Serageldin Receives Standing Ovation at the University of Tulsa
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Alexandria— At the Presidential Lectures of the University of Tulsa, State of Oklahoma, USA, on 18 September 2009, Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, captivated the audience in the packed university hall, with a presentation about the Library of Alexandria – old and new – entitled “From Papyrus to PDF”. The presentation received a standing ovation, and was followed by a lively question-and-answer session.
Serageldin gave a history and report about the capabilities of the 7-year old Library of Alexandria, the modern-day counterpart to the ancient center of scholarship. Serageldin described the Library as a “dynamic vector for change” in issues on democracy and gender equality.
The building itself is very beautiful, but it is the digital holdings of the Library that are most impressive. Because the new function of libraries is to be content providers, many computer pioneers have been involved in creating the Library’s resources, including inventors of the internet and technology used for Google and Amazon. The Library of Alexandria also works closely with the Library of Congress on the “World Digital Library” (WDL) project.