São Paulo – Last Tuesday (21st), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), in partnership with 32 institutions, launched the World Digital Library, an Internet site containing cultural material from libraries and archives worldwide that has versions in Arabic, Portuguese, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish. The formation of the library counted on technical assistance from the Library of Alexandria, in Egypt.
The site includes manuscripts, maps, books, films and rare recordings, as well as prints and photographs. Public access to the material will be free and unrestricted, according to the Unesco website. Descriptions of each item and videos elaborated by specialised curators are going to contextualize the content, so as to arouse the curiosity of users and encourage people to learn more about the cultural heritage of countries.
The launch of the Library took place at the Unesco headquarters, in Paris, France, with the attendance of global cultural and diplomatic authorities. The proposal for creating the site was first presented to the Unesco by United States Congress librarian James H. Billington in 2005. “Bringing people closer together precisely by celebrating the depth and uniqueness of different cultures in a single global undertaking,” the librarian explained.
The initiative is also meant to promote international understanding, increase the volume and variety of cultural content in the Internet and provide resources for educators, academicians and the general public. That, according to information supplied by Unesco, should reduce the digital differences between countries through training. The World Digital Library was developed by a team of the Library of the Congress.
In addition to technical assistance from the Library of Alexandria, other institutions contributed with texts and expertise, including national libraries and cultural and educational institutions from Brazil, Egypt, China, France, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The contents of the Digital Library include images of bones of oracles and epitaphs supplied by the National Library of China, Arabic scientific manuscripts from the National Library and Archive of Egypt, historical photographs of Latin America from the National Library of Brazil, the famous “Devil’s Bible,” dating back to the 13th century, from the National Library of Sweden, and Arabic, Persian and Turkish calligraphy work from the United States Library of Congress.
Further information
Unesco website: www.unesco.org
Website of the United States Library of Congress: www.loc.gov
*With data from the Unesco website. Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
