American University in Cairo Rare Books and Special Collections Library News

Digital Collection Celebrates Egyptian Architect's 100th Birthday

2012-01-29T15:41:00.002+02:00

The Rare Books and Special Collections Library is pleased to announce the launch of the Ramses Wissa Wassef Architectural Drawings collection in the Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library. This collection documents the career of one of Egypt's most prominent 20th century architects. In celebration of the architect's centennial birthday, the collection is part of an ongoing effort to digitize and describe more than 800 architectural plans and drawings related to over 60 villas, schools, churches, banks, and apartment buildings designed by Wissa Wassef between 1935 and 1972.

Potter's House in Old Cairo perspective drawing, 1935

Ramses Wissa Wassef (1911-1974) was an architect, artisan, artist, and teacher whose ideas and work exercised a significant influence on 20th century Egyptian arts and architecture. Some of Ramses Wissa Wassef's more notable projects, located in and around Cairo, Egypt, include the Mahmoud Mokhtar Museum, the Habib Gorgi Museum, the Mar Girgis (St. George) Coptic Church in Heliopolis, and the Coptic Church of the Virgin Mary (Mar'ashli Street Church) in Zamalek. He also designed a number of private residences around Cairo.

The Creating a Center for Architectural Archives in Egypt: Preservation and Access for the Papers of Hassan Fathy and Ramses Wissa Wassef project was made possible with funding from Grants to Preserve and Create Access to Humanities Collections of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Introducing the Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library

2011-12-07T13:50:00.001+02:00

The Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library is a new platform for the American University in Cairo's digital collections. It currently houses collections acquired through the University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution project. Browse, search, comment, tag, and rate items in our 4 debut collections:

In the future, photograph, architecture, and manuscript collections from the Rare Books and Special Collections Library will be available in the RBSCDL.

We're still collecting!

2011-11-21T15:49:00.002+02:00

If you are planning on demonstrating or voting in the upcoming parliamentary elections, please consider donating your photos, videos, and stories to the University on the Square: Documenting Egypt’s 21st Century Revolution project. Use the University on the Square Facebook App to donate your photos and videos on Facebook.

Image courtesy of Sarah Mohammad.

View more January 25th Revolution photos, videos, oral histories, and art in the Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library.

My Perception of an Ideal Revolution.... Exhibition

2011-10-19T13:57:00.001+02:00

The My Perception of an Ideal Revolution.... Exhibition features original art created by Conchita Anorve-Tschirgi's ARTV-200 students in Spring 2011. The students' work will be on display in the Main Library from October 17 to November 3.

Introducting the RBSCL's Regional Architecture Collections

2011-05-31T12:03:00.004+02:00

The Rare Books and Special Collections Library at the American University in Cairo strives to preserve and promote the use of the Regional Architecture Collections, which document the work of architecture from Egypt and the surround regions. Conchita Añorve-Tschirgi, the curator of the Regional Architecture Collections says "Our strategy and goal at the RBSCL is more than just being the repository of such valuable materials. We want, in some measure to also keep these collections alive."

The Regional Architecture Collections at the Rare Books and Special Collections Library houses the archives of several famous contemporary architects, including Hassan Fathy, Ramses Wissa Wassef, Sayed Karim, and Gamal Bakry. In addition to preserving the architectural drawings, Añorve-Tschirgi works on digitizing the collections as well. Collections from Hassan Fathy and K.A.C. Kreswell have been digitized, and over 600 images of Islamic art and architecture are also available online. These collections are available from the American University in Cairo's Digital Archive and Research Repository, which allows researchers to discover and view unique cultural heritage resources from the Rare Books and Special Collections Library.

Interested in learning more? Contact Conchita Añorve-Tschirgi at conchita@aucegypt.edu.

2011 Egyptian Revolution Online Research Tools

2011-04-03T10:36:00.002+02:00

Researching the 2011 Egyptian Revolution? Check out our list of resources.

