The World Digital Library Opens the Public to our Global Heritage

By the Domicyle Staff

Main Reading Hall of the Library of Congress, Photo by Carol M. Highsmith [Public domain]

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     In almost all iterations, the library was the precursor to the internet.   It was and still is a place where you can find knowledge and culture.  Yet now, the internet is giving us access to some rare and hefty classical works of various cultures from around the world.  

     A project of the U.S. Library of Congress and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) together with partner libraries, museums and other similar organizations, the World Digital Library (WDL) "makes available on the internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from all countries and cultures."

     Similar projects like Google Books, the European Union World Library and the Vatican Library Online have provided readers and researchers access to important texts and manuscripts in digitized form that have only been possible before if you were physically in the library.

Manuscrito do fim do séc XV do grande poet #Dante Alighieri. As chamadas pequenas obras, em escrita renascentista. https://t.co/BO1kvuR7YI pic.twitter.com/CkVkk9qGVD

— WorldDigitalLibrary (@WDLorg) September 11, 2017

​     In its website, the WDL said that it contains materials like "books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, journals, prints and photographs, sound recordings, and films."

     It also has descriptions of these unique items and bibliographic information presented in seven languages namely "Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portugese, Russian and Spanish."  Additionally, these bibliographic descriptions can be listened to thru an audio converter.

     As an open historical and cultural resource, the WDL is giving the general public works "with heritage value, that will allow to appreciate and better know the cultures of the world," said Abdelaziz Abid, UNESCO Coordinator of the WDL in an interview with Aleteia.org.

    Among its archives include a hydrographical and chorographical map of Philippines from the National Library of Spain and French explorer Pierre Sonnerat's account of his travels to South Asia, China and Indonesia.

"Satomi and the Eight 'Dogs'": 19th-C. Japanese epic novel that recounts adventures of 8 samurais. Learn more here: https://t.co/Iccf6ieDNe pic.twitter.com/cAgKUCKraw

— WorldDigitalLibrary (@WDLorg) September 7, 2017

Mapa-múndi completo e moderno (1534): forma de coração, por Orone Fine, cartógrafo francês: #Maps #WorldMap https://t.co/m8q4ZZ6qWu pic.twitter.com/JS6AMV0Eky

— WorldDigitalLibrary (@WDLorg) August 28, 2017

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