The Library of Congress Web site at www.loc.gov has won the prestigious People's Voice Webby Award from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The Webby Awards were established in 1996 and are one of the industry's leading awards. The site won the award in the Cultural Institutions category. The People's Voice awards are voted on by the public from among five nominees chosen by the academy. The academy evaluates hundreds of award entries on six criteria: content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity and overall experience.
"The Library has been a leader in the delivery of high-quality intellectual content on the Web since it began its National Digital Library Program," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "This award reflects the extraordinary effort of staff throughout the Library in making our Web site an unparalleled resource for learning about the history and culture of the nation."
The Library's Web site, which is one of the federal government's most popular, has been winning awards since it was first launched in 1994 with the goal of placing 5 million items from the collections of the Library and those of its partners online. Today, more than 22 million digital objects are available on the Library's Web site, including 10.5 million items of American history and culture in the flagship American Memory site.
Other major sites within www.loc.gov are:
- THOMAS, a Web site that offers daily updates on the workings of the U.S. Congress;
- Global Gateway, a bilingual site that features the international collections of the Library and those of its partners;
- Exhibitions, which offers virtual tours through more than 60 of the Library's current and past exhibitions; and
- Catalogs, which offers access to the catalog records of the world's largest library.
The Library's Web site recently received a major upgrade to its main home page and subpages, resulting in better navigation, easier access to content and a more pleasing look and feel. The upgrade will be extended to all Library pages over time.
