British Library Partners With Qatar National Library For Digitization of Middle Eastern Historical Records

The British Library has entered into a decade long partnership with the Qatar National Library aimed at digitizing archival and manuscript material that number more than half a million. Such an effort when completed will yield a rich source of information of the history and culture of the regions that  date back to centuries. Once completed, the digitized material can be availed of from the Qatar National Library though the initial fruits of the efforts will be there to be savored from 2014 itself. The ultimate aim at such an endeavor is to bring to a world audience the history of the middle east region that has been the hot bed of Islamic activities for centuries. The digital resource will also serve as a boon for those researching Arabic history and culture what with over half a million pages consisting of photographs, maps, sound clippings as well as other data such as politics, customs and rituals, trade, places and so on pertaining to the period from mid-18th to the mid-20th century expected to undergo the digitization process. Of the half a million pages, the majority or 475,000 pages will comes from the archives of the East India Company and India Office while the remaining 25,000 pages deal with Arabic manuscripts from the medieval era. The site though will also include the provision for others to add to the resource by adding their information which can be old photographs or even stories that they have heard from their forefathers. As such, the site is likely to function as a comprehensive source of information related to the region. The digitization effort which began in 2014 is expected to be completed towards end 2014 and will incur a cost of £8.7 million. British Library Partners With Qatar National Library For Digitization of Middle Eastern Historical Records is a post from: E-Reader News

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