Qatar National Library and World Digital Library hold WDL Arab Peninsula Regional Group meeting

The 2016 Arab Peninsula Regional Group Meeting, hosted by Qatar National Library (QNL) and the World Digital Library (WDL), was recently held at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC).

The two-day event brought together library leaders from Qatar, the GCC and the wider region to explore strategic thinking and important concepts and planning for the group under the theme, ‘Planning the Way Forward’.

Attended by library directors and executive leadership of current and prospective members of the WDL Arab Peninsula Regional Group, the workshop fostered collaboration between regional practitioners while promoting networks in the information services sector of the MENA region. The workshop also highlighted the strategic goals for the future of the group and the importance of the Arab region’s contribution to the WDL.

Engineer Saadi Al Said, Director of Administration and Planning at QNL, said: “By hosting this annual workshop, we hope to further expand our support to the WDL initiative. WDL is an intellectual platform where members of the region can come together and discuss ways of managing content contribution and how to increase the availability of the digital resources on Arabic culture and Islamic history.”

Al Said continued: “As the Regional Preservation and Conservation Centre (PAC), representing 25 Arabic speaking countries, QNL supports open access to information, and the preservation of the region’s rich history through digitisation.”

Emphasising the importance of this annual meeting, Dr John Van Oudenaren, WDL Director, said: “The workshop has been a great opportunity for the World Digital Library and Qatar National Library to explore ways in which we can develop our partnership while focusing on effective ways to collectively build on WDL’s presence in the MENA region, especially now that QNL is expanding its digital outreach.”

QNL helps realise the WDL objectives to promote international and intercultural understanding and expand the variety of cultural content on the Internet by supporting the regional group’s meeting. This is done through the digitisation of thousands of pages from QNL’s prized Heritage Collection, making it accessible on the WDL website.

WDL is an initiative founded by the Library of Congress, with the support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Led by the Library of Congress, libraries and cultural institutions from around the world contribute to WDL by sharing historical treasures to create a digital fountain of knowledge. Information contained within WDL is available in seven languages including Arabic.

QNL, a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), aims to support QF’s mission to foster a progressive society, while preserving the nation and the region’s heritage.

To learn more about the partnership between QNL and WDL, please visit: http://qnl.qa/about-the-library/partnerships/world-digital-library.