CAIRO: To preserve and provide access to centuries of Egyptian and Middle East history, The American University in Cairo recently launched the Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library (RBSCDL). After the recent fire at L'Institut d'Egypte, a crude reminder of the ultimate fragility of rare books and manuscripts, the RBSCDL has been doing its part to safeguard AUC's collection of rare books, historic photographs, architectural plans, maps and oral histories by creating digital back-ups of these unique holdings. The digital library is open and globally accessible, and will feature ancient and medieval cultural-heritage materials, in addition to contemporary contributions from the University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st-Century Revolution project. “Before digital libraries, researchers had to visit special collections libraries during limited hours and could not check out materials for closer study at home,” said Carolyn Runyon, digital collections archivist. “Digitization projects, like those supported by the RBSCDL, allow researchers all over the world to access our materials at any time.” Archivists, librarians and information technologists worked collaboratively to build the Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library for several reasons. Not only do digital collections provide global access to rare materials, but often, the items are too fragile to withstand handling by researchers. Online archives both preserve delicate materials and provide digital surrogates in case of disaster. The University on the Square is one of the featured holdings of the digital library; AUC students, alumni, faculty and staff bring diverse perspectives and vibrant enthusiasm to Egypt's political and social landscape through a collection of art, photos, videos and oral accounts of the January 25 Revolution. “To date, the University on the Square has collected more than 4,000 photographs and over 300 videos. Moreover, oral historians in the Economic and Business History Research Center have conducted over 50 interviews with political activists, student demonstrators, and academics to capture a full picture of the revolution,” said Runyon. In addition to the University on the Square Project, the Ramses Wissa Wassef Architectural Drawings collection documenting the career of one of Egypt's most prominent 20th-century architects was also launched as part of the digital library. The launch is part of an initiative effort to digitize more than 800 architectural plans and drawings designed by Wissa Wassef between 1935 and 1972. “The RBSCDL is an ongoing project,” noted Runyon. “There is an enormous backlog of material to describe and digitize. We have a number of digitization projects in mind, and I don't see work on the Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library ending any time soon.” The RBSCDL runs alongside the Digital Archive and Research Repository (DARR), a partnership between RBSCL and University Academic Computing Technologies. DAR, which means house in Arabic, was adopted to accommodate AUC graduate theses in 2009. It now holds student projects, faculty research and publications, as well as administrative records and publications produced by AUC's offices and departments. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/0xaG3 Tags: AUC, Culture, Egypt, featured, Past Section: Culture, Editor's choice, Egypt, Heritage, Latest News
