Doha: The Qatar Digital Library (QDL) has the largest digital archive specialising in the history of the Middle East in the world, the Director of Research and Learning Services at Qatar National Library (QNL), Abeer Al Kuwari, has said.
In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) recently, Al Kuwari said the archive contains documents and photographs, which include a unique collection of the most important reports, correspondence, manuscripts, maps, historical photographs, and audio recordings related to the Gulf region, the Arabian Peninsula, and neighbouring regions.
"The archive also contains unique articles by an elite of professional experts who offer the readers an in-depth look at various topics related to the past of the region and its peoples," she said, noting that the number of beneficiaries from the digital archive of QNL this year has exceeded 2 million visitors to the library.
She added that QDL contains thousands of historic photographs since the inception of the photography age, including unique charts and images captured by the scientific and heritage missions. In addition, it has portraits of characters and other images reflecting the first attempts at photojournalism, unique documentary images covering critical historic events witnessed by the region, such as WWI and WWII, colonial rule, and the development of infrastructure of the region, as well as examples of amateur photographs that offer a unique perspective on the daily life in the Middle East region.
Al Kuwari highlighted the importance of the unique collection of old photographs, which includes it being the fundamental material used in many exhibitions, such as the "Arab Immigrants in the US: Pursuing the American Dream" exhibition held from December 2021 until May 2022, the exhibition on the beginnings of photography in the Middle East, as well as a unique digital exhibition titled "Arab Cinema Posters: Art and Memory" held from November 2020 until November 2021.
The QNL official said that the archive of old photographs was also used during the "Qatar, India and the Gulf: History, Culture and Society", "Gulf Architecture", "Healthcare in Qatar: Development and Milestones Over 70 Years Exhibition", and "Syria Under the French Mandate: 1918–1946" exhibitions, as well as "The Holy Kaaba' exhibition.
She said that the QDL, which was launched in 2014, has created a platform that is easy to use, and it is currently available for free for all countries without exception.
"It also features a powerful search engine, and contains exquisite images of raw texts as well as maps and photographs, with an information index that combines accuracy and efficiency," she said.
She noted that QDL has made a fundamental change in the approach in which scholars, students, and researchers study the history of the Gulf region and science in the Arab world, and it has become their first reference and means of finding, within a few seconds, what used to take them weeks, months, and perhaps years.
