Transcript DIGITISATION OF MANUSCRIPTS IN MOROCCO: A HISTORICAL RESEARCH ISSUE Boujdad Mkadem Abdelhamid, and Paul Nieuwenhuysen Department of Communication Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel = VUB, Belgium [email protected],

DIGITISATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
IN MOROCCO:
A HISTORICAL RESEARCH ISSUE
Boujdad Mkadem Abdelhamid, and Paul Nieuwenhuysen
Department of Communication Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel =
VUB, Belgium
[email protected], [email protected]
Bobcatsss Symposium
Porto / Portugal
28/30 January 2009
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CONTEXT AND ISSUE
CASE STUDY
METHOD
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Summary
From paper to electronic media
Physical vs virtual?
From physical media to another physical
media
 Paper/hard drives or cds
 Paper until now has proven a better
longevity: many digital documents now are
impossible to read.
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Context and issue
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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 issue
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Moroccan old manuscripts digitisation
issue:
◦ Many collections of valuable manuscripts
exist
◦ Intervention is an emergency
Context and issue
Intervention is needed because:
Bad storage conditions
 Lack of financial resources for good
physical archiving
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Context and issue
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Digitisation is difficult…
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Lack of funding
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Lack of interest from potential
stakeholders
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Expensive technology
Context and issue
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Good infrastructure for publication of
cultural heritage to happen
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Easily accessible by educational
communities and general public
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Good awareness of what is to be done
Context and issue
We have:
 From one side
Collections to be saved
 From another
users needs and intentions to know
(Good understanding of end-users)
Context and issue
The survey:
 Sample : 31 students and researchers
(including some teachers)
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Were previously shown a model of a
digital library under Greenstone.
Case study
Tools:
 Questionnaire design and application;
 Online questionnaire using phpsurveyor
(open source).
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Method
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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
Results
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
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Results
Preliminary user needs evaluation and
study is important before any digitisation
begins
 The study may serve as a basis for
future project (s)
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Conclusions
Business models for the potential digital library
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Institutional subscription, Personal subscription
Pay-per-view, Google Ads
Open Access
Mixed model
Other important facets
International collaboration is needed
Aluka/ JSTOR
 Involvement at national and international levels
(ministry of culture, Unesco)
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Future directions
Thank You for listening
Bobcatsss Symposium
Porto / Portugal
28/30 January 2009