Tahrir Documents
This website is a collection of printed material generated during the revolution. The site includes English translations of pamphlets, posters, and other printed ephemera, documenting the current political climate in Egypt. Items are filed under various topics, including:
2011 Egyptian Revolution Web Archive
Search or browse for web-based news coverage of the revolution in addition to blogs, Twitter feeds, videos, and memorial websites. If you are interested in the AUC's response to the revolution, try searching the American University in Cairo Web Archive for "Egyptian Revolution."
North Africa and Middle East 2011 Web Archive
Use this collection of archived news websites and social media to explore events in Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Oman, and other countries.
ToonPool Egyptian Revolution Collection
Peruse cartoons regarding the recent events in Egypt to gain a different perspective.
University on the Square Photographs
The University on the Square Photographs digital collection exhibits photographs taken by AUCians during the revolution. Images depicting riot control, martyrs, banners, and tear gas may be searched or browsed. This collection is made possible by the contributors to the University on the Square project as well as a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Newseum Egyptian Revolution Collections
Compare front page headlines from newspapers across the globe that refer to demonstrations in Egypt. Browse by date using the links below:

University on the Square Photos Available in Digital Archive and Research Repository

2011-03-23T15:13:00.001+02:00

Photographs taken by contributors to the University on the Square project may now be found in the American University in Cairo's Digital Archive and Research Repository (DARR), a home for AUC's scholarly output, including theses, faculty publications, and primary sources from the Rare Books and Special Collections Library (RBSCL). As images are uploaded using the University on the Square online contribution form, faculty and staff in the RBSCL sort, describe, and make available the photographs in DARR. Once uploaded, researchers may search for images or browse images by subjects. To learn more about the digital collection, visit University on the Square Photographs. To contribute, visit the University on the Square Project Website.

Image courtesy of Rasha El-Ibiary. Learn more.

Photo Selections from University on the Square Documentation Project

2011-03-20T16:24:00.001+02:00

Protesters walk away from clouds tear gas on the 6th of October Bridge.

Photo taken by Tom Misenti on January 28th.

Snipers on top of a building next to the Corniche next to NDP headquarters.

Photo taken by Tom Misenti on January 28th.

Man with child protester holding a poster.

Photo taken by Rasha El-Ibiary on February 9th.

Friday of Victory Celebrations in Tahrir Square.

Photo taken by Sean Graham on February 18th.

Do you have images or videos to contribute? Visit University on the Square : Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution donate.

Excerpts from My Tahrir Story by Salma Howeedy

2011-03-17T13:05:00.006+02:00

Special thanks to Salma Howeedy for submitting her story using the University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution contribution form.

My Tahrir Story

Tahrir.

Liberation.

It is no coincidence that the revolution that began on Jan 25, 2011 is taking place in "Liberation Square". For the first time in decades, people feel liberated from the strangle of a corrupt government. For the first time, they're not afraid to speak up, not afraid to demand change, not afraid to claim what's rightfully theirs. They're screaming at the top of their lungs because for sixty years, they have always been threatened to remove the tape, threatened to challenge the status quo. During the Nasser and Sadat years, everyone in Egypt knew that the prison tortures were up and running. Both of my grandfathers were tortured because they fought for what they believed in: social justice for all. Now, that spirit of social justice is rekindled once again and a revolution is underway.

Today, Feb 8, 2011 marks the 14th day of this revolution. Ive been wanting to go to Tahrir Square since Day 1, but due to some security issues (and staying with a bunch of paranoid family members), I wasnt able to go. Finally, I went today with a close friend of mine and her family, and it was an experience I'll never forget.

We left an area of Cairo called Mokattam after Asr prayer, around 3:30 pm, and headed over to Tahrir Square. There was a beautiful blue sky above us, and we passed by Old Cairo. We passed by beautifully historical monuments: Mohamed Ali Mosque, Sultan Hassan Mosque, the old Cairo Library, the Museum of Islamic Art.....I thought it was amazing that we're driving passed all of this history, on our way to making history ourselves.

Sooner than later, we're parking the car on the famous Tal'at Harb street. This street is in Downtown Cairo and connects Tahrir Square with Talaat Harb Square. We walk down the street and before we reach Tahrir Square, we find a guy at a cart selling sweet potatoes. The aroma was too tempting, so we each buy one. It’s never too chaotic for a sweet potato, right? I also bought an Egyptian flag for 5 EGP (less than a dollar). With our sweet potatoes in hand, flags in our hand, and passion in our hearts, we get to the entrance of Tahrir Square. In order to get in, the young men and women have formed separate lines, and you have to show ID, and get your bag checked. It was such an amazing initiative and really proved that the people leading this revolution only want the safety and well-being of all egyptians. The girl that checked my ID was a beautiful girl in her mid-20's, and my purse got checked by a friendly woman in a niqab. We get through security, and there we are. History unfolding before our eyes.

