Unveiled last month, the World Digital Library is a project with much interesting potential. The actual content available is rather thin on the ground at the moment, but I presume that will change with time. What I like best about it is the option to browse for collections using a map of the world and/or using a timeline that covers thousands of years. At this writing, there are 1170 digital items from collections around the world (e.g. National Library of France, Library of Congress, Yale University Library, National Library of Sweden etc).
Even though there are no Canadian institutions participating in this UNESCO project, there are 13 items about or from Canada, mainly from the Library of Congress. I had a look at one item – changing of the guard at Parliament in 1984 – and I was quite impressed by the meta-data provided (not as complete as a Library catalogue record, but certainly good for a photo). I get the sense that the Library of Congress is the main contributor of content at this stage, but that may change.
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