VOA常速英语2008年-US Library of Congress Puts Knowledge on the We

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington
17 March 2008
 

The Library of Congress has been preparing for the digital age since the 1960's, when it used early technology to create and share its bibliographic¹ information in electronic form.  In the 1990's, the library started distributing digitized versions of its treasures to schools and libraries across the United States.  Now, there are millions of digitized contents available on the library's web site for users across the world.  VOA's Mohamed Elshinnawi has more:

In today's digital environment, visitors of the largest library in the world do not need to physically³ check all of the 134 million items in the Library of Congress. The library has been transforming its existing holdings to digital format², and preserves the digital content on the Web.

Chris Murphy, who is the Head of the Near East Section at the Library of Congress explains.  "The library began digitization efforts about 15 years ago and its first big project was called 'American Memory,' in which documents about American history, photographs, maps and many other items were digitized," he says.

Murphy says over the years the library has made about 14 million digitized items available online.

But Murphy says there are limitations. "Generally we do not digitize books unless they are in the public domain⁴, meaning there is no copyright difficulty or impediment caused by copyright. We have also digitized music and films, and for those - because of the newness of the recorded sound and motion pictures, they are often still under copyright - we have to receive permission from the copyright holder⁵ to digitize them," he said.

Murphy says 32 manuscripts from Mali in West Africa, now moved onto the Internet, will prompt scholars to rewrite the histories of Islam and the transatlantic slave trade.

Digitized items are still a tiny portion of the library's collection.  And visitors like Emile Hoffman, an Oxford⁶ University history graduate student, find unique resources at the library.

"The books here tend to be more wholesome⁷, especially if you are looking for 1500's West Africa and the battles that occurred," says Hoffman.  "A lot of that stuff is not digitized yet, however I can find a lot of information in the books here."

Mary-Jane Deeb is the Chief of African and Middle East Division at the Library of Congress.

She says that the library has been transformed into a global reservoir of information. "It has expanded tremendously, and it has included not only the people who can actually show up at the library to use its resources, but also those who are living in China, in India, in the Arab World, in Russia, they can all have access to the materials which are on the Web," she says.

Deeb adds the Library is working with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to include other countries' collections. "This World Digital Library is really a virtual library," she says, "in which countries from around the world will eventually be able to digitize their collections and put them up on the web virtually to create this library."

Deeb and other librarians say the virtual libraries will not eliminate the need for researchers to actually go to the largest library in the world.  Here, visitors can still see, and sometimes touch, a wealth of stored, catalogued and organized knowledge.

1 bibliographic   

书籍解题的，著书目录的

参考例句：

• Hall and Brown first define an on-line bibliographic data base as a collection of records. 霍尔和布朗首先把联机书目数据库定义为纪录集合。
• Neat notes especially count for bibliographic information and URLs. 对于书目和网址来说，整洁的笔记特别有价值。

2 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

3 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

4 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

5 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

6 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

7 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。