Original PDF Flash format world-library-and-information-congress,-milan,-august-2009  


World Library And Information Congress, Milan, August 2009



Date submitted: 05/05/2009





Digitizing the Historical Periodical Collection at the

Al-Aqsa Mosque Library in East Jerusalem


Krystyna K. Matusiak
Digital Collections Librarian
University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee Libraries
Consultant for the Digitization Project at the Al-





Aqsa Library

Qasem Abu Harb
Records Manager
Arab Studies Society in East Jerusalem
Digitization Project Coordinator at the Al-Aqsa





Library


Meeting:



106. Newspapers


WORLD LIBRARY AND INFORMATION CONGRESS: 75TH IFLA GENERAL CONFERENCE AND COUNCIL
23-27 August 2009, Milan, Italy
http://www.ifla.org/annual-conference/ifla75/index.htm


Abstract
The Arab Press in Palestine developed at the turn of the twentieth century and proliferated for
several decades despite restrictions imposed under the Ottoman Empire and during the British
Mandate Period (1917-1948). Hardcopies of the early newspapers and periodicals are rare
and access to them at a few Palestinian municipal or private libraries is limited. The Al-Aqsa
Mosque Library holds one of the largest collections of Palestinian historical newspapers and
periodicals. The collection provides a unique and rich source of information about the history
of Palestine in the first half of the twentieth century. Access to the collection is limited and
brittle paper copies have been rapidly deteriorating. This paper provides an overview of the
digitization project aimed at preserving the historical periodical collection located at the Al-
Aqsa Mosque Library.

Introduction
Historical newspapers and periodicals represent a rich resource for scholars and researchers,
but due to poor quality paper they are also a very fragile source posing many preservation and
archiving challenges. Creating microfilm copies of fragile and deteriorating newspapers has
been an established preservation method in many developed countries. In the last decade,
digitization offered an unprecedented opportunity to expand access to newspaper content and
assist preservation by reducing the use of brittle paper copies. Digitization has also become a
preservation strategy in countries where microfilming is not easily available.
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Arab newspapers and periodicals published in Palestine in the first half of the twentieth century
provide a unique and valuable source of information about the history of the region and its
people. Copies of the historical periodicals and newspapers are, however, extremely rare, since
many private Palestinian libraries were destroyed or ceased to exist following the 1948 Arab-
Israeli War. The Al-Aqsa Mosque Library holds one of the largest collections of Palestinian
newspaper and periodicals. Many of the titles included in the collection are particularly unique
as they represent the only copies available in the region. Because of the lack of preservation
resources, microfilm copies have never been created. A digitization project at the Al-Aqsa
Mosque Library was undertaken primarily as a preservation project with the goal of creating
archival quality digital copies of the newspapers and periodicals. In addition, the project aimed
at preparing multiple derivative copies to widen access of these rare materials to scholars,
students, and the general public and make the collection more visible and accessible. The one-
year project was supported by a grant from the Endangered Archives Programme at the British
Library.

Background
The Al-Aqsa Mosque Library
The Al-Aqsa Mosque Library is located in the Haram al-Sharif compound in the Old City of
Jerusalem. It is considered to be the most important library in Jerusalem and was originally
founded to support Al-Aqsa as “a center of intellectual debate and a school for teaching of
Islamic sciences” (Nussiebeh, 2007). In the past, the books were dispersed through the Haram
al-Sharif compound, primarily in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock building. The
official Al-Aqsa Mosque Library was established in 1923 by the Supreme Muslim Legislative
Council, under the leadership of the mufti of Palestine Hajj Amin al-Husseini. The books from
different buildings in the compound were collected and housed in a single building. The library
was named dar kuttub al-masjed Al-Aqsa (literally, house of the books of the Aqsa Mosque).
As Natsheh (2001) notes, the name has a remarkable implication. It was hoped that Al-Aqsa
Mosque Library as a “house of books” would become as important to Islamic studies as the
National Library at Cairo and the National Library at Damascus 'al-Zahiryya'. However, due to
the political circumstances under the British Mandate and after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, this
promise was never fully realized (Natsheh, 2001).