The sun was close to setting, and the sky was a magical mix of blues, pinks, oranges, and yellows. All I saw was thousands and thousands of people stretching beyond my scope of vision. I saw huge posters of all the martyrs that died fighting for this cause, posters that had their picture, name, age, and occupation. Watching the news for the past 2 weeks, it seems like the media (international and local) has not shed enough light on the dozens that have died, so the people in Tahrir Square are making sure they arent forgotten.

You walk around the edge of Tahrir Square and find funny posters and caricatures of Mubarak. Dozens of pieces of artwork was taped on the windows of shops. Different groups are chanting different slogans. (They got really creative out there). I saw a man holding a white poster that said "Leave" in at least 20 different langauges. We also saw a man wearing a referee uniform and he had a whistle in his mouth and a red card in his hand. On the red card it read "Mubarak Out". One of my favorite chants was "Ya Mubarak ya Tayyar, gibt mineyn 70 milyar!". This translates to "Oh Mubarak, oh pilot, where did you get 70 billion from?" (Context: Mubarak was an officer in the Egyptian Air force and recently it was publicized that he has 40-70 billion dollars on him). I saw a young guy sitting on top of a really high pole waving the flag, with the sunset in the background.

And once someone on a megaphone started saying "irhal! irhal! irhal!", thousands of voices joined in unison. One man was walking towards us with a cardboard with a slogan on it, and he said "Im looking for a single girl to hold this sign". So I told him I'll take it from him. I look at the oddly cut out cardboard poster and it reads: "Ya mubarak ya ra2ees. Ya tir7al ya tigibly 3arees" Which translates to "President Mubarak, either you resign or you find me a husband" (it rhymes in Arabic). That must have been the highlight of my day. So i continue walking through Tahrir Square with this hilarious poster in hand and random women are laughing and taking pictures of it. One lady came up to me and said “trust me girlfriend, his resignation is easier than finding a good man these days”. I laughed and appreciated the sense of humor of the Egyptian people. They always find ways of making you laugh, no matter how tough the tides are.

I look in front of me and I see the Arab League Building. I laughed to myself. Few months ago, I was in that building for one of my political science courses. Who knew four months later a revolution would take place in its frontyard?

Shortly after, we hear the call to Maghrib (the sunset prayer). Men start laying newspapers on the floor and start praying, with a circle of men holding hands and surrounding them. My vision blurred for a few seconds as tears formed. At that moment, I didnt feel Egyptian. I didnt feel American. I didnt feel like a graduate student. I didnt feel like a daughter or sister.

I just felt human.

Its a strange feeling. I suddenly felt connected to every single person walking by. An old man sitting on the sidewalk was offering dates from a small, clear bag. 2 young men walked passed me and were picking up the garbage. A group of men were collecting empty plastic bottles so they can refill them with water and distribute them again. I just felt so..........human.

We continue walking around Tahrir Square a few times. Night set in, and we walked through an area where all the tents were. On the floor, someone had written the word "Thawra" (which means Revolution in Arabic), and next to it, drew a fist in the air. A barber shop had been transformed into a clinic, and I saw a middle aged man standing in front of the clinic with his white coat and gloves, taking a sip of water. It started getting a little chilly, and some guys on the sidewalk were laying down, taking a nap. At the heart of Tahrir Square, old national songs from the 50s and 60s start playing and hundreds of people sing along, waving their flag. You can tell they really love their country. That why they're there in the first place.

We soon made our way out of the Tahrir Square, and it was like entering a whole new world. It felt like there was a forcefield around Tahrir Square filled with this vibrant energy, and once you step out of it, its back to normal life. People are selling snacks and socks on the sidewalk. We stop by a little tiny market and soraya's dad buy some peanuts and 3asailliya (these honey sticks covered in sesame seeds). We're walking back on Talaat Harb Street, going to the car, and normal life was resumed. A man on a bicycle passes, holding the handle with one hand and balancing a HUGE tray of bread on his head with his other hand. The noise from Tahrir slowly starts to quiet down. We reach the car, hop in, get through terrible post-curfew traffic, and make it home.

