From Dust to Digital: Ten Years of the Endangered Archives Programme

"Much of world’s documentary heritage rests in vulnerable, little-known and often inaccessible archives. Many of these archives preserve information that may cast new light on historical phenomena and lead to their reinterpretation. But such rich collections are often at risk of being lost before the history they capture is recorded. This volume celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Endangered Archives Programme at the British Library, established to document and publish online formerly inaccessible and neglected archives from across the globe.

From Dust to Digital showcases the historical significance of the collections identified, catalogued and digitised through the Programme, bringing together articles on 19 of the 244 projects supported since its inception. These contributions demonstrate the range of materials documented — including rock inscriptions, manuscripts, archival records, newspapers, photographs and sound archives — and the wide geographical scope of the Programme. Many of the documents are published here for the first time, illustrating the potential these collections have to further our understanding of history.

The Endangered Archives Programme website features over four million images from more than 240 projects. You can follow the projects’ progress on the Endangered Archives blog."

Please note individual chapters are free to download.

 


From Dust to Digital: Ten Years of the Endangered Archives Programme

al-Thurayyā Gazetteer, Ver. 02

al-Thurayyā Gazetteer, Ver. 02

This is our first usable demo of al-Thurayyā Gazetteer. Currently it includes over 2,000 toponyms and almost as many route sections georeferenced from Georgette Cornu’s Atlas du monde arabo-islamique à l'époque classique: IXe-Xe siècles (Leiden: Brill, 1983). The gazetteer is searchable (upper left corner), although English equivalents are not yet included; in other words, look for Dimashq/دمشق, not Damascus.

You can browse the Gazetteer by clicking on any toponym marker. The popup will show the toponym both in Arabic script and transliterated. We are using a slightly modified transliteration system that facilitates conversion between fully transliterated, transliterated, and Arabic forms of toponyms. It should be easily understandable. There may be typos, because of the nature of how the data has been generated, so please, let us know if something should be corrected. The popup also offers a selection of possible sources on a toponym in question. You can check Arabic Sources: currently, al-Samʿānī’s Kitāb al-ansāb and Yāqūt’s Muʿjam al-buldān. Currently, the Gazetteer will only check for exact matches, which means that in some cases there will not be any entry at all, while in other cases there may be more than one and they may refer to other places with the same name. Improving the precision of this lookup is on our to-do list. You can also check if there is information on a toponym in question in Brill's Encyclopaedia of Islam, Pleiades, and Wikipedia.

Credits & Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Adam Tavares (programmer @ Perseus Project, Tufts) and, particularly, Cameron Jackson (senior, double-majoring in Arabic and Computer Science, Tufts) for the technical development; to Vickie Sullivan (Chair, Classics Department), Gregory Crane and the entire Perseus team on the both sides of the Atlantic for support and inspiration.

And see AWOL's Roundup of Resources on Ancient Geography

New Open Access Journal: International Journal of Nusantara Islam

International Journal of Nusantara Islam
ISSN: 2355-651X (online)
ISSN: 2252-5904 (print)

International Journal of Nusantara Islam is focused on Islamic studies related to its teachings resources, thoughts, history, law, politics, economics, education, culture, Islamic propagation, communication, psychology, and science and technology available in the Nusantara territories i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Timor Leste. This journal also covers contemporary Islamic issues emerging in the Nusantara territories or countries.

International Journal of Nusantara Islam invites and appreciates writers who write any Arabic or English scientific work in the form of both research report and significant opinion on Islamic studies and issues mentioned above. Any work published in this journal does not represent this journal editorial board‟s opinion and perspective, but merely its writer‟s findings and thought. For this reason, it is essential that the writer be fully responsible for whatever he or she wrote.

2014

Vol 2, No 1 (2014): International Journal of Nusantara Islam

In relation to the existing situation, we, the editorial board of International Journal of Nusantara Islam, are aware of the importance of Islamic sciences in order to perceive and criticize what is happening and changing among the communities. Then, we make every possible effort to extrapolate any Islamic theory and concept concerning fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), tarbiyah (education), kalam (Islamic theology), philosophy and the like with the intention of following changes that happens rapidly.

2013

Vol 1, No 2 (2013): International Journal Of Nusantara Islam

In relation to the existing situation, we, the editorial board of International Journal of Nusantara Islam, are aware of the importance of Islamic sciences in order to perceive and criticize what is happening and changing among the communities. Then, we make every possible effort to extrapolate any Islamic theory and concept concerning fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), tarbiyah (education), kalam (Islamic theology), philosophy and the like with the intention of following changes that happens rapidly.

Vol 1, No 1 (2013): International Journal Of Nusantara Islam

Alphabetical List of Open Access Journals in Middle Eastern Studies