The World Digital Library Initiative John Van Oudenaren Library of Congress Presentation to the Third SEEDI Conference Cetinje, Montenegro September 13, 2007

The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 2 The World Digital Library Initiative Vision: To create a digital library of significant original materials representing all of the major cultures from across the globe and make it accessible to students, educators, and the general public Objectives: – Promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness – Provide a resource for educators that matches the needs of a globalized, wireless world – Display rare and unique content of interest to scholars and the general public

The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 3 The World Digital Library – Partners UNESCO National libraries and other cultural institutions IFLA The technology community

Librarian of Congress proposes World Digital Library to the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO Google gives Library of Congress $3 million for planning phase of the project Conclusion of agreements with partner institutions in Brazil, Russia, Egypt Site mockup and draft proposal presented to UNESCO in Paris; formation of Working Groups Conclusion of agreements with UNESCO and with additional partner institutions WDL prototype to be unveiled at UNESCO General Conference, Paris Completion of WDL plan and full-scale launch of the project The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 4 The World Digital Library – Dates and Milestones June 2005: November 2005: 2006: December 2006: 2007: October 2007: September 2008:

Not just a big website! Three pillars: Content acquisition Construction of a sustainable network for production and distribution of content The web site: The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 5 The World Digital Library – Implementation

Key objective: Work with partners to digitize content in places where little or no scanning is being done – bring to light “hidden treasures” Selection Working Group to establish criteria Maintain and build upon existing scanning operations: – Cairo – Rio de Janeiro – Moscow – St. Petersburg – Novosibirsk (mobile scanning team for Siberia) The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 6 Pillar I: Content Acquisition

The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 7 Pillar I: Content Acquisition Establish additional scanning operations Africa Central America The Caribbean Other Pursue other methods of content acquisition - Re-purposing of already-digitized material All arrangements are non-exclusive (content can be on WDL, national, regional, other projects) WDL-IFLA Best Practices Working Group established to set guidelines for new digitization efforts (Meetings: Washington, May 2007; Durban, August 2007)

Key objective: Create and distribute content in a way that makes the most sense in terms of cost and technical factors and in ways that build capacity in the developing world Network is both a technical infrastructure and a community of institutions, scholars, curators, linguists, technologists Technical Working Group to establish standards, architecture (first meeting: Stanford University, April 2007) The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 8 Pillar II. Construction of a Sustainable International Network

The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 9 Pillar II. Construction of a Sustainable International Network Network nodes for creation of the World Digital Library: digitization of content cataloging translation development of editorial and educational content Network nodes for distribution: central site mirrored sites First mirrored sites: Washington, DC and Alexandria, Egypt

Key objective: Present cultural content in a way that appeals to (and thus will be used by) the new generation of Internet users, both in the United States and internationally Prototype under development Multilingual: English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese High quality user experience Fast, seamless Ability to search and browse a large volume of content The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 10 Pillar III: The Web Site

The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 11 Pillar III: The Web Site Multi-format: manuscripts maps photographs, prints, postcards rare books sound and video clips 3-D presentations of architectural monuments Special features with experts, scholars, curators Educational content for teachers and students Social networking features Adjustments to developing-country conditions; low bandwidth and mobile device solutions

Pillar III: The Website Partners in developing the prototype –Russian State Library –National Library of Egypt –National Library of Brazil –National Library of Russia –Bibliotheca Alexandrina Other contributors -Google, Apple, Intel -OCLC -Stanford, University of Maryland

The World Digital Library Initiative Next Steps Solicit feedback on the prototype Draft a multilateral charter and establish a WDL organization with a board and members Enlist additional members from all continents, cultures, content Develop the website Develop the network Secure additional funding Governments Foundations Companies