From ResourceShelf, July 21, 2009
The University of Michigan Special Collections Library needs help cataloguing its vast Islamic Manuscripts Collection.
But the library doesn't plan to hire an expert. Instead, almost all of its 1,250 pieces are being scanned in-house to put the work on the Internet.
And the library hopes interested scholars will get involved.
The manuscripts are mostly in Arabic, but also include works in Turkish and Persian, with one in Chaghatai. Works date from about 750 to 1906.
Subjects covered are varied, including Quran texts, commentaries and criticism, Islamic traditions, philosophy, and poetry, history and mathematics, among others - and all of it is hand-written.
"It will be presented to the public in Wiki or blog-type interface, so people can comment on what they see. In that way, we hope we can get help from scholars all over the world in identifying the manuscripts and cataloguing them properly," said Peggy Daub, director of Special Collections.
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