The location of the library has shifted within the Haram al-Sharif compound several times. In
2000 the library was moved to its current location between the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the east
side and the Islamic Museum on the west. The building in which the library is now housed is
the historic building known as the “Jami‘ al-Nisa”, or “Women’s Mosque”, dating back to the
Crusader period in the 12th century. The library is open to the public between 9am and 1pm,
from Saturday to Wednesday, but access is often hindered by extensive security checks at the
al Haram's gates. Natsheh (2001) points out that in fact many Palestinian students from West
Bank are unable to access the library due to security restrictions.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque Library is a reference library intended to serve the needs of researchers
and students from Jerusalem and other Palestinian cities. The library contains monographs,
periodicals, and manuscripts. There are about 1,000 manuscripts as well as 644 Qura’ns dating
from 9th to the 13th century. The oldest, Kufic text is dated from the second century after hijra

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(Jacobsen and Mack, 2007). The monograph collection consists of 10,000 books including
2000 rare titles. The collection includes materials in the following fields: Islamic religion,
Arabic language, Arabic literature, and Islamic history. Since 1977, collection development has
focused on acquiring books related to Islamic history, archaeology, and art.

The library also contains more than 70 titles of Arabic language newspapers and journals,
published in Palestine and other Arab countries as well as a selection of periodicals published
by the Arab communities in Europe and North and South America. Many of the publications
were purchased for the library holdings, while others were acquired from private libraries and
through donations from both private and public sources. The newspaper and periodical
collection faces the risk of rapid deterioration due to poor quality paper, environmental factors,
and the lack of a preservation program. The digitization project was initiated to create multiple
digital copies of the endangered material.

The Development of the Arab Press in Palestine
Arab newspapers and periodicals in Palestine developed later than the press in neighboring
Arab countries like Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria that had already established a vibrant press in
the second half of the nineteenth century (Ayalon, 1995; Mellor, 2005). The Palestinian press
developed at the turn of the twentieth century when Palestinian Arabs, often trained at the
Christian publishing houses, began to establish their own printing presses. Prior to that, the
Palestinian reading public had to depend on Arabic periodicals published in neighboring
countries (Musallam, 2005). Al-Jinan of 1874, held at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Library and
included in the digitization project, is an example of an early Arabic language magazine,
published in Beirut, Lebanon (Figure 1). Musallam (2005) points out that Christian Arabs
educated at Christian schools in Palestine, contributed significantly to the intellectual and
educational revival of the Arabs of Palestine and were involved in the publication of the
majority of Arab papers and periodicals that appeared between 1908 and 1914.
.
Political changes that occurred in the Ottoman Empire, following the Young Turks rebellion in
1908 and resulting in the restoration of the 1876 Constitution and the abolishment of
censorship, had a positive impact on the development of the Arabic language press.
Additionally, in Palestine, as Ayalon (1995) notes, “Zionist settlement constituted an additional
incentive for the emergence of Arabic publications, many of them, although not all, opposed to
the new Jewish presence” (p.66). Three major Arabic language papers were established during
this period in Palestine and all of them were published by Christian Arabs: al-Quds began to
appear in 1908 in Jerusalem; al-Karmil established by Najib Nassar in Haifa in 1908, and
Filastine (Figure 2) that became a leading Palestinian paper, was founded by ‘Isa al-Isa in 1911
in Jaffa. Al-Karmil and Filastine played a leading role in rising Arab nationalism and
opposition to Jewish immigration (Ayalon, 1995; Musallam, 2005).

In addition to Filastine, other papers established in the post-1908 period have been selected for
the digitization project, including Al Hasna, Tazwir Afkar, and Al-Muqtabas. Many leading
Palestinian intellectuals, such as Is‘af al-Nashashibi, Khalil Baydas, Khalil Sakakini, Ruhi al-
Khalidi, ‘Isa al-‘Isa, Hanna ‘Abd Allah ‘Isa, Najib Nassar, ‘Adil Jabr, Musa al-Naghribi
contributed to the papers (Musallam, 2005). Many of them had careers outside of journalism
and were active in education, politics, and religion, which according to Rugh (1979), was quite

3
characteristic for the Arabic language press of that time. In addition to the news, the papers
also had significant literary sections, thanks to contributions of prominent writers like Khalil
Sakakini. With the outbreak of the World War I in 1914 and the entrance of the Ottoman
Empire into the war, political and publishing activities of the Palestinian Arabs were
suppressed and several publishers, such as ‘Isa al-Isa and Najib Nassar, were exiled or
imprisoned.

