World Digital Library: Is this the library of the future?
Posted by: mar10 in Emerging Technologies, News/Announcements, tags: Library of Congress, websites, World Digital LibraryAs the flattening of the world becomes a commonly agreed upon concept, building understanding between cultures and countries is increasingly important. Somewhat similar to the groundbreaking Encyclopedia of Life web project (which was written about in this blog in July 2007), the proposed World Digital Library will seek to distribute an unprecedented amount of “significant primary materials from cultures around the world” via the Internet. All kinds of media will be archived and made freely available in multiple languages as early as late 2008 or the beginning of 2009.
The project, proposed by James Billington, Librarian of Congress, will include robust search functionality, translation, and magnification, among other tools. The project is being spearheaded by a group of international institutions led by the Library of Congress and including Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the National Library of Brazil, the National Library and Archives of Egypt, the National Library of Russia, and the Russian State Library.
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June 13th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I found this to be very interesting and could not help but comment. I love that finally a group of people are taking a step out to increase the sharing of diversity and countries becoming more and more aware of each other’s thoughts, ideas, and traditions…and what not better to do this with than with technology?
Currently I am going into my 3rd year of college and am majoring Spanish and Elementary Education. I can tell you right now that I have always said that one of my top 5 goals for my classroom will be to show that diversity is a beautiful thing. So many times we always limit ourselves to what is to be learned about in our country and the technology, thoughts, ideas, inventions that we as a nation have to offer, but I commend James Billington and those involved in this project for taking a step up to unite countries, even if it just be through cyberspace…which, we must admit, seems to be the main connection to everything these days. How awesome will it be to just log in and look up a book written in India..we are being exposed to different ways of thinking, and different cultures. I believe so many of our world’s problems and disagreements with one another could be easily solved by understanding the way our different countries work…we’re not all the same, and we must learn to give and take and find a firm balance.
Another reason I found this to be so exciting is because I was raised in Mexico…and when I graduated from high school my parents sent me to the United States to receive an education here. I have seen both perspectives, both ways of living, and though it has been frustrating at times I found it helped me more as a person. That’s why I want to give the students of our future generations to see beyond their city, state, and country. Our world is such a beautiful place, it’s a shame that many schools do not make it more of a need for students to learn about other countries and what they can teach us about living in such a diverse world. Great post, I will definitely be looking into this when it comes out!
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:08 am
Nicole,
Thanks for commenting. It sounds like you have experiences and a world view that will greatly benefit your future students in this connected and flattened world. Best wishes to you in your studies and career!