A Library initiative in support of Yale’s international programs

The Yale University Library supports Yale’s international programs in a multitude of different ways. What makes the Library international is the variety and depth of its collections, along with the scope and diversity of its staff and users. I am writing to invite you to join in a discussion of a relatively new development that is helping the University and Library build on their international strengths.

“Unicode” is a procedure that helps preserve and distribute the world’s languages and cultural heritage. You are invited to attend a presentation by Deborah Anderson, director of the U.C. Berkeley Script Encoding Initiative. The title of her talk is “Unicode and the University: How Script Encoding Can Transform Future Research, Teaching, and Outreach in the Academy,” and she will be speaking and answering questions at the SML Lecture Hall on June 30, 2005, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. Refreshments will be served.

Dr. Anderson has been an important player in the Unicode movement, helping to bring minority and historic scripts into the de facto universal script encoding standard. The international and historic implications of her project are well-summarized on her Web site:

For a minority language, having its script included in the universal character set will help to promote native-language education, universal literacy, cultural preservation, and remove the linguistic barriers to participation in the technological advancements of computing. For historic scripts, it will serve to make communication easier, opening up the possibilities of online education, research, and publication. For implementers in the computer industry, the outcome of this project will provide longer term stability. (From: www.linguistics.berkeley.edu/sei)

Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium, considers Unicode to be one of the two basic building blocks of the emerging Semantic Web. (An extension of the HTML-based Web on which we've all come to depend, the Semantic Web will greatly enhance the ability of machines to understand, not merely process and display, the universe of networked digital information.)

Deborah’s talk should be of great interest to librarians, linguists, computer scientists, those engaged in computer-assisted mathematics and musical composition, and those interested in foreign language study, international data exchange, and the effort to preserve the worlds linguistic diversity and written record.

We hope that many of you will be able to make this event.

Sincerely,

Alice Prochaska, University Librarian,

Meg Bellinger, Associate University Librarian,

and the Unicode Interest Group

For additional information, send email to: charles.riley@yale.edu