Overview
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Arts of the Book
L'art du Livre Arabe - Bibliothèque Nationale de France exhibition
The Minassian Collection of Persian, Mughal, and Indian Miniature Paintings
International Organisations
Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation
Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation was established in London in 1988 by the Yamani Cultural and Charitable Foundation. The Foundation aims to document and preserve the Islamic written heritage. It pursues this aim principally through its work in surveying, cataloguing, editing and publishing Islamic manuscripts.
International Society for Arabic Papyrology
The International Society for Arabic Papyrology (ISAP) was officially founded on the 24th of March 2002 in Cairo and is currently based at Princeton University. Its goals are to increase, address, explore and exchange information and knowledge relevant to Arabic papyrology in the widest sense. They run an online Arabic Papyrology School and an online Arabic Papyrology Database.
More useful links to papyrology and papyrus manuscript websites can be found here.
The Barakat Trust
The Barakat Trust is a UK registered charity which provides financial support for the study and research of the material and visual cultures of Islamic societies. This assistance is granted to enable scholars to continue to add to the body of Islamic scholarship while enhancing the possibilities of cross-cultural understanding and tolerance. A Zakat-funded grant scheme is available.
Middle East Librarians Association
The purpose of the Middle East Librarians' Association is to facilitate communication among members through meetings and publications; to improve the quality of area librarianship through the development of standards for the profession and education of Middle East library specialists; to compile and disseminate information concerning Middle East libraries and collections and to represent the judgment of the members in matters affecting them; to encourage cooperation among members and Middle East libraries, especially in the acquisition of materials and the development of bibliographic control; to cooperate with other library and area organizations in projects of mutual concern and benefit; to promote research in and development of indexing and automated techniques as applied to Middle East materials.
Middle East Libraries Commitee (MELCOM)
MELCOM UK was founded in the late 1960s as the Middle East Libraries Commitee, against the background of the expansion of Middle Eastern studies in Britain following the Hayter Report of 1961. More resources at that time were being allocated to the development of existing libraries serving the field, and new centres were also being established and building up new collections. The Report itself had recommended the creation of inter-university committees to cover "library needs" in a co-ordinated manner, and MELCOM was the first such venture in the field of "Orientalist" librarianship. The main function of MELCOM has always been to provide a forum for personal contact, discussion and exchange of information and ideas among British Middle East library specialists and bibliographers.
MELCOM International, the European Association of Middle East Librarians, is a non-governmental organization, devoted to promoting co-operation among individuals and institutions in Europe, the Middle East and throughout the world concerned with all aspects of (Middle East) librarianship, book collecting, the book trade and publishing.
Libraries
Libraries on the Web - Libweb currently lists over 7700 pages from libraries in 145 countries.