Omani Studies Center : memory
for the coming generations
bilingual (Arabic/English) annotated bibliography of academic
and popular literature related to
Omani tales. (Omani Tales Bibliography)
Encourages research on Oman and the preservation of its heritage
T
he Omani Studies Center at SQU reinforces the
University›s drive for scientific research. It conducts literary and cultural studies, from
which governmental and nongovernmental institutions can
draw information The Center,
earlier known as Unit for Omani
studies and research, was inaugurated in 2002 as Omani Studies Center.
The idea of establishing a
center for Omani studies was
an incessant dream shared by
many at SQU, and as such it
went through many stages and
assumed many forms before
it was finally realized. This was
due to the great developments
which SQU witnessed in scientific research which in turn necessitated the establishment of
a framework to deal with Omani
cultural heritage and encourage
Omani innovations in this field.
In 1988 the University Administration decided to establish a unit
for Omani studies and research ,
then, on March 7,1999 a founding committee was formed to
present a comprehensive vision
for establishing the OSC. The
University Council approved the
idea and in 2002 a decision was
taken to go ahead with it.
Objectives
Dr. Muhsin AlKindi, OSC Director, says that the Center’s aim
is to create an Omani database
which will preserve and document
Omani cultural ,literary and arts
achievements to be used by successive generations of Omani and
other researchers. The Center’s
objectives can be summarized by
the following:
• Conduct cultural and artistic
studies as requested by any governmental authorities.
• Develop the Center in order
to correspond with the developments and needs of Omani society and SQU.
• Collect and document studies and references (related to
Oman), especially those related
to the history of SQU starting with
its first activities, and documenting its development.
• Contact international universities and cultural institutions which are concerned with
The Omani Studies Centre is an
important source of information
for researchers in the area of
Oman studies
research projects dealing with
Oman and cooperate with them
in accordance with university
regulations.
• Support the university mission in scientific research and
promote Omani studies.
• Contribute in collecting and
documenting
Omani
manuscripts and work on publish-
ing them to reveal their social,
cultural and scientific values in
coordination with the concerned
authorities in accordance with
proper regulations.
• Collect literary traditions of
Oman, both in their spoken and
written forms, and document
Omani heritage and folk arts in
coordination with the concerned
authorities in Oman.
• Publish
research studies,
Master and PhD theses on culture in coordination with the concerned authorities in and outside
the university according to the
publication rules of the university.
Projects
The Center completed a num-
The centre’s library is a set of rooms comprising the most recent versions of Oman
ber of projects which enhanced
its pioneering position in documenting Omani cultural heritage.
In this respect, Dr. Al Kindi says
that the research vision of OSR
reflects the ultimate goal of preserving and emphasizing the cultural identity of Oman at all levels.
In this sense it can be seen as a
source for disseminating social,
cultural, and historical information
about Oman. Lately, the Center
adopted a number of projects on
cultural issues, preservation of
Omani cultural heritage, and documentation of current events to
keep young generations abreast
with contemporary achievements.
Folktales :
Dr. Al Kindi goes on to say
that the Center has already completed a number of research
studies on ‘Omani Folktales’.
The goal of this project was to
issue a number of publications
presenting and analyzing the social context of various patterns
of Omani folktales drawn from
several regions of the Sultanate.
It is worthy to mention in this respect, Dr. AlKindi says that folktales are an essential element
of culture in most societies, not
only because they are entertaining, but also because of their
cultural significance and special
narrative technique. They express cultural values and norms
and play an important role as
means of communication across
generations. Dr Al Kindi goes on
to say that in spite of the public
and academic interest in Omani
folktales, no systematic synopsis is available concerning who
published which tales, when
and how. This academic void
affects all research related to
them. The Research and Studies
Department of OSC, therefore,
took on the task of compiling a
The Center has also published other books such as:
The Cultural Intercommunication between Oman and North
West Africa, by Dr. Ibraheem
AlQadiri Butsish, The Importance
of Documenting Sources of information and Knowledge,by DR.
Khalid Al Timimi, Modern Dhofar
Himyari Language: A Comparative Lexicographical Study, by
Dr. Mohammed bin Salim al
Ma’shani, and Oman during
the Bani Nabhan Dynasty, by
Dr.Abdullah bin Nasser Al Harthi.
Future Projects
Dr Al Kindi explains that the
Center is planning to hold two
important symposiums . The first
one will be held in October 2009
on ‘Endowment in Oman: the Past
and the Present’. The goal of this
symposium is to clarify the society and SQU. economic and cultural roles of endowment(Waqf)
in Oman, and the Omani new
Waqf experience in investment
,and ways to develop it.
The Sultanate’s experience in
this regard will be compared to
the Jordanian for the sake of finding the similar and different e elements in both experiences. This
will enrich the Omani and Arab
libraries access to this important
subject. The second symposium
will be held in February 2010 on
the’ Omani-Yemeni Cultural Interrelations’. It will shed light on
the Omani- Yemeni research on
science and culture, celebrates
the strong ties between the two
neighboring countries, and presents an overview of the historic
exchange of knowledge between
the two nations.
Using copper slag as a construction material
he annually increasing and massive use
of natural resources in
concrete and construction
will cause their depletion
especially in developing
countries like the Arab Gulf
States. Concrete which is
comprised of
55-88%
of gravel and sand ,and
whose basic ingredients include gravel, water, and cement, is the ideal substance
for building and construction all over the world. Since
the global and continuous
use of such resources ,
especially during the boom
in construction and industry
of today›s world ,is bound
to cause their rapid exhaustion, it has become imperative to find suitable substitutes to limit their use and
alleviate their consumption
,which ,if left unchecked,
can cause a number of major environmental problems.
