Joining the World Digital Library initiative

With the purpose of establishing cooperation between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the U.S. Library of Congress, as well as joining the World Digital Library initiative, a series of meetings between the Foundation’s representative in the United States and senior executives of the Library were held in 2009.  In April, the representative of the Foundation met with Mr. James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, and discussed the creation of the wide spectrum physical and electronic library in Azerbaijan and possible technical support from the Library of Congress. Later in June, a follow-up meeting with John Van Oudenaren (Senior Advisor for the World Digital Library) was conducted, where the feasibility of launching a joint project aimed at making very rare Azerbaijani documents and publications available to the world audience was considered.  The World Digital Library (WDL) initiative was the cornerstone of the meetings given its excellent potential to promote cultural heritage of Azerbaijan. Moreover, the possibility of establishing a digitization center in Azerbaijan for the purpose of producing specific materials not only for the World Digital Library, but also for other national and international projects was also discussed.

During the meetings, the special role of First Lady of Azerbaijan, Ms. Mehriban Aliyeva, President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO, was highlighted with an obvious connection with the WDL initiative that was commenced by Library of Congress and UNESCO. The Foundation’s representative particularly emphasized the tremendous role of First Lady of Azerbaijan in restoring and preserving the Azerbaijani cultural heritage the unique samples of which can enrich the content of WDL. Additionally, the Foundation’s representative spoke about the organization’s activities and its outstanding contribution to public health, cultural, educational and social life of Azerbaijan. An exclusive compilation of books and a beautiful music collection published by the Foundation were presented to the Library of Congress.

It is necessary to mention that WDL initiative is intended for promoting intercultural understanding, broadening the volume and array of cultural content on the Intenet, providing resources for scholars and general audiences, and capacity building of partner institutions to reduce the digital divide among countries.  The library is aimed at making available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, important principal materials from cultures worldwide, including manuscripts, rare books, maps, recordings, films, photographs, architectural drawings, and other significant cultural resources. It cooperates with more than 30 major national libraries and recognized institutions worldwide.