digitisation of manuscripts in morocco: a historical research issue boujdad mkadem abdelhamid, and...
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DIGITISATION OF MANUSCRIPTS IN MOROCCO:
A HISTORICAL RESEARCH ISSUE
Boujdad Mkadem Abdelhamid, and Paul NieuwenhuysenDepartment of Communication Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel =
VUB, [email protected], [email protected]
Bobcatsss Symposium Porto / Portugal
28/30 January 2009
Context and issue Context and issue
• From paper to electronic media• Physical vs virtual? From physical media to another physical
mediaPaper/hard drives or cdsPaper until now has proven a better
longevity: many digital documents now are impossible to read.
Context and issueContext and issue
New issues are to be addressed :◦How long does this material would last on the
Internet? ◦Is it good quality? ◦Can people locate it? ◦Can/will people use it?◦why, what and how to preserve?
Context and issueContext and issue
Moroccan old manuscripts digitisation issue:
◦Many collections of valuable manuscripts exist
◦Intervention is an emergency
Context and issueContext and issue
Intervention is needed because:
Bad storage conditionsLack of financial resources for good
physical archiving
Context and issueContext and issue
Digitisation is difficult…
Lack of funding
Lack of interest from potential stakeholders
Expensive technology
Context and issueContext and issue
Good infrastructure for publication of cultural heritage to happen
Easily accessible by educational
communities and general public
Good awareness of what is to be done
Context and issueContext and issue
We have:From one sideCollections to be saved
From anotherusers needs and intentions to know(Good understanding of end-users)
Case studyCase study
• The survey:Sample : 31 students and researchers
(including some teachers)
Were previously shown a model of a digital library under Greenstone.
MethodMethod
• Tools:Questionnaire design and application;Online questionnaire using phpsurveyor
(open source).
ResultsResults
Most of the students:
◦Need access to the manuscripts◦Still prefer accessing the collections directly by
requesting access to the physical locations from the owners
ResultsResults
Students benefit from rich commentaries and points of view from the owners of the manuscripts.
Accessing educational resources on the net is not a common attitude to students in moroccan universities
ConclusionsConclusions
Preliminary user needs evaluation and study is important before any digitisation begins
The study may serve as a basis for future project (s)
Other important facetsOther important facets
Business models for the potential digital library◦ Institutional subscription, Personal subscription◦ Pay-per-view, Google Ads◦ Open Access◦ Mixed model
Future directionsFuture directions
International collaboration is needed Aluka/ JSTOR
Involvement at national and international levels (ministry of culture, Unesco)