Im sitting in my friend Soraya's room now, eating an sandwich with feta cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes. In front of me is my flag and under it, my funny cardboard poster. This is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

We all have a Liberation story. Something worth our time and effort. Something worth fighting for. Something that liberates us.

Thats my Liberation Story.

Whats yours?

Salma Howeedy

Feb 8, 2011

If you'd like your voice to be heard, visit University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution and share your experience.

RBSCL New Addition: The Oxford Companion to the Book

2011-03-14T15:15:00.002+02:00

The American University in Cairo Rare Books and Special Collections Library recently acquired The Oxford Companion to the Book for the reference collection. This comprehensive two volume set focuses on the history of the book across the globe from ancient to modern times.

The Oxford Companion to the Book

In addition to traditional subjects as bibliography, the history of printing, editorial theory and practice, and textual criticism, The Oxford Companion to the Book engages with newer disciplines such as the history of the electronic book. The tome took six years to produce and includes contributions from nearly 400 scholars in 27 different countries.

Ex RBSCL Libris: Cyclopaedia

2011-03-13T13:56:00.005+02:00

Every month the Rare Books and Special Collections Library Research Services selects a book, photo album, or a set of documents of particular significance from the RBSCL collections and archives, which we think may be of interest to AUC community members. Ex libris is Latin for from the books, and we hope to introduce you to the rich and varied primary resources available in RBSCL through the Ex RBSCL Libris initiative.

Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences is considered by many scholars to be the first true encyclopedia in English. Published by Ephraim Chambers in 1728 in London, the Cyclopaedia contains over 20,000 entries, with exquisitely engraved explanatory plates, a lengthy preface, and some twenty-five dense folio pages that explain how the work should be used. Chambers dedicated the rest of his life compiling and arranging materials for supplementary volumes in order to fill gaps, defects, and omissions in his first volumes. The ‘Supplement’ was not published until many years after Chambers’ sudden death in 1740. Chambers is considered by many modern scholars as a father of the modern encyclopedia.

Cyclopaedia Frontispiece

Find out more about Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.

The American University in Cairo Launches University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution

2011-03-03T09:52:00.001+02:00

University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution is an initiative aimed at collecting photographs, videos, memorabilia, ephemera, and oral histories from activists, demonstrators, and observers involved in the Egyptian Revolution. American University in Cairo community members are encouraged to contribute to this exciting project by visiting the University on the Square website, and selecting Click here to share your experience. All contributions will be credited to donors.

Learn more about University on the Square.

This project is the result of a collaborative effort to document history as it happens. In cooperation with the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, Marketing and Communications, University Academic Computing Technologies, and AUC students, faculty, and staff, the Rare Books and Special Collections Library will collect and preserve born digital and digitized materials.

If you have questions about the project or would like to speak with a representative from the project, contact onthesquare@aucegypt.edu.

Archiving the Egyptian Revolution: Videos and More

2011-02-27T12:30:00.001+02:00

The Rare Books and Special Collections Library (RBSCL) at the American University in Cairo has been working hard to gather information, including news coverage and personal accounts, of the events on and following January 25, 2011. From the first day of the demonstrations to the protests of post-Mubarak Egypt, RBSCL has archived over 150,000 videos, audio files, Twitter feeds, blogs, Facebook pages, and other websites.

So far, RBSCL has archived 105,993 different web pages, 35,817 photographs, 51 videos, 276 sound recordings, and 376 PDFs. Additionally, we have collected 2,013 Twitter feeds, 1,721 Facebook pages, and 1,406 YouTube pages. Other popular websites archived include personal blogs, Egypt Daily News, Flickr photo albums, and CNN Arabic.

Browse and search the 2011 Egyptian Revolution web archive .

If you have suggestions for sites to archive, email Digital Collections Archivist, Carolyn Runyon, at cfrunyon@aucegypt.edu.

Egyptian Revolution Research Tools

2011-02-24T14:42:00.001+02:00

Interested in learning more about the events of January 25th? Explore the resources described below to discover more about demonstrations in Egypt.

