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World Digital Library

The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress.

Type of site

International education

Multilingual

United States

Library of Congress

www.wdl.org

No

April 21, 2009 (2009-04-21)

Online

The WDL has stated that its mission is 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, and to build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and among countries.[1] It aims to expand non-English and non-western content on the Internet, and contribute to scholarly research. The library intends to make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from cultures around the world, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other significant cultural materials.[2][3][4]


The WDL opened with 1,236 items.[5] As of early 2018, it lists more than 18,000 items from nearly 200 countries, dating back to 8,000 BCE.

, an 11th-century Japanese tale considered by some to be the first novel ever written;[10]

The Tale of Genji

ancient texts that were used in the formation of algebra;[5] Chinese oracle bone script;[7]

Arabic

copies of the Yongle Encyclopedia, one of the largest compilations in Chinese literature;[11]

Ming dynasty

A printed edition of the dated c. 1115–1234;[12]

Huangdi Neijing

an 8,000-year-old of bleeding antelopes;[13]

African painting

the , the earliest map to mention America by name;[13][14]

Waldseemüller map

the ;[10] Samuel de Champlain's Des Sauvages: ou voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouages, faite en la France nouvelle l'an 1603;[10]

Codex Gigas

an audio recording of a 101-year-old former , whose grandparents were owned by Thomas Jefferson;[10]

American slave

the first mention of the child Jesus;[5]

Aztec

World War I recruitment posters;

[10]

an 1899 handbook for Scandinavian immigrants;[10]

Canadian government

, the first Spanish and Tagalog book ever published;[14]

Doctrina Christiana, en lengua española y tagala

an translation of the Bible by a Russian saint;[14] Islamic manuscripts from Mali;[14] Hyakumanto Darani;[7]

Aleutian

rare photographs originating in , the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire;[7]

Imperial China

the first recording of ";"[7]

La Marseillaise

the world's first film from the ;[7] a photolithographic reproduction of the Constitution of India;[15]

Lumiere brothers

by Prem Behari Narain Raizada;[15] the Huexotzinco Codex;[16]

calligraphy

and the .[17]

Nuremberg Chronicle

Initial exhibits include

Chinese Text Project

Digital Public Library of America

Europeana

Global Memory Net

Internet Archive

(NDLP)

National Digital Library Program

Project Gutenberg

World Digital Library-Wikimedia partnership

Abid, Abdelaziz (November 2009). (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved February 27, 2014.

"The World Digital Library and Universal Access to Knowledge"

Oudenaren, John Van (2012), (PDF), Library of Congress, UNESCO

"Beyond Access: Digitization to Preserve Culture"

Oudenaren, John Van (2012). . Uncommon Culture. 3 (5/6): 65–71.

"The World Digital Library"

Thorp, Justin (December 2007). "World Digital Library In The Developing World". International Journal of Mobile Marketing. 2 (2): 75–77.

Official website