Library Newsletter Spring 2023

On March 14, the Rare Books and Special Collections Library (RBSCL) hosted Lonnie Bunch, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum complex. Bunch is the first African American and historian to lead the Smithsonian. He and his wife were shown a collection of highlights like drawings by architect Hassan Fathy, portraits by photographer Van-Leo, historical maps and magazines, and rare books like Napoleonic-era Description de l' Égypte. They also viewed University archived documents revealing a half-century relationship between the Smithsonian and The American University in Cairo (AUC). For more collections, check out RBSCL's digital library.

RBSCL Digital Library

During the holy month of Ramadan, AUC's library showcased a variety of rare and interesting Quran manuscripts and old printed editions from Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Turkey. Students of various majors, instructors and even AUC’s guests were very interested and connected with the displayed Mushafs. Among the visitors was Ramzi Baalbaki, a very well-known linguist and lexicographer who co-authored the famous Al-Mawrid dictionary. The showcase took place every weekday during the assembly hour. For further information, check out the Arabic Manuscripts Collection at RBSCL's digital library.

Arabic Manuscripts Collection

Take a look at the library’s new platform for hosting and searching for scholarly databases. The platform provides easy filtering by subjects, type of resources, and vendors or allows searching by name. It is very easy to copy and paste the resource and share it with your students or colleagues.

A-Z Databases

Another wonderful set of materials was digitized and added to the RBSCL digital library by the Digitization Center. Arabic Manuscripts are valuable sources of information, great evidence of our existence and our culture. The digitization of historical collections is the best way to preserve written history and transform the potential of historical data for research. Collections are such as al-Juzʼ al-Sābiʻ min al-Rabʻah al-Sharīfah (Makhaṭūṭah) (1281-1864), Lafẓ al-arbaʻīn (19^th Century) and Qatf̣ al-anwār min rawdạt al-azhār (18^th and 19^th century).

As per AUC libraries’ partnership activities, AUC and the American Research Center in Egypt (ACRE) have agreed to cooperate in supporting researchers in various disciplines. AUC community members can benefit from the ARCE's specialized resources in their academic and research work. For further information on ARCE resources, visit the website.

ARCE Website

The document delivery service delivers electronic copies of articles and/or book chapters from the AUC collections and/or requests electronic copies of journal articles and/or book chapters from international libraries on the users’ behalf within 24 hours. This service is guided by the document delivery policy and is provided to AUC faculty, currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, staff, as well as alumni, registered external users, and overseas researchers. For any questions or assistance, contact us by email.

docdel@aucegypt.edu

The virtual live chat service 24/7 Ask Us links users with reference librarians. The live chat is open every day of the week, 24 hours a day. A reference librarian will be able to assist you with queries regarding locating materials in our collections or in online resources as well as in specialized databases. We can also assist you in finding effective search strategies to streamline your research. For research support or questions, visit our website or contact us by email.

Live Chat Website library@aucegypt.edu