# Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative

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{{Short description|International digital library project}}
alt=image of a clay cylinder with text in cuneiform, included in the CDLI's online collection|thumb|Clay cylinder from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, USA. Indexed as part of the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative.
The '''Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative''' (CDLI) is an international [digital library](/source/digital_library) project aimed at putting text and images of an estimated 500,000 recovered [cuneiform](/source/cuneiform) tablets created from between roughly 3350 BC and the end of the pre-Christian era online.<ref name=about>{{cite web |title=About CDLI |url=http://cdli.ucla.edu/?q=about |publisher=Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative |accessdate=2014-06-12}}</ref> Directors of the project are [Robert Keith Englund](/source/Robert_Keith_Englund) from [University of California, Los Angeles](/source/University_of_California%2C_Los_Angeles) and [Jürgen Renn](/source/J%C3%BCrgen_Renn) of the [Max Planck Institute for the History of Science](/source/Max_Planck_Institute_for_the_History_of_Science). Co-principal investigators are Jacob Dahl at Oxford University, Bertrand Lafront at the [Centre national de la recherche scientifique](/source/Centre_national_de_la_recherche_scientifique), Nanterre and Émilie Pagé-Perron, [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto). Preceding leadership comprised co-director [Peter Damerow](/source/Peter_Damerow) (1939–2011) from the [Max Planck Institute for the History of Science](/source/Max_Planck_Institute_for_the_History_of_Science) and [Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary](/source/Pennsylvania_Sumerian_Dictionary) leader [Stephen J. Tinney](/source/Stephen_J._Tinney) who was co-principal investigator.<ref>{{cite web |title=Associates & Staff |url=http://cdli.ucla.edu/?q=associates-staff |publisher=Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative |accessdate=2009-06-12}}</ref> In 2004, Englund received the Richard W. Lyman Award from the [National Humanities Center](/source/National_Humanities_Center) for his work on the initiative.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cuneiform Goes Digital: UCLA Scholar Sheds Light on Cultural History of Ancient Iraq |url=http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/newsrel2004/prlymanaward2004.htm |publisher=National Humanities Center |date=2004-04-28 |accessdate=2009-02-21}}</ref>

The project began in 1998,<ref>{{cite news |title=Web library assembling ancient written documents |agency=Associated Press |publisher=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/2002/05/17/library.htm |date=2002-05-17 |accessdate=2009-02-21}}</ref> but it was not until 2000 that it obtained funds for three years from the [National Endowment for the Humanities](/source/National_Endowment_for_the_Humanities) and the [National Science Foundation](/source/National_Science_Foundation)'s [Digital Libraries Initiative](/source/Digital_Libraries_Initiative).<ref name=about/>  This phase consisted of digitizing and progressively putting online the collections of the [Vorderasiatisches Museum](/source/Vorderasiatisches_Museum) (online in 2001), the [Institut Catholique de Paris](/source/Institut_Catholique_de_Paris) (online in 2002), the [Hermitage Museum](/source/Hermitage_Museum) and the [Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology](/source/Phoebe_A._Hearst_Museum_of_Anthropology) (online in 2003), and the [University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania_Museum_of_Archaeology_and_Anthropology).<ref name=about/> A second phase from 2004 to 2006 was federally funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the [Institute of Museum and Library Services](/source/Institute_of_Museum_and_Library_Services), during which time it focused on new educational components and scalable access systems to the data.<ref name=about/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://cdli.earth/ Official site]

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Category:Cuneiform
Category:Archaeological databases
Category:American digital libraries

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform_Digital_Library_Initiative) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform_Digital_Library_Initiative?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.