The Web Archive at AUC 2011 Egyptian Protests Collection
Search archived websites, blogs, twitter feeds, and news coverage of Tahrir Square, Alexandria, and Suez from January and February 2011. If you have a website you would like to see in the collection, contact Digital Collections Archivist, Carolyn Runyon, at cfrunyon@aucegypt.edu.
View the collection.

North Africa and the Middle East 2011 Archive-It Collection
Research events of the past month in North Africa and the Middle East. This collection focuses heavily on Egypt, but contains content from a number of other countries as well.
View the collection.

Newseum Egyptian Revolution Collections
Compare front page headlines from newspapers across the globe that refer to demonstrations in Egypt. Browse by date using the links below:

2011 Egyptian Protests Web Archive

2011-02-09T12:20:00.003+02:00

Browse and search images, videos, reports, and personal accounts of the Egyptian protests of 2011 using the Web Archive at the American University in Cairo. The Rare Books and Special Collections Library has archived news from Al Jazeera, Egypt Daily News, the BBC, CNN, MSNBC, Newsweek, and Time among others. Personal accounts of the demonstrations from Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and personal photograph sites have also been preserved in the Web Archive.

View Al Jazeera's online coverage of the protests beginning February 2, 2011 in AUC's web archive.

To learn more about the demonstrations, visit the American University is Cairo's Archive-It site. From here, select the collection entitled 2011 Egyptian Protests, and browse or search the archived websites. Looking for videos? View a list of the videos archives at the top of the 2011 Egyptian Protests Web Archive page.

Got a suggestion for a page or website to archive? Email Digital Collections Archivist, Carolyn Runyon.

Available in DAR: Oral Histories from the Economic and Business History Research Center

2010-06-16T11:54:00.000+03:00

The Economic and Business History Research Center (EBHRC) is a research, teaching and documentation center at the American University in Cairo.

The EBHRC was established in early 2004 with the goal of creating a repository of primary recordings of first hand accounts to Egypt’s contemporary history with special emphasis on economic and business history. In a country rich in events and history and comparably poor in transparency and in accessibility of records, the centre perceived its task as capturing the untold history, the stories and narratives locked up in the memories of people. (source)

One activity the EBHRC has pursued in order to fulfill this mission is collecting oral histories.

Oral History has been employed by the EBHRC for the past two years as the principal source from which it attempts to uncover aspects of Egyptian economic and business life that were not or could not have been covered by other historical sources. (source)

In collaboration with the RBSCL, the EBHRC is putting some of their 200 hours of recorded sessions with 80 of Egypt’s important figures in the economic and business sector in our digital repository. Each interview will include a short biography of the interviewee, files and a transcription [please note: the audio & transcription are in Arabic]. These files are available in our Digital Archive and Research Repository (DAR).

So far we have 5 interviews available:

For more information on oral histories, the EBHRC has put together a helpful list of links. You can also read The Chronicles, the EBHRC's periodic publication that provides "a space for research in the making, a venue for the work of young scholars and a brainstorming platform among academics."

Today is International Archives Day!

2010-06-09T15:23:00.000+03:00

June 9, 2010 has been declared International Archives Day by the International Council on Archives.

On 9 June 1948 the International Council on Archives (ICA) was founded at UNESCO in Paris. The ICA has decided that an International Archives Day shall be celebrated on 9 June and the first ever International Archives Day is, therefore, also the 60th anniversary of ICA. (source)

To celebrate, we're highlighting archives within Egypt, as well as institutions that have archival holdings related to Egypt.

The National Archives of Egypt is one of the richest archives in the world, containing an enormous number of documents dating back to 6th century H. / 12th Century A.D. up till the present day.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina developed a partnership with the Internet Archive based on the principles of preserving the heritage for future generations and ensuring universal access to human knowledge. They now have a copy of the complete holdings of the Internet Archive, which can be visited here and include:

10 billion web pages from 1996-2001.
2000 hours of Egyptian and US television broadcast.
1000 archival films.
100 terabytes of data (100,000,000,000,000 characters) stored on 200 computers.
A book scanning facility for scanning local books (source)

Bibliotecha Alexandrina also has digital archives [both in Arabic] for former Egyptian Presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar El Sadat. Both collections have audio files, videos, official documents, government pamphlets and more.

The Egyptian National Library and Archive has an extensive collection of rare coins, manuscripts and papyrus, among other artifacts.

