A Library for the World’s Children

Ben Bederson, Allison Druin, Ann WeeksUniversity of Maryland

ICDL Foundation

Mongolia READRural Education & Development

• World Bank funded project run by MECS• Select excellent Mongolian Children’s books• Distribute to all Soum and Bagh schools• Teacher training• Standardized evaluation

• And digital access to books

What is the ICDL?

• a project of the ICDL Foundationcreated by the University of Maryland

• launched in November 2002

• over 60,000 pages of digitized books

• books in 35 languages

• website in 13 languages

• 1,000,000 users in 200 countries

ICDL Ambassadors Albania, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tobago, Trinidad Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Virgin Islands

• Over 200 world-wide volunteers

• share ICDL resources with children, librarians, teachers, and other members of their communities

An Illinois public librarian now offers Digital Storytime for children…

• participants are 2-8 years old• offers activity sheets with mazes, scavenger hunts, & word searches• the ICDL is changing a public library

• “I used the ICDL this week for digital storytimes with older children (1st  through 6th grade)—it was a complete success!  I was a little concerned about the ability of this group to read the text off the screen while I was reading—and wondered whether that would affect their experience of the story—and whether they might be distracted by the text.  From what I saw (and I REALLY wished I could have had videocameras rolling again…) they were completely attentive—and afterwards were really enthusiastic about the story and the experience.  They wanted another digital story….. “

Teachers in Taiwan support working mothers and their children with electronic resources in English…

• English is taught as a second language

• children’s books are used for students to read and write their own stories

• the ICDL is a tool for second-language acquisition

The ICDL Kidsteam…

• 12 faculty, staff, and graduate students

• 19 children from U.S., Germany, Honduras, New Zealand

• 7 children in our lab weekly

• partners in brainstorming new ideas, testing technology, cataloging and reviewing books

Demo…

Mongolia ICDL

• www.read.mn

• Soon…

How does it work?

• JSP on Linux w/ Apache/Tomcat server• Mysql database• Lucene text index• Unicode international fonts• Javascript & Java optional• JPEG scans stored in multiple resolutions• Optional log-in for preferences, bookshelf, etc.• Administrator website for multilingual metadata entry,

book management

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أسمان درخانه

שלו ם

ДЕТЕЙ

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The ICDL Partners...

• authors and illustrators

• national libraries

• publishers

• national and international advisors

• other organizations

The ICDL future…

• larger international studies (e.g., impact on literacy, on cultural awareness, on social communication)

• curriculum guides (e.g., to using the ICDL in school settings)

• adapt software for broader international needs (e.g., non-network version, more readable scans)

• continue collection development (special collections for local communities; special topic collections, e.g., health information; historical materials)

Acknowledgements…

• ICDL team, Hilary Hutchinson, Anne Rose, Sabrina Liao, Mary Ramos, Sheri Massey, Kara Reuter, Laura Hadley, Tracy Masterson, Aaron Clamage, Ben Bederson, Ann Weeks, Allison Druin, Dana, Tara, Jonah, Genna, Grace, Zeke, Jamie, Oska, Mamae, Camille, Sonovia, Devin, Chamira, Alberto, Alma, Jose Raul, Grace, Max, Sarah

• funding, National Science Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Microsoft Corp., Adobe Corp., Government of Mongolia