The hidden heritage of Arab libraries: Online catalogs and institutional barriers to discoverability
Abstract
Advances in technology have made access to information about library holdings a seemingly universal feature of interaction with modern libraries. However, this type of access does not exist evenly throughout the world. There is a vast “hidden heritage” contained in Arab libraries without online public access catalogs. This article reports and summarizes findings from research conducted as part of a year-long investigation into international library collaboration in Arab libraries. The research included: (a) a survey of online presence for Arab libraries, (b) a survey of Arab librarians, and (c) focused panel discussions with Arab librarians and library scholars. This study finds that the relatively small online presence of libraries cannot be explained by material factors alone: institutional factors also play an important role in keeping information about library collections offline.
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Biographies
Charles Kurzman is a Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations. He is author of The Missing Martyrs (2011; updated edition scheduled for release in Fall 2018), Democracy Denied, 1905–1915 (2008), and The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran (2004), and editor of the anthologies Liberal Islam (1998) and Modernist Islam, 1840–1940 (2002).
John D. Martin III is a doctoral candidate in the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is co-editor of the anthology Library and Information Science in the Middle East and North Africa (2016). His research focuses on trust and credibility in interfaces, systems, and platforms that facilitate information exchange and transfer between people. He has an academic background in Arabic and Islamic studies and a working background in libraries, archives, and museums in Cairo, Egypt.
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Article first published online: July 23, 2018
Issue published: December 2018
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