With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of British control over Palestine,
press activities re-emerged in 1919. Two of the leading pre-war papers, al-Karmal and
Filastine, re-opened after their owners, Najib Nassar and ‘Isa al-‘Isa returned from exile. The
press landscape in Palestine during the British Mandate (1917-1948), however, was more
diverse than in the pre-war period. While Christian Arabs established most of the early
periodicals, Muslim Arabs also participated in publication of new papers in the 1920s and
1930s, reflecting rising Arab national consciousness and different political factions. Mirat Al-
Sharq - “Mirror of the East” (Figure 3) was established by a Christian, Bulus Shihada, in 1919.
A major organ of the Supreme Muslim Council, Al-Jami’ah Al-Arabiah - “Arab Union”
(Figure 4), began to appear in 1927. In the 1920s, approximately 20 new papers were
established in Jerusalem, but the early 1930s, Jaffa became the center of Palestinian Arab
journalism. In addition to Filastine, Al-Sirat Al-Mustaqim – “The True Path”, (Figure 5) a
Muslim paper was launched in Jaffa in 1925. Sawt al-Haqq, another Islamic organ was also
published in Jaffa. Most of the Arabic language papers were opposed to the Zionist movement
and were critical of British policies in Palestine, but also varied in their political positions.
Ayalon (1995) notes, “it was a variegated press scene, mirroring a multipolar polity” (p. 97).

During the 1920s, the growing Arabic language papers in Palestine enjoyed a relative freedom
of press. The British adopted the old Ottoman Press Law, which required licensing and the
submission of translations of press extracts to the government authorities. Nevertheless, direct
interference of the British authorities was rare. Scholars tend to agree that despite those
restrictions “the period until 1929 proved to be the most liberal era in the thirty-one years of
British rule in Palestine” (Musallam, 2008). Ayalon (1995) points out, “Palestinian journalists
enjoyed more freedom of expression during the 1920s than their colleagues in some of the
other states in the region” (p. 98).

British liberal policy towards the Arabic language press, however, changed in the following
decade. The Buraq riots of 1929 represent a turning point in the modern Palestinian history,
followed by violent confrontations between Arabs and Zionists, and Arabs and the British that
culminated in the Arab rebellion of 1936-1939. The Shaw Commission, investigating the riots
of 1929 pointed out the role of the press in inciting the public and recommended the re-
evaluation of the press law. The British government in Palestine issued a new Publication Law
in January of 1933, giving the authorities sweeping powers to deny or withdraw publication
permits, suspend or close down papers, and punish journalists (Ayalon, 1995). The law was
amended several times, and in 1933 and 1939, emergency regulations were introduced,
restricting freedom of press even further. With the outbreak of the Arab rebellion in 1936,
emergency regulations required that all papers submit galley proofs for censorship (Musallam,
2008).


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Following the 1929 crisis, the Arabic language press adopted an increasingly militant position
and played an important role in the growing Arab nationalist movement. Several papers
became dailies with the Jaffa-based Filastine and Al-Jami’ah Al-Arabiah in Jerusalem. The
most important papers established in the 1930s were published in Jaffa, including Al-Difa –
“Defense” an organ of the Istiqlal Party, and Al-Jami’a Al-Islamiah –“Islamic Union” (Figure
6), that appeared from 1932 to 1937. Al-Liwa' – “The Flag” (Figure 7) representing the
dominant party, the Arab Party, was established in Jerusalem in 1933. The British authorities
responded with harsher measures against the increasingly nationalistic and political tone of the
Arabic language newspapers. As Najjar (1975) documents many major newspapers, such as
Falastin, Al-Difa, Al-Liwa, Al-Sirat Al-Mustaqim, and others, were confiscated for extended
periods of time in 1937 and 1938. With the outbreak of World War II and introduction of new
emergency laws, the British ordered the closure of almost all papers. Only Filastin and al-Difa'
were able to survive by adopting a moderate nationalist tone and publishing closely censored
news.