Within this context ,and for
the sake of limiting the
use of natural resources ,
and controlling the harm-
ful evaporation of carbon
dioxide (CO2) caused by
the use of cement in construction, Dr. Khalifa Saif Al
Jabri, of the College of Engineering at SQU, has conducted a study on the possibility of using copper slag
as an alternative substitute
for concrete in construction.
Construction
Dr Al Jabri says that the
use of cement in concrete
in particular, and in building in general, releases
CO2 which is known to be
the basic cause of global
warming, while the mass
consumption of stone and
natural sand and the increasing evaporation of
CO2 are responsible for
the destruction of our environment. Therefore , there is
an urgent need to find substitute materials that can be
used in concrete and construction as replacements of
cement and gravel.
Alternative Methods
Dr Al Jabri says that the
reason for the use of iron
waste in construction is because it is useful both for
the economy and the environment, and he explains
that there is an increase in
industrial and technological
by-products which are hazardous both for the environment and human health
if not properly disposed of.
Moreover, these by-products are the main cause
for the evaporation of CO2
and other harmful gases
which cause global warming and the destruction of
the ozone layer which protects the planet earth from
harmful cosmic rays. Moreover, industrial waste and
by-products can be used
as substitute materials in
concrete and construction ,
which in itself is a better alternative to dumping such
wastes as it will protect the
environment and alleviate
the exhaustion of perishable
natural resources.
Dr Al Jabri goes on to say
that the use of industrial byproducts in concrete is not
Dr. Khalifa Al Jabri
a new practice since such
materials as flying ash, silica fumes , oven waste ,and
other kinds of industrial byproducts have been used in
producing normal and high
performance cement as
substitute aggregates. They
are also added to cement
to improve the strength and
workability of concrete.
Dr Al Jabri comments
on the study›s objectives
and contributions , and
goes on to say that it aims
Application of findings will
limit the consumption of
natural resources and conserve the environment 5% of
this substance is enough to
replace cement and 50% to
replace sand
9
to study the possibility of
copper slag as a substitute
cement material in cement
and normal and high performance concrete mix. It
is important to mention at
this point that copper slag
is one kind of industrial byproduct that comes out of
the manufacturing of copper of which the Sultanate
produces 60
thousand
tons a year. Though copper
slag as a hard material is
used to remove paints and
in the production of metal
instruments, the bulk of it is
thrown away without proper
recycling.
Three Stages
To achieve its desired
results, the study has been
divided into three stages:
The first has focused on
defining the chemical and
mechanical characteristics
of copper slag that qualify
it to be used as a cement
replacement , and the use
of activators as lime or cement by-pass dust. Results
have shown that copper
slag has physical characteristics that qualify it to
be used as a substitute for
sand. Dr Al Jabri goes on
to say that to do that , three
specimens of cement mixtures were prepared with
15% of copper slag as a
cement replacement. Lime
and cement by-product
dust were added as activators. The three mixtures
were placed in water for 28
day to cure and reach the
required strength. Results
have shown that the addition
of 5% of copper slag yields
a strength which equals that
of the normal mixture, and
that the specimens in which
the cement by-pass dust
was used as an activator
yielded better results than
the ones which used lime .
As a Cement Replacement
The second stage has
focused on the study of
copper slag as a replacement of cement in normal
concrete. Dr. Al Jabgri says
that at this stage we have
prepared specimens of
concrete which include 0%,
5%, or 15% of copper slag
as cement replacement in
accordance with the results
derived from the first stage.
The specimens were placed
in water for 28 days to cure
and reach the required
strength.
Results
have
shown that the use of 5% of
copper slag does not have
any effect on the concrete
strength , while the addition of 15% has produced
a negative effect as it has
lowered 16% of the strength
of the normal concrete .
The third stage has focused on the study of copper slag as a sand replacement both in normal and
high performance concrete.
Dr. Al Jabri explains that
to examine the use of copper slag as a sand replacement , we have prepared
specimens of normal and
high performance concrete
mixtures with various percentages of copper slag
05%, 20%,40%,60%,80%,
and 100%. After the specimens were kept in water for
28 days to cure , laboratory
tests were conducted to decide the volume of water absorption which is an important measure for concrete
sustainability.
Laboratory
tests have demonstrated that
the addition of about 50%
of copper slag as a sand
replacement has yielded
similar strength and sustainability as normal and high
performance concrete totally prepared with sand. Moreover, it has been noticed that
the addition of more than
50% of copper slag has resulted in a gradual decrease
in the density and workability
of the concrete due to the increase in water percentage
to the cement mixture, and to
the fact that copper slag has
a lesser capacity to absorb
water than sand, which results in the increase of water
percentage in that kind of
cement mixture.
1 AUGUST 2009
T
Dr. Muhsin AlKindi
Gonu: Personal Encounters
with a Cyclone
As part of its efforts to document the effects of the cyclone
Gonu that hit the Sultanate of
Oman in June 2007, the Research and Studies Department
sent out eight teams of volunteers in the summer 2007 to record the experiences of Omani
citizens who witnessed and
were affected by cyclone Gonu.
The teams were able to conduct
about fifty interviews, a number
of which were transcribed.