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Sharjah Book Authority launches library on the Net

Sharjah - The project will provide scientific and intellectual content on the Internet with no limitations or obstacles.

The Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) has announced the implementation of the Sharjah Libraries Digital Repository Project, which will be the next generation of digital libraries.
As the first of its kind in the Arab world, the project will provide scientific and intellectual content on the Internet with no limitations or obstacles and without prejudice to the intellectual proprietary rights of its respective authors.
The announcement was made during the second joint conference between Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) and the American Library Association (ALA), which concluded on Thursday at the Sharjah Expo Centre. The event hosted 330 librarians from 18 countries including Arab and international experts, specialists, and other personnel of interest in libraries.
The focus of the project is on preserving the intellectual resources of libraries, including written, audio and visual content, as well as photos, maps and other manuscripts. The project also allows for direct integration and reach to the libraries' database indexes, thus enabling the public to access the resources they need via a website with no need to visit the libraries.
"It is our pleasure to launch the Sharjah Libraries Digital Repository Project," said Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Amiri, Chairman of Sharjah Book Authority and Director of Sharjah International Book Fair. "It will be beneficial to a wide segment of readers and researchers around the world, as it maintains the content of libraries and allows retrieving the data easily, anytime, anywhere. The project also fosters positive interaction between member libraries and the public." Al Amiri said the Digital Repository allows access to the resources via surfing through pages or direct search, or both. He also noted that Sharjah aims to be the Arab and regional leader in empowering knowledge access as well as streamlining and facilitating it by overcoming any geographical or technical constraints.
The Digital Repository has helpful features such as video streaming for audio-visual content, reading rare books by providing page turning function, among others. These features further support the realisation of the Sharjah Libraries' vision in digital transformation, allowing for access to scientific and intellectual materials and production, and supporting free access to information for library goers.
Other epistemological resources available on the Digital Repository include the content of the audio-visual section (including video and audio tapes, and disks), rare books available in Sharjah libraries, rare books available in Al Hosn Museum with its bibliographies, manuscripts available in Al Qasimia University, Dr. Sultan Al Qasimi Center of Gulf Studies, as well as Iqra Magazine, Department of Culture and Information's Al Rafed Magazine, and other publications of the Department.
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