Mission:
To make available on the Internet, free of charge and in a multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.

Background:
Launched in April 2009 by the United States Library of Congress, with support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and dozens of partners (mainly libraries, archives, or other culural institutions), the World Digital Library was developed to promote international and intercultural understanding; expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Web; provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences; and build capacity in partner institutions to shrink the digital divide within and between countries.

Outstanding Web Features:
On the WDL Web site, visitors can browse cultural artifacts such as manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, films, prints, and architectural drawings by geographic cluster or via an interactive timeline. Navigation tools and content descriptions are provided in seven languages. Item-level descriptions include advanced image-viewing, and in some cases audio-recorded interviews are provided. In addition, selected items are accompanied by a curator video in which an expert speaks about an item or collection of items.