www.wdl.org The World Digital Library provides free, universal, and is best and most distinctive about the achievements of multilingual access to culturally and historically signifi cant their own countries. content - to students, teachers, lifelong learners, and the general public. It presents the primary source documents The WDL features books, maps, manuscripts, prints and that tell the stories and illuminate the cultural achieve- photographs, fi lms, and sound recordings, contributed by ments of all countries. more than a hundred libraries, museums, and archives in over seventy countries. These include rock paintings from The WDL Web site is designed to enable users to explore South Africa, ancient papyri from Egypt, illustrated manu- commonalities and interconnections among cultures, as scripts and woodblock printings from China and Japan, well as to highlight the unique achievements and strengths calligraphic and scientifi c works from the Arab world, Az- of each country and culture. The guiding philosophy is tec and Mayan Codices, illuminated books and manuscripts that people understand each other better not only by being from Europe, and photographic surveys of the Chinese, exposed to other cultures, but by sharing with others what Ottoman, and Russian empires.

WDL SITE FEATURES

 Multilingualism. All metadata, including item descrip- item is and why it is important. Written by scholars and tions, curator video transcripts, site navigation, and in- curators, these descriptions provide context beyond basic formation about the project are presented in seven lan- cataloging data. Selected WDL items feature videos with guages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, curators that offer in-depth explanations and that bring Russian, and Spanish. These languages represent seven curators into contact with users. of the top ten languages in the world by Internet usage and seven of the top eleven languages by total number of  Enhanced display and zoom features. Every item, native speakers. including every page of every book, can be viewed us- ing state-of-the-art zoom features. For books, all fold-outs Consistent, high-quality metadata. Every item in the have been digitized and are presented in color with the WDL is cataloged for place, time, topic, item type, contrib- zoom feature. uting institution, and language. Supplemental fi elds pro- vide information about physical features of an object and  Exposure to search engines. All WDL metadata is in- other relevant subjects. dividually indexable by external search engines, in all seven WDL languages. Multiple methods to browse, search, discover, and compare content. The WDL offers multiple paths to  Web 2.0 features. The WDL provides numerous op- access and explore content, including geographic clus- tions to download, share, and re-use content. ters, timelines, options to browse by place, time, topic, item type, and contributing institution, and open-ended  Accessibility. The WDL complies with the W3C Web search. Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0. Voice-en- abled browsing of WDL Web pages is provided to assist  Curatorial and scholarly interpretation. Every item the visually impaired, people with learning disabilities, and in the WDL contains a description explaining what the people studying foreign languages. WDL PARTNERS

National Library of Albania National Library of Naples (Italy) National Library of Argentina The Central National Library of Florence (Italy) National Library of Armenia University Library of Naples (Italy) State Library of South Australia University Library of Padua (Italy) Austrian National Library University Library of Sassari (Italy) National Library of Azerbaijan National Library of Jamaica Ministry of Education, Kingdom of Bahrain National Diet Library (Japan) National Library of Belarus National Academic Library of the Republic Museum Plantin-Moretus/Print Room (Belgium) of Kazakhstan, Astana National and University Library of Bosnia National Library of Kazakhstan and Herzegovina National Library of Korea National Library of Brazil National Library of Kyrgyz Republic National Library of Bulgaria National Library of Laos Central Library of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences National Library of Latvia Pontifi cal Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Canada) Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (Lebanon) National Library of Chile Near East School of Theology (Lebanon) Pontifi cal Catholic University of Chile Oriental Library, University of St. Joseph (Lebanon) National Library of China Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal Monastery National Central Library (Taipei) (Lebanon) National Library of Colombia Patriarchal Clergy Institute of Bzommar (Lebanon) Universidad EAFIT (Colombia) Vilnius University Library (Lithuania) National Library of Cuba "José Martí" Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library (Mali) National Library of the Czech Republic Autonomous University of Nuevo León (Mexico) Royal Library (Denmark) Center for the Study of the History of Mexico (CARSO) Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt) General Archive of the Nation (AGN) (Mexico) National Library and Archives of Egypt Mexican National Council for Culture and the Arts Saint Mark Coptic Library (Egypt) (CONACULTA) National Library of Estonia National Institute of Anthropology and History National Archives and Library of Ethiopia (INAH) (Mexico) National Library of Finland National Sound Archive (Mexico) National Library of France National Library of Moldova Irish College in Paris (France) Tetouan-Asmir Association (Morocco) National Parliamentary Library of Georgia National Library of the Netherlands Bavarian State Library (Germany) Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Berlin State Library - Prussian Cultural the Caribbean Studies (KITLV) Heritage (Germany) National Library of New Zealand Heidelberg University Library (Germany) Foundation New Era (Nicaragua) National Library of Guyana National Library of Nigeria National Archives of Haiti National Library of Norway Allama Iqbal Library, University of Kashmir (India) Omani Digital Library (Oman) Anna Centenary Library (India) Sultan Qaboos University Library (Oman) Iraqi National Library and Archives Government College University Lahore (Pakistan) National Library of Israel National Library of Peru Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities National Library of Portugal Casanatense Library (Italy) Qatar Foundation, Central Library Central Institute for Sound and Audiovisual National Library of Romania Heritage (Italy) Romanian Academy Library Estense Library, Modena (Italy) Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library (Russian Federation) Municipal Library Intronati (Italy) National Library of Russia National Central Library of Rome (Italy) Russian State Library

