Global Memory Net
Global Memory Net (GMNet) is a world digital library of cultural, historical, and heritage image collections. It is directed by Ching-chih Chen, Professor Emeritus of Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts and supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s International Digital Library Program (IDLP). The goal of GMNet is to provide a global collaborative network that provides universal access to educational resources to a worldwide audience. GMNet provides multilingual and multimedia content and retrieval, as well as links directly to major resources, such as OCLC, Internet Archive, Million Book Project, and Google. History. Global Memory Net superseded  Chinese Memory Net (CMNet) , which was founded in 2001 as a NSF/IDLP project. It was intended to make Chinese cultural and heritage resources globally accessible in a multimedia format. "The experiences and knowledge gained from [CMNet] made me realize the need to rethink the model for information dissemination and use," wrote Chen in 2001. CMNet later expanded to represent global collections and officially became Global Memory Net in 2003. Collections. Reflecting GMNet's origins in CMNet and Prof. Chen's earlier PROJECT EMPEROR-I, an interactive multimedia project , the strongest portion of the collection's content is from China  and Asia. This collection includes over 8000 images and featured videos of this World Heritage Site and the original discovery and excavation of the Emperor's terracotta army. Additional to the Asian collections are materials from around the world. A number of comprehensive collections are included, covering specific sites, cultures, and other overarching themes from content collaborators, including the UNESCO's Memory of the World, Asia Division of Library of Congress, national libraries, academic institutions, and some private groups. These collections feature images of geographical locations and historical sites, historical manuscripts, maps, art, indigenous crafts, weapons, pottery and musical instruments . Every image is accompanied by metadata information. Images of musical instruments are linked with the audio and video files, and with notations. Metadata is recorded in multiple languages. In general, English is provided and is often also available in the local language of the object's country of origin. A recent ongoing project is the multilingual and multimedia documentation of all the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, known as World Heritage Memory Net. Collections in GMNet are broken up into the following categories to help users browse the extensive content: In addition, GMNet also includes instant access to over 2530 digital  collections from over 80 countries in the world in its World Digital Collections. Usage. Search Methods. When one enters GMNet, all collections can be searched using an open search box, which allows traditional search by metadata fields (such as title, date, location, keyword, source, etc.) in multiple languages. Advanced Search with additional Boolean Operators is available for both Collections and images by language and by multiple fields. Information in GMNet is retrieved not only by the traditional way of searching by collection listings, country, or timeline, but especially by enhanced search methods including freely browsing, randomly looking for images of  interest, finding similar images, zooming for details, and obtaining appropriate annotations. GMNet's search capabilities include: Linked Data. GMNet links to outside data sources to provide more additional information resources to the user. These resources include OCLC, Internet Archive, Million Books, Google Scholar and Google Books, Wikipedia, and Flickr. User’s Projects. Registered users may create up to 3 projects and save images in a durable portfolio within GMNet. As users search through the collections they can save and add notes and metadata to individual objects. Partners. GMNet's partners can be divided into two categories: References. Other Publications authored  by Collaborators and Third-Parties are listed below: