Qatar National Library and the British Library celebrated the 10th anniversary of Qatar Digital Library (QDL), one of the largest online repositories on the history and culture of the Middle East.
The event brought together academics, researchers and practitioners to discuss the work they conducted using QDL. The conference showcased the extensive array of material available on the platform and how researchers can leverage such resources to conduct their work.
Launched by Qatar National Library (QNL), in partnership with the British Library, to bring together the region’s historical and cultural heritage through digitization, QDL provides free online access to a wealth of primary historical materials about politics, people, places, trade, culture and customs in the Gulf region and the Arab world.
The platform holds nearly 2.5 million digitized pages of records, maps, manuscripts, photographs and drawings, accompanied by contextualized commentary and explanatory notes in both English and Arabic.
Abeer Al Kuwari, QNL’s Director of National Collection and Special Initiatives, said the event marks a milestone that reflects the enduring value of preserving and sharing the rich history of the Middle East.
“Qatar Digital Library is a diverse and dynamic resource. It serves amateur historians who delve into their family histories, teachers who bring history to life in their classrooms and academics across various disciplines who conduct in-depth research. Each user, whether a casual explorer or a dedicated scholar, contributes to a collective appreciation of the rich historical narratives that have shaped our region,” she explained.
Held on 30 September, the conference featured three insightful panels, dedicated to the History of the Middle East, the History of Business in the Gulf, and Arabic Manuscripts.
The first panel brought together Sue-Ann Harding, Professor of Translation and Intercultural Studies at Queen’s University Belfast in the UK, along with Mahjoob Zweiri, Professor of Contemporary History and Politics of the Middle East at Qatar University, and Robert Carter, Senior Archaeology Specialist at Qatar Museum.
Professor Harding, whose book touches on the history of the Qatar peninsula, said her work would not have been possible without Qatar Digital Library.
“I am deeply grateful and indebted to those librarians and technicians who have made so many fascinating sources readily and freely available. The joys of the magnification that let you pore over the details of maps, photographs and handwritten documents; what a treasure trove that place is! There are whole worlds here,” she said.
Professor Zweiri spoke about the importance of writing contemporary history. “The exceptional contribution of Qatar Digital Library in facilitating easy access to historical resources related to Qatar and the wider Gulf region, has played a pivotal role in breaking down barriers to historical research by providing a comprehensive collection of sources that are crucial for historians interested in studying the region. By offering a diverse range of materials, QDL has effectively eliminated the challenges posed by geographical limitations, thereby opening up new avenues for research and scholarship.”
Dr. Carter, on the other hand, discussed the contribution of QDL to historical archaeology in Qatar.
The second panel featured Giuliano Garavini, Associate Professor at Roma Tre University, who discussed the 1973 ‘Oil Shock’. ‘Ottoman Shipping in the Indian Ocean and Basra as Contrapot of the Gulf’ was the focus of another session by Michael O’Sullivan, Assistant Professor of South Asian History at the University of North Carolina.
During the third panel, Amélie Couvrat Desvergnes, an independent paper and book conservator based in the Netherlands, discussed the history, production, import and uses of paper in 19th-century Iran.
Daniel Martin Varisco, anthropologist, historian and former research professor at Qatar University, touched on the Arab Gulf almanac tradition while Nawal Nasrallah, a US-based Iraqi food writer, delivered a presentation titled ‘Reminiscences on the Year QDL Saved Me.’
“QDL has been a priceless instrument for scholars like me, to whom manuscripts from the medieval Muslim world, texts and illustrations alike, constitute the basic ingredient for our research. Making them available in digitized formats has indeed made an otherwise daunting task wieldier and more fruitful in its results,” Nasrallah noted.
An initiative of Her Highness Sheikha Moza, QDL was at the center of QNL’s strategy to digitize historical records about the region from around the world and to digitally repatriate them to Qatar.
The Library launched QDL’s digitization campaign in 2014, two years after partnering with the British Library. Digitization began with the British Library’s most important historical collection of records, maps and photographs on Qatar and the Gulf in its India Office Records and Private Papers collection.
QDL is now changing the way scholars and students research history and science in the Arab world, providing instant access to a wealth of primary resources and expert articles that provide insights into the region’s past and people.
Today, QDL attracts an average of 200,000 unique users and over 2 million page views a year.
Enhanced accessibility to historical resources has contributed to an increase in new studies on the Gulf, connecting younger generations with their ancestors, and enriching research on the cultures of the Arab world.
QDL’s collections offer insights into the region’s trading practices, the two World Wars, the petroleum industry, Britain’s imperial administration of the region, treaties, marine navigation, military operations, civil aviation, economic forums, Arab nationalism and medicine. QDL also houses a rare collection of Arabic manuscripts on a variety of topics including medicine, astronomy, mathematics, geometry, geography and military science.
