World Digital Library Partner Meeting Munich, Germany November 14-15, 2011 Content Priorities and Selection John Van Oudenaren WDL Director

Content Priorities and Selection World Digital Library WDL Content Selection Guidelines Developed by Content Selection Working Group, Cairo, Egypt, January 13-15, 2009 General, high-level guidelines Sources for the study of humanity Collections relating to national histories and cultures but also relating to other countries Particular attention to Memory of the World collections Possibility of designated high-profile themes, e.g., history of writing

Content Priorities and Selection World Digital Library Some unresolved issues needing further discussion: What to do about 3-D items? What to do about archival collections? Folklore and intangible heritage Possibility of regional and/or functional groups to supplement work of general committee

Arabic Scientific Manuscripts Committee World Digital Library Sponsored by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Two meetings in London, 2008 Involvement of scholars and curators Additional impetus from the Qatar Foundation

Arabic Scientific Manuscripts Committee World Digital Library Focus on two aspects: Development and capacity building, e.g., National Library and Archives of Egypt Top treasure manuscripts mainly in Europe, Turkey, to some extent the United States Potential areas of emphasis identified: Works by the astronomer al-Sufi ( ) Arabic maps and cartography Manuscripts about machines and mechanical devices

Chinese Language Committee World Digital Library Co-chaired by National Library of China and Library of Congress Meeting in Washington, January 2009

Chinese Language Committee World Digital Library Areas of focus identified: Archival materials and architectural designs relating to the Garden of Perfect Brightness (destroyed in the European interventions of 1860 and the Boxer uprising of 1900) Books printed during the Taiping Kingdom ( ) Books on astronomy and divination Pre-1900 Chinese maps Rare books from the Song Dynasty ( ) Jesuit publications from the 16th and 17th centuries Ming Dynasty ( ) block-printed works with illustrations Need to involve other Asian, U.S., and European libraries (some already contributing Chinese content)

Mesoamerican Codices Committee World Digital Library Meeting in Mexico City, May 2009, hosted by CONACULTA and Library of Congress Identified all significant Mesoamerican codices from: Mexico United States and Canada Europe Commissioned overview paper by Professor Karl Taube, University of California at Riverside