Staff Reporter

Qatar is going to be a part of the prestigious Million Book Project (MBP), a unique concept pioneered by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) School of Computer Science and University Libraries, it is learnt.

The goal of the MBP is to digitally scan 1mn books by 2007. Books are being scanned in many languages, with all having free-to-read access.

"More than 600,000 books have already been scanned, according to the digital libraries initiative head Gabrielle Michalek," a source at CMU in Qatar (CMUQ) explained.

Scanning centres are up and running in India, China, Egypt and Hawaii and the one in Doha is slated to open soon.

The main agenda of the proposed Doha centre would be to include the more than 120,000 items in Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani’s collection, said to have some of the ‘rarest items on the planet’.

The collection, now with Qatar Foundation, comprises approximately 10,000 rare documents, maps, newspapers and manuscripts, and more than 100,000 non-rare items.

Some of these items, dealing with the culture and tradition of the Gulf region, are in Arabic, while others are in English, French, Hebrew, German, and Farsi.

Michalek first saw the collection on a visit to Doha last year while in town to discuss the MBP. After returning to Pittsburgh, the home of CMU, she put a plan into motion to get these items digitally scanned.

The long-time CMU librarian and digital libraries expert is expected to move to Doha to oversee a pilot programme called the Qatar Heritage Rare Book Project in which 300 rare and 5,000 non-rare items are to be scanned.

High-end scanners are required to scan the documents to the finest detail. The scanner operators would have to be specially trained to handle the rare materials so as to ensure that they are not damaged.

It is estimated that rare books can be scanned at a rate of approximately 600 to 700 pages in eight hours. As non-rare books require less special handling, upwards of 2,000 pages can be scanned in the same time.

Once the books are scanned they will be catalogued and made fully searchable and readable online. Each and every page of the books and other items are to be scanned, even the blank pages, so that online readers sees exactly what they would if the actual book were in their hands.

The Qatar Heritage Rare Book Project is expected to commence in January.