Virtual Browsers

From the marvels of the past to the wonders of the digital age, the tour ends with a review of the e-publications of the Center, prepared using state-of-the-art techniques, creating a tie between this rich heritage and today's advanced thinking and technology.

• Virtual Visits
Every two years, the layout and contents of the Manuscript and Rare Book Exhibition Gallery is changed in order to display as much information concerning the manuscripts and rare books held by the BA as possible. As the Exhibition Gallery changes its format on regular intervals, each display is registered digitally on a CD. This first CD is the means through which the Manuscript Exhibition Gallery could be virtually visited as it was in the first year after the inauguration, before its refurbishment, comprising data and a general view of the Exhibition Gallery as well as its various displays introduced through informative descriptions provided in six languages; Arabic, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

• Papyrus of the Ancient Library of Alexandria
The only surviving vestige from the ancient library of Alexandria, currently kept in the National Library of Vienna is made available on a special browser, prepared by the Heritage Publishing Section, whereby the visitor can obtain a closer view of the condition and text of this invaluable possession.

• Digital Manuscript Library:
The preservation of the lifetime of every manuscript is essential to the longevity and benefit of the information they contain. Heritage cannot afford to be lost to lack of care, insects or inappropriate climatic conditions. Thus, the original manuscripts are carefully stored in the Manuscript Reading Room and accessible only to postgraduate researchers. However, the information held within these works are made accessible to all through the digitizing of manuscripts. They are placed in full on a CD which can be purchased and accessed on any home computer or through the virtual browsers located within the Exhibition Gallery. The viewer can then read page by page the entire manuscript at will without affecting the lifetime of the manuscript. Two main collections have been produced to date covering 14 important manuscripts.

• Through an agreement with the Swedish Touch and Turn Company, 3 manuscripts have been placed on another form of virtual browser, giving the effect of actually turning the pages:
• A Holy Qur’an dating back to the 18th century AD, 12th century AH.
• Sunan Ibn Mājah
• Māhiyat al-Athar alladhī Yabdū ‘alā Wajh al-Qamar- ‘The Trace on the Moon’s Face’ by Ibn al-Haytham
• The production of an Egyptian version of the Touch and Turn Browser was established by the Manuscript Center, providing access to another 3 important manuscripts:
• Risāla fīl ‘Ulūm al-Hadītha- 'Treatise on Modern Sciences'
• al-I‘lām bi- San al-Hijra ilā al-Šām- 'Informing of the Justification for Immigration to al-Šām'
• Muqaddima fī al-Tasawwuf - ‘Introduction to Sufism’ by al-Sulamī