1. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES World Digital Library Arab Peninsula Regional Group Meeting Doha, Qatar, December 12-14, 2010 An Introduction to the WDL John Van Oudenaren

2. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES A website, http://www.wdl.org, that provides free access to primary sources that document the histories and cultural achievements of all countries. Rare books Journals Manuscripts Maps Prints and photographs Films Sound recordings

3. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Timeline June 2005: Dr. Billington proposes creation of a World Digital Library December 2005: Initial funding secured December 2006: Agreements with UNESCO; WDL Experts Meeting October 2007: Prototype unveiled at UNESCO General Conference April 2009: www.wdl.org launchedwww.wdl.org March 2010: WDL Charter adopted June 2010: Partner meeting under the WDL charter

4. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES In addition to building a website, the WDL is also an effort to share knowledge and build capacity around the world by: Assisting in the establishment of digital conversion centers (Egypt, Iraq, Uganda) Encouraging digitization where little or no digital content is being produced Facilitating cooperation between experienced institutions and those just getting started

5. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Digital conversion centers Delivering scanning equipment to the National Library of Uganda Newly trained staff at the National Library and Archives of Egypt Training at the Iraqi National Library and Archives

6. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES 116 partners from 63 countries National libraries University libraries Public libraries Archives Museums

7. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Governance Charter Executive Council Project Committees Content Selection Technical Architecture Translation and Language View project site for more information (http://project.wdl.org/).http://project.wdl.org/).

8. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Statistics

9. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Visitors 12.7 million Pages viewed 87 million Engaged users April, 21 2009 – October 31, 2010

10. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Arabic Chinese English French Portuguese Russian Spanish Current set of languages

11. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Languages of pages viewed Spanish: 53.9% English: 20.8% Portuguese: 10.9% Russian: 5.2% Chinese: 3.9% French: 3.7% Arabic: 1.4% April, 21 2009 – October 31, 2010

12. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Top countries by visitor April 21, 2009 – October 31, 2010

13. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Top external search engines referring traffic April 21, 2009 – October 31, 2010

14. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Top searches on the WDL site April 21, 2009 – October 31, 2010

15. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Partners in the Arab World Bibliotheca Alexandrina National Library and Archives of Egypt Qatar Foundation Education Ministry, Kingdom of Bahrain Iraqi National Library and Archives Tetouan-Asmir Association, Morocco King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Hill Museum and Manuscript Library partners in Syria and Lebanon

16. World Digital Library www.wdl.org OSI | WEB SERVICES Content Selection General selection guidelines Specialized working groups Meso-American Codices Chinese Language Content Arabic Scientific Manuscripts South Asian Content Arabian Peninsula Key role of partner institutions – curators and experts