80 likes | 296 Views
World Digital Library Partner Meeting Munich, Germany November 14-15, 2011 Content Priorities and Selection John Van Oudenaren WDL Director. World Digital Library www.wdl.org. Content Priorities and Selection. WDL Content Selection Guidelines
E N D
World Digital Library Partner Meeting Munich, Germany November 14-15, 2011 Content Priorities and Selection John Van Oudenaren WDL Director
World Digital Library www.wdl.org Content Priorities and Selection • 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”
World Digital Library www.wdl.org Content Priorities and Selection • 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
World Digital Library www.wdl.org Arabic Scientific Manuscripts Committee • 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
World Digital Library www.wdl.org Arabic Scientific Manuscripts Committee • 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 (903-986) • Arabic maps and cartography • Manuscripts about machines and mechanical devices
World Digital Library www.wdl.org Chinese Language Committee • Co-chaired by National Library of China and Library of Congress • Meeting in Washington, January 2009
World Digital Library www.wdl.org Chinese Language Committee • 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 (1851-1864) • Books on astronomy and divination • Pre-1900 Chinese maps • Rare books from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) • Jesuit publications from the 16th and 17th centuries • Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) block-printed works with illustrations • Need to involve other Asian, U.S., and European libraries (some already contributing Chinese content)
World Digital Library www.wdl.org Mesoamerican Codices Committee • 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