www.wdl.org National Archives of St. Kitts and Nevis Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (United States) National Archives of St. Vincent and the Grenadines John Carter Brown Library (United States) King Abdulaziz University Library (Saudi Arabia) Library of Congress (United States) King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Smithsonian Institution (United States) (KAUST) (Saudi Arabia) State Library and Archives of Florida (United States) National Library of Serbia Tulane University, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library University Library in Bratislava (Slovakia) (United States) National Library of South Africa U.S. National Archives and Records Administration University of Pretoria Library (South Africa) University of Hawaii at Manoa Library (United States) National Library of Spain University of South Carolina (United States) National Library of Sudan University of Texas Libraries (United States) National Library of Sweden University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries Uppsala University Library (Sweden) (United States) Greek-Catholic Archdiocese of Aleppo (Syria) Walters Art Museum (United States) Syriac-Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo (Syria) Yale University Library (United States) National Library of Uganda V.I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine Columbus Memorial Library, Organization of National Parliamentary Library of Ukraine American States (OAS) National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy International Federation of Library Associations Library (Ukraine) and Institutions (IFLA) Scientifi c Library of Lviv Polytechnic National Institute for the European Intellectual Lexicon and University (Ukraine) History of Ideas (ILIESI) - CNR Vasyl Stefanyk Lviv Scientifi c Library of Ukraine United Nations Educational, Scientifi c, and Cultural Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (United Organization (UNESCO) Arab Emirates) British Library (United Kingdom) National Library of Wales (United Kingdom) Wellcome Library (United Kingdom) Brown University Library (United States) George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida (United States)

ASSISTING PARTNERS WORLDWIDE

By providing training, equipment, and technical support to partner institutions in countries such as Egypt, Iraq, and Uganda, the WDL is bridging the global digital divide and ensuring that rare and unique cultural treasures previously acces- sible only to a tiny minority of researchers are now available for worldwide use.

Content digitized at WDL-supported digitization centers and now accessible on the WDL includes the oldest magazines and journals published in National Library of Uganda (NLU) staff deliver scanning equipment, Iraq, thousand-year-old scientifi c manuscripts purchased by the WDL for the NLU under a grant from the Carnegie from Egypt, and rare photographs from Brazil. Corporation of New York.

www.wdl.org WDL USERS

Visitors: 17 million Page Views: 113 million Links from Other Web Sites: 4 million Top Use by Country Spain, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, China, France, Russian Federation, Portugal, Colombia Top Use by City Madrid, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Barcelona, Lisbon, Bogota, Moscow, London, Paris

(April 2009 - October 2011)

WDL SPONSORS

Google The Qatar Foundation The Carnegie Corporation of New York The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia Microsoft, Inc. The Lawrence and Mary Anne Tucker Foundation The Bridges of Understanding Foundation The James Madison Council of the Library of Congress

The project to create a World Digital Library was initiated in 2006 by the Library of Congress, in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientifi c Organization (UNESCO). The WDL operates under the direction of the WDL Executive Council, with the support of UNESCO, in accordance with the WDL Charter adopted by the partner institutions. The Library of Congress serves as the institutional Project Manager and is responsible for the maintenance and development of www.wdl.org.

For more information or to contact the WDL: Michelle Rago, Product Manager

101 Independence Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20540-4913 | tel +1.202.707.1634 | fax +1.202.252.3261 | [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @WDLorg.