The World Digital Library

The World Digital Library is a compendium of some 1,200 high-resolution digitized files that allows users to zoom in on ancient documents and archival photographs. The Library has a sophisticated search tool that allows users to browse by keywords, time period, place, type of item and the institution which contributed it. Descriptions of all materials are in seven languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish), though the documents, books and other components appear in their original languages. The World Digital Library is another resource for students with its mix of primary sources.

The World Digital Library:

....will 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. The objectives of the World Digital Library are to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, provide resources to educators, expand non-English and non-Western content on the Internet, and to contribute to scholarly research.

US institutions include the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress. Other WDL project partners include cultural institutions from Brazil, China, Egypt, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia and many other countries.