The Brooklyn Musuem has 290 images in their digital archive tagged "Egpyt"....

white the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery has over 8,000 items with the tag "Egypt"

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All these archives, along with the Rare Books and Special Collections Library at AUC, are here to serve your interests, research projects and information needs. Let us know how we can better serve you, or share with us your favorite archives!

Vintage Photos and Postcards of Egypt on Flickr

2010-06-03T12:45:00.000+03:00

In 2008, the Library of Congress started a Flickr account with the following goals in mind:
• To share photographs from the Library’s collections with people who enjoy images but might not visit the Library’s own Web site
• To gain a better understanding of how social tagging and community input could benefit both the Library and users of the collections
• To gain experience participating in Web communities that are interested in the kinds of materials in the Library’s collections

As part of this initiative, they started The Commons, the goal of which is to encourage people to help describe the historical photos being added to Flickr by institutions like the Library of Congress by tagging them or commenting on them.

The Rare Books and Special Collections Library at AUC is interested in sharing our collections and in involving and engaging our users. We've begun a Flickr account, hoping viewers will help us describe the photographs by leaving comments, tags and notes.

You will need Flickr account to leave comments, but it is a free service and easy to sign up. The free account will also allow to upload photos of your own!

Here's a sample of the types of items we have:

Please visit our Flickr page and explore! So far we have big two collections, 19th century photographs and a collection of postcards. The participation thus far has been incredibly encouraging and exciting and we hope this continues!

The Web Archive at AUC

2010-06-02T14:32:00.000+03:00

Have you even wondered what happens to web pages over time? Are they lost forever? Do they simply disappear?

In order to collect and preserve publically available websites of long-term research or historical value, the RBSCL saves websites using technology developed by the Internet Archive through a service called Archive-It .

This means that you can view the Carvan's website in March 2009, AUC's main page in April 2009 or even the AUC Facebook page this past January.

In addition to AUC pages, there are web archive collections focused on Coptic religion and culture, Egyptian businesses and migration and refugee studies.

The Rare Books and Special Collections Library is expanding on many of these collections, as well as adding new collections. Some of the new areas will be expatriates in Egypt, Egyptian arts and culture and unofficial AUC sites (such as Facebook pages).

Do you have any websites you think should be included in the web archive?
Leave a comment and let us know!

New Graduation Requirement: Online Thesis Submission‏

2010-05-11T16:09:00.006+03:00

The AUC Digital Archive and Research Repository (AUC DAR) is a home-developed and customized product which resulted from a tremendous collaborative effort carried over the last year by various university units (Libraries and Learning Technologies, Rare Books and Special Collections Library, University Academic Computing Technologies, Office of the Registrar, and the Office of the Vice Provost and Director of Graduate Studies and Research). AUC DAR is part of a greater campus effort to increase the visibility of AUC’s research and scholarly accomplishments. The AUC DAR Repository, as an Open Access institutional repository, will help improve overall scholarly communication efforts.

Through DAR, for example, faculty and graduate students can deposit electronic versions of their theses and/or research work making it readily accessible to the world-wide community through various search engines.

Accordingly, and in an effort to streamline the thesis submission process, starting with the Spring 2010 semester, in addition to submitting a hard copy of your thesis to your department, you are asked to upload an electronic version of your thesis directly to the AUC Digital Archive and Research Repository (AUC DAR). The E-Submission deadline is June 1.

Electronic submission and online dissemination of theses is quickly becoming standard practice at many leading U.S. and international universities. By submitting your thesis to DAR, your work can be made available to an online audience, including potential employers and publishers, opening avenues for professional networking and collaboration. Your document will be assigned a stable permanent URL to which you can link from your website, blog, or network sites. Note that, if you find it necessary, you will have the option to restrict access to your thesis.

E-Submission is a 3-step process: (View or Print detailed E-Submission instructions)

Register NOW! for a MyDAR Account (allowing up to 24 hours for account configuration).
Convert your thesis to PDF format (to allow preservation).
Upload your document to the AUC DAR Repository.

All UACT Computer Labs and Library Learning Commons workstations are equipped with the necessary software and technical support. Detailed instructions will also be posted at those locations.

The deadline for E-Submission for Spring 2010 is June 1. This process is required for graduation.

