Projects: Meta-Archive: Archive of Archives

Friday, September 30, 2005 - 05:26 PM

The New Library of Alexandria, is dedicated to recapture the spirit of the initial organization, which is estimated to have stored at its peak 400,000 to 700,000 parchment scrolls. The library's destruction remains a mystery. The dream of rebuilding the Ancient Library of Alexandria and of reviving the legacy of that great center for learning has long enticed the imagination of intellectuals and scientists all over the world. It is now a reality.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the New Library of Alexandria, is dedicated to recapture the spirit of the original Library of Alexandria.

*Leading institution of the digital age

* Center for learning, tolerance, dialogue and understanding.

* Six specialized libraries
o Audio-visual materials
o The visually impaired
o Children
o The young
o Microforms
o Rarebooks and special collection
The library has a large collection of books in Arabic, English and French, as well as in a variety of other European languages such as, German, Italian and Spanish. In addition, there is a collection of infrequent languages such as Haiti, Creole and Zulu. The current collection includes resources received from donors from all over the world on a variety of subjects.

* Center for Internet Archive

* Three Museums
o Antiquities
o Manuscripts
o The history of science

* Seven research institutes
o Manuscripts
o Documentation of heritage
o Calligraphy and writing
o Information sciences
o Mediterranean and Alexandrian studies
o Arts Center
o Scientific research
o A discussion forum.

* Planetarium

* Children’s exhibitions

* Two permanent exhibitions

* Six art galleries for temporary exhibitions

In 1974, Professor Mostafa El Abbadi, eminent historian of Alexandria and author of a study on the life and fate of the Ancient Library called for the launch of a project to rebuild the Library of Alexandria.

It is both a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity and an attempt to rekindle something of the brilliance that this earlier center of study and erudition represented.

The Planetarium Science Center (PSC) is a hands-on facility that offers interactive knowledge in various fields of science with special emphasis on Physics and Astronomy. The PSC aims at propagating scientific culture through a series of scientific shows, exhibits and workshops, available to visitors regardless of their age or their scientific background, to promote the concept of science centers as an educational tool.

The Nobel room is the access point for researchers interested in literature. It's a magnificent reading room comprising book collections of Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature from 1901-2001. The bookcases are filled with selections of these literary works written in their own winners' original language, with translations into mainly Arabic, English and French.

Alex-Med aims at reviving the historic role of Alexandria, and at promoting Alexandrian culture and Alexandrism, by relocating the city’s spirit of diversity, tolerance and cooperation once more in the Mediterranean. Its mission is therefore to document and disseminate the Alexandrian and Mediterranean tangible and intangible culture, while encouraging dialogue and mutual understanding. Furthermore, it will focus on economic development, cooperation and sustainability.

The Calligraphy Center will conduct special studies for Arabic and other scripts. It will introduce various scripts by publishing specialized studies, as well as hold relevant exhibitions. It will collect samples of different scripts from all over the world, and hold other activities in accordance with the BA mission.

The Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage aims at using the latest technological innovations to document Egypt's cultural heritage with both its aspects: tangible and intangible, as well as Egypt's natural heritage which includes information about the natural areas and their biological components.

The Internet Archive is a complete snapshot of all web pages on every website since 1996 till today. The purpose of the Internet Archive is to include the main part of the World Wide Web collection. Since the web changes rapidly¬óthe average lifetime of a page on the Internet is 100 days¬óthis snapshot is retaken every two months. The resulting collection is 10 billion pages.

The concept of the Supercourse is building a “metaschool” of a variety of themes that could train students through the Internet. Lectures are selected and made available on the Internet for the personal use of individual scientists and shared without restrictions among scientists and teachers, but cannot be sold. If one uses a Supercourse lecture, the author of the lecture and the Supercourse itself should be acknowledged. The content and its accuracy are solely determined by the authors of the lectures.

Open Source: A Global faculty is developing and sharing their best, most passionate lectures in the area of Prevention and the Internet using an open source model. This benefits all. The experienced faculty member can beef up their lectures that are not cutting edge. New instructors reduce preparation time and have better lectures. Faculty in developing countries have access to current prevention information for the first time.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is organizing BioVisionAlexandria 2006 from 26 to 29 April, 2006 in Alexandria . The conference will be a continuation of the tradition that started in BioVision 1999 in Lyon , which aims to bring distinguished speakers in discussions commemorating science and the finest achievements of the human intellect.