QNL hosts forum on digitisation of archives across Arab countries

In line with its mission to preserve and promote the regions heritage and facilitate access to information, Qatar National Library (QNL), in collaboration with the Arab Organisation for Administrative Development, hosted a two-day forum to discuss the digitisation of traditional archives across Arab countries.Executive Director at QNL, Tan Huism, said: "Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies have opened up a wealth of opportunities for enhanced accessibility and preservation of documentary heritage. However, the limited understanding of the safe and effective use of digital practices in heritage management remains an area of concern, an issue found globally but particularly in the region. This consideration was at the heart of the forums program, building on Qatar National Librarys commitment to strengthening capabilities in management and preservation of digital collections, both nationally and regionally."The Director General of the Arab Organization for Administrative Development, Dr. Nasser Al Hatlan Al Qahtani, expressed his gratitude to QNL for hosting this year's edition of the forum, noting that the event "provided a platform to explore the contribution of digitization to advancing research across the region by providing access to a wealth of historical resources"."The forum explored the reality of digital heritage in libraries and cultural institutions across the region and provided insights into future endeavors to promote digitization in Arab countries," Dr. Al Qahtani explained.Maryam Al Mutawa, Head of Collection Access - QNL Distinctive Collections, said that "digital technology is increasingly becoming essential to the sustainable management and accessibility of heritage resources, radically shaping our journey into the future.""For custodians of heritage and conservation specialists," she said, "it has become a necessity to embrace forward-looking approaches and methodologies that can significantly widen access to knowledge for our future generations and fortify the link to their cultural and historic past. Qatar National Library was thrilled to have taken another stride forward in educating the community about innovative ways to protect our regions heritage as well as encouraging cooperation in this area."Ikhlas Ahmed, an interaction specialist at the Heritage Library at QNL, told QNA that the forum is attended by experts from 11 countries, representing 30 governmental and private institutions, to discuss digital access and artificial intelligence applications, and how to preserve documentary heritage and make it available to researchers, through different models of repositories.Titled, The Third Forum on Heritage Management: Digital Access and Artificial Intelligence Applications, the conference explored the various models of digital repositories for documentary heritage and efforts to enhance digital information management for the improved usability and searchability of archives.The forum brought together local and regional experts, industry leaders, and academia working within the realm of heritage and rare resources across ministries, governmental institutions, and private organizations.Since its inception, QNL has been dedicated to preserving and documenting the regions history, with its Heritage Library housing more than 232,350 archival and historical items. To prevent the decay and aging of these materials, the Librarys digitization department has so far processed nearly 15.5 million pages including books, archival materials, maps, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and video files, all of which have been made accessible to the global public through QNLs digital repository.