Project Goals
The collection at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Library includes major Palestinian newspapers and
periodicals from the pre-war and the British Mandate periods, such as Filastine, Mirat Al-
Sharq, Al-Jami’ah Al-Arabiah, Al-Jami’a Al-Islamiah, Al-Difa, and others. The collection is
housed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Library along with other library materials posing many
preservation and access challenges. Walravens (2008) identifies preservation and access as
major issues in managing newspaper collections, noting that “the challenge is greater than with
other library materials” (p. 1). The digitization project undertaken at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Library in 2008 aimed at addressing preservation of this unique historical collection, but also at
expanding access to a wider community of scholars and students.

Preservation
The primary goal of the project was to create digital archival copies of rare papers in order to
safeguard the collection housed at Al-Aqsa Mosque Library from the risk of physical
deterioration and destruction. The copies at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Library have been
deteriorating rapidly because of their use, poor environmental conditions, the lack of a
preservation program, and the shortage of staff trained in conservation and preservation
methods (Figure 8 and 9). The Al-Aqsa Mosque Library has only print copies of the
periodicals, since microfilming as a preservation method was not considered in the past. The
print copies of newspapers and periodicals served as a source for creating a digitized version of
the collection. Digitization was selected as a conversion method and a way of creating digital
copies to reduce the handling of the fragile print materials.

Access
The secondary goal of the project was to create multiple derivative digital copies to make the
collection more accessible and visible and address the issue of limited access to the Al-Aqsa
Library. In addition to expanding access to the collection, the project also aimed at enhancing
the indexing and searchability of the newspapers by creating searchable text through Optical
Character Recognition (OCR) technology and providing full-text keyword search. Original
newspapers in the library are organized by title and date, but have no indexes that would enable
subject access. Interestingly, several of the early magazines, such as Al-Muqtabas (1906-1912)

5
were published in bound volumes with a table of contents that provided access to all issues in a
given year. The digitized version of Al-Muqtabas, in addition to providing searchable text,
maintains this original arrangement of the published volumes.

The Selection of Titles
The periodical collection at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Library consists of historical newspapers,
journals, and magazines in multiple formats. 24 titles, including 13 newspapers and 11 journals
and magazines, were selected for the digitization project. Most of the periodicals were
published in Palestine during the British Mandate Period (1917-1948), but among the selected
titles there is also a publication from the time of the Ottoman Empire, Al-Jinan (1874), and a
few publications from the pre-war period, such as Al-Mahaba (1901), Al Hasna (1909-1912),
Tazwir Afkar (1909), and Al-Muqtabas (1908-1916). Table 1. includes the list of the selected
titles and their publication dates.

No.
Title in English
Title in Arabic
Periodical Type
Coverage
1 Majalet Rawdat al-Ma’arif مجلة روضة المعارف
Magazine
1922-1923; 1932; 1934
2 Al-Kuliyya al-Arabia
الكلية العربية
Magazine
1927-1938
3 Al-Houkouk
الحقوق
Magazine
1923-1928
4 Al-Moktubas (Al-Muqtabas) المقتبس
Magazine
1907-1912
5 Al-Arab
العرب
Magazine
1933-1934
6 Al-Jinan
الجنان
Magazine
1874
7 Al-Mahaba
المحبة
Magazine
1901
8 Al-Hasna
الحسناء
Magazine
1909-1912
9 Al-Zahrah
الزهرة
Magazine
1922-1926
10 Rawdat al-Maaref
روضة المعارف
Magazine
1326-1327 AH
11 Al-Fajr
الفجر
Magazine
1935
12 Al-Jami’a Al-Islamiah
الجامعة الاسلامية
Newspaper
1932-1938
13 Al-Jami’ah Al-Arabiah
الجامعة العربية
Newspaper
1932-1938
14 Al-Sirat Al-Mustaqim
الصراط المستقيم
Newspaper
1928-1936
15 Sawt al-sha’b
صوت الشعب
Newspaper
1928-1930; 1934
16 Al-Awqat Al-‘Arabiah
الاوقات العربية
Newspaper
1935
17 Al-Liwa
اللواء
Newspaper
1935-1937
18 Tazwir Afkar
تصوير افكار
Newspaper
1909
19 Al-Muqtabas
المقتبس
Newspaper
1908-1912; 1915-1916
20 Al-Qabas
القبس
Newspaper
1913-1914
21 Al-Difa’
الدفاع
Newspaper
1934-1951
22 Falastin (Filastin)
فلسطين
Newspaper
1923-1937;1947-1951
23 Al-Iqdam
الاقدام
Newspaper
1935-1936
24 Mirat Al-Shark
مرأة الشرق
Newspaper
1922-1936
Table 1. List of Selected Titles

