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Engaging Partners: Arab Peninsula Regional Group
WDL 2012 Partners Meeting
World Digital Library
Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, December 5th, 2012
Mark Paul,
Head, Partnerships
Qatar National Library
Qatar Foundation
Doha, Qatar
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World Digital Library www.wdl.org
Qatar Foundation
•
Supporting Qatar:
•
 from a carbon economy to a knowledge
economy
 Education
 a cradle of innovation, based in the
Middle East, but global in scope and
impact
 a creator of knowledge
•
Unlocking Human Potential
through:
 Science & Research
 Community Development
•
Benefitting:
Qatar National Vision 2030 (July
2008):
 Qatar
 use resources to create knowledge
economy
 Partners
 development of human capitol as
priority for next 20 years
 gave Qatar Foundation exciting
mandate to be the ‘engine’ driving the
development of human capital
 Region
 World
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World Digital Library www.wdl.org
Qatar Foundation
•
Supporting Qatar:
•
 from a carbon economy to a knowledge
economy
 Education
 a cradle of innovation, based in the
Middle East, but global in scope and
impact
 a creator of knowledge
•
Unlocking Human Potential
through:
 Science & Research
 Community Development
•
Benefitting:
Qatar National Vision 2030 (July
2008):
 Qatar
 use resources to create knowledge
economy
 Partners
 Region
 World
 development of human capitol as
priority for next 20 years
 gave Qatar Foundation exciting
mandate to be the ‘engine’ driving the
development of human capital
http://www.qf.org.qa
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
Qatar National Library
• Official Announcement of the new Qatar National Library,
November 19th, 2012
• Supports Qatar Foundation’s Goals through:
 Research
 Education/Instruction
 Community Activities
• Serving as:
 National Library
 Public Library
 Academic Library
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World Digital Library www.wdl.org
Qatar National Library
• Official Announcement of the new Qatar National Library,
November 19th, 2012
• Supports Qatar Foundation’s Goals through:
 Research
 Education/Instruction
 Community Activities
• Serving as:
 National Library
 Public Library
 Academic Library
http://www.qnl.qa
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
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Arab Peninsula Regional Group
• First meeting held December 2010 in Doha at QF
 Born from idea of Carolyn Young, the Head of the WDL Office in
the QF Central Library
 A meeting was convened of WDL members from Arab countries in
Washington at the WDL Charter meeting in June 2010
 Idea to foster cooperation on WDL among Arab country members
 Primarily directors and other administrators attended from WDL
members and prospective members
 WDL staff present to deliver key information and training
 One important focus was on opportunities for capacity building in
digital conversion and technical assistance
 Three new Arab countries joined WDL as a result
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
OSI | WEB SERVICES
Arab Peninsula Regional Group
• First meeting held December 2010 in Doha at QF
 Born from idea of Carolyn Young, the Head of the WDL Office in
the QF Central Library
 A meeting was convened of WDL members from Arab countries in
Washington at the WDL Charter meeting in June 2010
 Idea to foster cooperation on WDL among Arab country members
 Primarily directors and other administrators attended from WDL
members and prospective members
 WDL staff present to deliver key information and training
 One important focus was on opportunities for capacity building in
digital conversion and technical assistance
 Three new Arab countries joined WDL as a result
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
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Arab Peninsula Regional Group
• Second meeting held February 2012 in Doha at QF





Dissemination of information and training
More technicians attended by means of nominations
WDL staff present to provide training
20 participants representing 10 institutions
kk
• Third meeting planned for April 2013 in Doha
 Entire meeting will be a hands-on training workshop
 Participants will be encouraged to bring an item(s) to work on
during the workshop
 Those unable to bring items will be provided items for use in the
workshop
 Participants will be divided into groups with sessions repeating at
cross-posted times so all participants can attend all sessions
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
OSI | WEB SERVICES
Arab Peninsula Regional Group
• Second meeting held February 2012 in Doha at QF





Dissemination of information and training
More technicians attended by means of nominations
WDL staff present to provide training
20 participants representing 10 institutions
kk
• Third meeting planned for April 2013 in Doha
 Entire meeting will be a hands-on training workshop
 Participants will be encouraged to bring an item(s) to work on
during the workshop.
 Those unable to bring items will be provided items for use in the
workshop
 Participants will be divided into groups with sessions repeating at
cross-posted times so all participants can attend all sessions.
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
Group Members
• Members:




There are no fees to be a member
Participation is voluntary
Currently there are 10 institutions represented
One institution is in the process of joining WDL and have
requested support from the QNL
 All are welcome, though focus is on the Gulf region for now
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World Digital Library www.wdl.org
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Capacity Building
• Efforts to increase capacity within Arab countries
 Identify location with both high level content and high level need
for a digital conversion center
 Working with the WDL the goal will be to fund one new digital
conversion center in the region
 Continue workshops for Arab Peninsula Regional Group
 Investigate individualized training needs of regional members
 Support one personalized on-site WDL training for regional
member
 Increase documentation, training materials, etc., in Arabic
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
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Content and User Engagement
• Arabic Content:
 2012 to-date saw WDL content in Arabic increase by 175 items
 2012 to-date saw WDL content on Arab or Islamic Science increase
by 79 items (59 of which were in Arabic)
• User Engagement:
 Publicity/PR/Sharing
 Value added materials (students, teachers)
 Content, content, content
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
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Arabic Statistics
• Arabic ranks third on the WDL site for items cataloged by
language (behind Spanish and English)
• Use of Arabic interface doubled for 2012 to-date over 2011 with
a total of 124,293 visits and 643,983 page views
• Saudi Arabia was the higher user of the Arabic interface
• The United States was about in the middle of user counts of the
Arabic interface
• Of the 79 items added in 2012 to-date on Arab or Islamic
Science 16 were in Latin, 2 in Persian, and 2 in Ottoman Turkish
and the remainder in Arabic
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
Top Countries by Visitor:
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World Digital Library www.wdl.org
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Next Steps in the Arab Peninsula
•Encourage regional cultural heritage libraries to join WDL
•Increase Arab sourced content on WDL
•Focus on practical ways to build capacity for digital conversion in
developing countries in our region
•Promote WDL usage to Arab users in libraries, schools,
universities, etc.
•Develop a wider community of WDL members in the region to
support development of Arab content and interfaces.
•Increase use of social media
World Digital Library www.wdl.org
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Next Steps For You?
•How can you increase overall WDL content?
•How can you positively impact capacity building in your state,
county, district, country, region?
Do you work with or liaise with any library, university, cultural
center, museum, etc., that has Arabic content?
Let them know about the WDL.
Let them know about the Arab Peninsula Regional Group.
Let them know about the Qatar National Library and share with
them my contact information
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World Digital Library www.wdl.org
Thank You!
Mark Paul
mapaul@qf.org.qa
Questions?