Last week, one of the largest digital projects in the world, the World Digital Library (BDM), which brings together maps, texts, photos, recordings, films of all time and explains in seven languages the jewels and cultural relics of every library on the planet.
Associates are mainly libraries, archives or other institutions that have collections of cultural content, as well as institutions, foundations and private companies that contribute to the project by sharing technology, convening or sponsoring working group meetings, or financially. As an example of the latter, we can mention the following partners: Carnegie Corporation of New York, National Library of Qatar, Google, Inc., among many others that are part of this technological collection.
BDM, above all, has a patrimonial character”, said in LA NACION Abdelaziz Abid, coordinator of the project promoted by UNESCO and 32 other institutions, BDM will not offer current documents, unless “with heritage value, which will allow for appreciation and better understanding the cultures of the world in different languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese. But there are documents online in more than 50 languages.”
One of the treasures included in the BDM is the Hyakumanto darani, a document in Japanese published in the year 764 and considered the first printed text in history, a report from the Aztecs that constitutes the first mention of the Baby Jesus in the New World, works by Arab scientists unveiling the mystery of algebra, bones used as oracles and Chinese mats. The Gutenberg Bible old Latin American photos from the National Library of Brazil and the famous Devil’s Bible, from the 13th century, from the National Library of Sweden.
Access is free and users can join directly via the Web, without the need to register, and it allows Internet users to guide their search by era, geographic area, type of document and institution. The system proposes explanations in seven languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese), although the originals exist in their original language.