National libraries and the UN education agency have put some of humanity's earliest written works online as part of the World Digital Library project. US Librarian of Congress James Billington says the project is aimed at getting people to read more books. Billington and officials from UNESCO and other national libraries launched the project in Paris on Tuesday. Items online include images of ancient Chinese oracle bones. There is also the earliest known European map of the “New World.” The site provides page-by-page viewing of the original works, and narration by curators. It also includes early film footage and rare mid-19th century photographs from the Ottoman and Russian empires. (http://www.wdl.org) __
