2004-6-16
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education
Report.
Looking for a good children's book? Internet users can find
hundreds of them. These books are from around the world. And they
are free of charge. The project is called the International
Children's Digital Library.
The goal is to offer electronic versions of more than
ten-thousand children's books in at least one-hundred languages. We
will give the address of the Web site at the end of this report. So
get ready to write it down.
Project developers have been working with children to design easy
ways to search the collection and read the books. An image of each
page appears on the computer. Users can also print copies on paper.
Officials say the project has been designed for two main groups
of users. The first is children between the ages of three and
thirteen, along with their teachers and parents. The second group is
researchers in the area of children's literature.
The books chosen for the collection are meant to help children
understand the world in which they live. Literature is one way to
teach young people about new ideas. The idea behind the collection
is that an interesting story not only helps children understand who
they are. It may also influence their desire to explore the world.
Project organizers say they have chosen books that show the
similarities and differences in ways of life around the world. The
aim is to create a greater understanding of other people's cultures
and beliefs. The International Children's Digital Library is also an
attempt to use technology to strengthen libraries around the world.
The digital library is a project
of the University of Maryland and the Internet Archive. The Internet
Archive is building an electronic library of Internet sites and
other digital collections as a cultural record.
The children's library project is supported by the National
Science Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The Library of Congress and other organizations are also involved.
The first materials appeared in two-thousand-two.
The goal is to have all ten-thousand books online in
two-thousand-seven. So far, the collection contains more than five
hundred books.
Here is the address of the International Children's Digital
Library: www.icdlbooks.org. Again, www.icdlbooks.org.
This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy
Steinbach. This is Steve Ember.