The Library of Congress World Digital Library (WDL) is an initiative conceived by the previous Librarian of Congress to digitally present important resources from around the world – manuscripts, rare books, maps, photographs, and other important cultural documents – in a variety of languages. The WDL currently has 185 partners representing 81 countries, who supply digital content and associated metadata for inclusion in the WDL.
Since July 2015, ZAI has been responsible for creating metadata, conducting meticulous research on thousands of individual items. Each item requires an accurate, descriptive title, controlled keywords, Dewey subject headings, and associated names. The information ZAI receives from Library partners is often incomplete, and it takes a great deal of research and work to process correctly. ZAI staff are able to adapt to a constantly changing workflow and the need to reprioritize tasks as set forth by the Library of Congress and the partner institutions.