For assistance at any point of the E-Submission process, please free to contact:

AUC DAR Administrators: dar@aucegypt.edu
Terra Kridler: tkridler@aucgypt.edu or 2615-3656

Asmaa Ayman: aayman@aucegypt.edu, 2615-3401

Steve Urgola: surgola@aucegypt.edu or 2615-3678
Maha Elkoshairi: kosh@aucegypt.edu or 2615-3743
RBSCL Reference & Reserve Desk: 2615-3676 (Sat.-Thurs. 8:30am-4:45pm)

Thank you very much for your participation.

RBSCL on Facebook and Twitter

2010-05-11T11:13:00.000+03:00

The Rare Books and Special Collections Library has expanded its web presence by starting a Twitter account and creating a Facebook fan page.

Follow our Twitter for frequent updates on RBSCL services, news and highlights from our collections, as well as news from libraries around the world that AUC students will find relevant.

Our Facebook fan page contains even more information about the RBSCL and will highlight our collection, exciting projects we're working on and gives users a chance to connect with each other.

Please take a minute to check them out, follow us on Twitter, 'Like' us on Facebook and let us know how we can better serve the AUC community!

AUC Digital Archive and Research Repository

2010-03-14T11:58:00.003+02:00

The AUC DAR Repository is set for campus release at the UACT Technology Fair on Monday, March 15th.

In the summer of 2009 a few very different campus initiatives began to come together. There was an interest in making graduate student theses available online. The RBSCL recognized the need to gain control over their rapidly growing digital collections. And the AUC campus was preparing for their “Year of Research” which placed an emphasis on raising the visibility of AUC’s research efforts.

University Academic Computing Technologies and the RBSCL saw this as an opportunity to improve scholarly communication on campus and with the greater academic community. They realized that an open access institutional repository would help us with all these initiatives and potentially present other opportunities as well.

Working together in this effort along with representatives from the Vice Provost's office, the AUC Digital Archive and Research Repository was established, and is currently undergoing several phases of pilot testing and customized development to make it uniquely AUC’s institutional repository.

The technical platform used to create the DAR Repository is called DSpace, an open source software platform developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Hewlett Packard. How it works...

A “submitter,” such as a graduate student submitting a thesis or faculty member submitting a publication, uploads their work into the repository system and includes some descriptive data about the item (title, author, etc.)

The file is then sent to a “curator,” a librarian or archivist, who proof reads the data submitted, and ensures that the file input is in a preservable digital format.

The item is released to the "end-user," the public or other appropriate audience. It is assigned a permanent url, by which it can be located by Internet search engines, and linked to from external databases or websites. It is also searchable in the Repository catalog itself, and eventually available through the library catalog as well.

RBSCL Open on Library 3rd Floor

2010-02-02T11:03:00.003+02:00

The Rare Books and Special Collections Library is open to the AUC community as of January 31st, 2010. Reserves and many special collections materials have been moved and are available for use. However, University Archives, manuscripts, architectural, and other special format collections are not yet available.

Please visit the RBSCL Reference desk to inquire about the availability of rare, archival, or other special materials.

RBSCL Moving to New Campus!

2010-01-06T14:16:00.003+02:00

Starting Sunday, January 10, 2010 the Downtown Rare Books and Special Collections Library will close permanently and complete the transfer of its collections to the New Rare Books and Special Collections Library on the new AUC Campus where it will reopen January 31, 2010. During this move the general and rare books collections will be inaccessible. If you nevertheless MUST have access to materials from any of the RBSCL collections, please phone the RBSCL Reference and Reserves Office on the New Campus (2615-3094) for special assistance.

RBSCL Serials Temporarily Unavailable

2009-12-09T15:07:00.001+02:00

RBSCL is in the process of transferring its serials collection from Downtown to the New Campus. Therefore RBSCL serials will be inaccessible December 11-14. If you exceptionally MUST have access to an RBSCL serial during that time please contact the New Campus RBSCL Reference and Reserves Office for special assistance.

Welcome!

2009-12-07T16:17:00.000+02:00

...to the American University in Cairo Rare Books and Special Collections Library News!

This site will keep you current with the happenings of the RBSCL, like changes in opening hours, new collections, upcoming exhibits, featured stories, and more.