JISC

This pilot project aims to improve scholarly access to descriptions of Islamic manuscripts held in the Bodleian and Cambridge University Libraries.

Overview

The two libraries have manuscripts of approximately 10,000 texts including many early and rare items with a broad subject coverage including, literature, religion, philosophy, poetry, mathematics, astronomy and medicine.

There is limited electronic access to published catalogues for Cambridge and none at all for Oxford and both collections have several hundred descriptions only recorded on card indexes. This project will make available some 10,000 basic manuscript descriptions taken from printed and card catalogues of the two libraries in a searchable interface.

Project Aims

Basic manuscript descriptions will be created from the printed and published catalogues of both libraries using a TEI P5 metadata schema and will be made available through a searchable interface.

The project will make use of the Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) currently in use for library projects within Oxford. All materials and metadata in the Open Access portion of the DAMS are fully accessible using OAI-PMH and OAI-ORE standards to maximise re-use in the wider community.

Outputs and Outcomes

• Access to c. 10,000 Islamic manuscript descriptions through a full-text faceted search-engine in both Roman and Arabic script.
• A web-based interface with features developed in consultation with the academic user community giving access to predefined searches and browesable views based on these searches.
• Agreed TEI P5 schema that can be extended to accomodate more detailed descriptions, transcriptions and digital images.
• Cataloguing tools and storage FEDORA-based catalogue storage solutions that can be shared with other institutions.
• Further interoperability through the availability of records via OAI-PMH exposure