To enhance
interoperability between area studies digital libraries, the
project is based on the model established by the Digital South
Asia Library. It will employ standards developed and approved
by American and international library organizations to provide
free access to archives of textual, still image, sound, and
video resources, covering both historical and current
information from the
region.
A number of constituent projects
will create content and provide services for the Digital
Library. Projects include:
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Providing access to
bibliographic indexing; |
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Delivery of full text
articles in Thai; |
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Digitisation of Thai
palm leaf manuscripts; |
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Digitisation of early
printing in the languages of the
region; |
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Digitisation of
photographs and archives in Cambodia and the
Philippines; |
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Digitally archiving
television programming from Indonesia; and
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Digitally archiving
videos of interviews of former political prisoners in
East Timor.
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Acting in concert with partners in
the region, individuals representing leading Southeast Asian
Studies programs at US universities will coordinate these
projects. This effort will enable these programs to use
available resources more efficiently by establishing a
cooperative digital library rather than constructing
unconnected pieces. The Digital Library will amass substantial
resources from Southeast Asia and provide free access for
students, teachers, scholars, government officials, and many
others with interest in the region.
Funding for the project will begin
in October 2005 and is anticipated to continue for four years
from that time. More information will be available as the
project web site is brought online during the first year of
the grant. For more information on the grant program see the
US Department of Education's Technological Innovation and
Cooperation for Foreign Information Access web site.
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