking to display and explain the wealth of all human cultures has gone into operation on the Internet, serving up mankind’s accumulated knowledge in seven languages for students around the world.
James H. Billington, the librarian of Congress who launched the project four years ago, said the ambition was to make available on an easy-to-navigate site, free for scholars and other curious people anywhere, a collection of primary documents and authoritative explanations from the planet’s leading libraries.
