QNL and British Library celebrate Qatar Digital Library’s 10th anniversary

Doha, Qatar: Qatar National Library (QNL) and the British Library celebrated the 10th anniversary of Qatar Digital Library (QDL), one of the largest o...

Doha, Qatar: Qatar National Library (QNL) and the British Library celebrated the 10th anniversary of Qatar Digital Library (QDL), one of the largest online repositories on the history and culture of the Middle East.

The event brought together academics, researchers and practitioners to discuss the work they conducted using QDL. The conference showcased the extensive array of material available on the platform and how researchers can leverage such resources to conduct their work.

Launched by Qatar National Library (QNL), in partnership with the British Library, to bring together the region’s historical and cultural heritage through digitization, QDL provides free online access to a wealth of primary historical materials about politics, people, places, trade, culture and customs in the Gulf region and the Arab world.

An initiative of H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, QDL was at the center of QNL’s strategy to digitize historical records about the region from around the world and to digitally repatriate them to Qatar.

The platform holds nearly 2.5 million digitized pages of records, maps, manuscripts, photographs and drawings, accompanied by contextualized commentary and explanatory notes in both English and Arabic. Abeer Al Kuwari, QNL’s Director of National Collection and Special Initiatives, said the event marks a milestone that reflects the enduring value of preserving and sharing the rich history of the Middle East.