With the generous support of the US/Egypt Joint Fund, the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and the National Science Foundation, the US Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina are working together to organize an invitational workshop on “A Digital Library of the Middle East.” The workshop will be held at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt, January 15-17, 2006.

Participants will work collaboratively to discuss issues and identify processes, requirements and actions needed for the development of a large-scale, dynamic, distributed digital repository of resources on and about the Middle East, with an initial focus on cultural heritage.

A primary goal of the workshop is to develop a vision and mission statement for a digital library of the Middle East and to identify key constituents in a community of practice that can ensure realization. Findings will be incorporated in a report that can inform grant-making agencies and other potential funders of a variety of interrelated activities that will develop and sustain the digital library, including content development, management structures, networked infrastructure, research and educational applications, and education of digital managers and users.

We anticipate that the workshop and its proceedings will lay the groundwork for the development of a rich digital resource, to which many institutions will contribute, and that will support research and education on and about the Middle East. We hope that it will also promote a broader discussion of the potential of digital libraries to advance knowledge and to foster international cooperation.

Noha Adly, Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Joyce Ray, Institute of Museum and Library Services