Egypt’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the new Library of Alexandria, was inaugurated in 2002 to recapture the spirit of the ancient Library of Alexandria, a center of world learning from 300 BC to 400 AD. The new Library and its affiliated research centers are devoted to using the newest technology to preserve the past and to promote access to the products of the human intellect. Bibliotheca Alexandrina is committed to working with partners all over the world and is a center for intercultural dialogue, learning and understanding.
As part of fulfilling its mandate, Bibliotheca Alexandrina (www.bibalex.org) in cooperation with the Development Gateway Foundation (www.developmentgateway.org) have unveiled plans for a new Arabic language web portal on development. The portal, a preview of which was presented at the World Summit on the Information Society, aims to address the existing shortage of development information for the Arab world.
Bibliotheca Alexandrina will create the Arabic portal within the Development Gateway Foundation’s global portal on development, by translating and augmenting DGF’s collection of information resources relevant to the region. Bibliotheca Alexandrina will also launch an online community of practice that will exchange information and connect with peers to address social, economic, political and cultural reform in the Arab world. This broad array of targeted information resources and services will be accessible through an Arabic language home page and translated navigational tools.
“We are working to fulfill the strong regional demand for information on development,” said Bibliotheca Alexandrina Director Ismail Serageldin. “And as we build this online community, we can ensure that reform is more widely addressed from within the Arab world — at the same time that we show how reform is being handled in other regions.”