VOA慢速英语:New Digital Library to Display World On the Internet

What is a place where you could find old pictures of camels carrying people to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and also books about ancient Aztecs in Mexico? It is all found in the World Digital Library(WDL). It's collection is available on the Internet.
有没有一个地方能让你看到骆驼载着人前往沙特阿拉伯麦加的老照片，以及有关墨西哥古阿兹台克人的书籍？这些都能在世界数字图书馆（WDL）里被找到。它的藏书已经传到网上。

The library has 8,000 items from whole books to ancient writings, to music and photographs. There are 170 partners in 79 countries sending material to the World Digital Library. Partners include national or university libraries, museums and other cultural organizations.
这个图书馆拥有8000件作品，从整本书籍到古代著作、音乐和照片。来自79个国家有170位合作伙伴为世界数字图书馆提供材料。这些合作伙伴包括国家、大学图书馆，博物馆和其它文化机构。

The librarian of the United States Congress James Billington launched the WDL in 2009. John Van Oudenaren is the director of the library. He says Mr Billington wanted it to include items that are both interesting and important.
美国国会图书馆馆长James Billington在2009年推出了世界数字图书馆。John Van Oudenaren是该馆的负责人。他说，Billington先生希望该馆能够包括既有趣又重要的作品。

"So we are looking for things that from each country, each culture, each civilization. Things that are unique and important and help to tell the story of that place."
“因此，我们一直在寻找来自每个国家，每种文化，每种文明的作品，寻找这些独特、重要并且能够帮忙讲述该地故事的素材。”

Every item is explained in the 6 official languages of the United Nations: English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian plus Portuguese.
每件作品都用英语、法语、西班牙语、汉语、俄语和葡萄牙语这六种联合国官方语言进行解释。

Since 2009, 25 million people have visited the website from 250 places. The greatest number is from Spanish-speaking countries. Mr Van Oudenaren says users include schools, researchers and anyone interested.
从2009年以来，全球已有250个地区的2500万人访问了该网站。人数最多的是西班牙语国家。Van Oudenaren先生称，网站用户包括学校、科研人员和那些感兴趣的人。

"People say this is what the Internet should be about. And that kind warms my heart."
“人们说互联网就应该这样，而这温暖了我的心。”

He was especially happy to hear from one teacher in New York City.
他听到纽约市一位教师的评价后特别高兴。

"And she said it was really wonderful to have a site where every kid in the class, no matter what country they were from or where their parents were from could search and find something about that country that was interesting and important." 
“她说，有一个可以让班里所有的孩子搜寻一些有关该国的有趣的、重要的东西网站真的太棒了，不管他来自那个国家或他们的父母来自哪里。”

Mussa Maravl is a researcher for the WDL from Sudan. He works with all the materials that are in Arabic. He recently published rare photographs of Mecca from 1885.
来自苏丹的Mussa Maravl是世界图书馆的一位研究员，负责所有阿拉伯语的素材。最近他发布了来自1885年的一些有关麦加的珍贵照片。

"These camels were , you know, lying their heads on the ground, which is very unusual for a camel. It means these camels have travelled so far， so long， and half of those camels were very thin, too, meaning they have exhausted all the fat they have stored there."
“你知道的，这些骆驼把头放到地上，这对骆驼来说非常不寻常。这意味着这些走了很久、很远。而且半数骆驼都非常瘦，也意味着它们耗光了储存在驼峰中的脂肪。”

Mussa Maravl believes the library provides tools for understanding, especially among Arabs, Muslims and United States. He says the WDL is posting many items about important developments in Arabic and Islamic science.
Mussa Maravl认为世界数字图书馆有助于相互理解，尤其是阿拉伯人、穆斯林和美国之间的相互理解。他说，世界数字图书馆正在发布很多有关阿拉伯和伊斯兰科学重要发展项目。

"The kind of cultural heritage you are promoting is exactly, I believe, what the world need to choose. Basically all these cultures contribute together to promote understanding throughout humanity in general."
“我相信，你宣传的文化遗传实际上是世界必须选取的，基本上所有这些文化共同促进了整个人类的普遍理解。”

Anyone may search the World Digital Library by subject, time period, kind of document or area of the world. The website is www.wdl.org.
任何人都可以通过标题、时间周期、文件类型或世界地区搜索世界数字图书馆。网址是www.wdl.org。