In addition to the major newspapers that played an active role in the Arab nationalist
movement during the British Mandate period and often represented different political factions,
like Filastin or Al-Jami’a Al-Islamiah, the selection also includes a number of cultural, literary,
educational journals, and women’s magazines. The digitized collection contains 33 issues of

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Al-Hasna, a women’s literary and social magazine, published in Beirut from 1909 and 1912
and distributed to the reading public in Palestine. Al-Zahra was a literary magazine published
in Haifa in the 1920s. Al-Fajr, published in Jaffa in the mid-1930s, was a weekly cultural
magazine. Its cover often featured a famous foreign actress, which was quite unusual for the
Arabic language press of that time (Figure 10). The collection also presents several scholarly
journals, such as Al-Houkouk, a monthly legal and scientific journal, published by Fahmi Al-
Husseini in Jaffa, or an educational journal Al-Kuliyya al-Arabia, published by Arab College of
Jerusalem, with a well-known Palestinian educator, Ahmad al-Khalidi as its chief editor. Most
magazines in bound volumes survived in a relatively good condition, but newspapers, printed
on poor quality paper, posed many challenges during the digitization process.

Digitization Process
Several researchers and practitioners point out that newspaper digitization projects are
especially challenging because of large format, complex page layout, and poor quality of print
(Gilboe, 2005; King, 2005; Klijn, 2008), requiring many libraries to outsource the scanning
process. Because of the historical nature of the collection and the location of the Al-Aqsa
Mosque Library, outsourcing was not an option and the image capture process had to be
performed in-house. The scanning was conducted from the original paper copies since
microfilm copies were not available. ATIZ BOOK Drive system with two digital cameras was
used to capture images of newspapers. The initial output of the ATIZ BOOK Drive system is in
RAW format, which required conversion to TIFF format for archiving purposes. The
digitization guidelines were established at the beginning of the project and were based on the
general copying guidelines available to the Endangered Archives Programme participants
(Endangered Archives Programme, 2009) and technical guidelines of the National Digital
Newspaper Program (Library of Congress, 2009).

The digitization guidelines for the project assume a use-neutral approach and are based on
digital library standards, best practices, and general principles for building digital collections.
The goal of the project was to build a repository of digital master files in the TIFF format for
archiving purposes and provide derivative files in the PDF format for current use. The use-
neutral approach includes the notion of digital master files and derivatives.

Archival Master Files
Digital master files were created as a direct result of the scanning process. General
recommendations for digital master files include:
• Scan at the highest quality affordable; minimum 300 dpi resolution
• Use lossless compression
• Save in a non-proprietary format, such as TIFF
• Use a consistent file naming convention
The process of creating digital masters usually results in large file size. Their primary function
is to serve as a long-term archival file and a source for derivative files. The digital master files
created as a result of this digitization project constitute the digital periodical repository. One set
of digital master files is stored at the Al-Aqsa Library. The second was deposited at the British
Library, according to the Endangered Archives Programme requirements. The digital masters
can serve not only as preservation copies, but also as a source for creating multiple derivative
copies in the future.

7

A consistent file naming convention was established in order to manage the project effectively.
File names for digital masters and PDF derivatives were established prior to the scanning
process. Each title was assigned a unique three letter Scan ID. For this digitization project the
following file naming convention has been established:
project code_ three letter Scan ID + publication date (or issue number)_page numbers (two or
three digit page number starting with zero)
EAP119_three letter Scan ID + four digit year + two digit month + two digit day_two digit
page number starting with zero, for example: EAP119_arb19330414_01 for the first page
of the issue of Al-Arab published on April 14, 1933

Derivative Files and the OCR Process
Derivative files were created from digital master files for access. For the purpose of this project
derivative files were created in the PDF format. Readiris Pro 11 Middle East edition software,
capable of recognizing Arabic language characters was used to perform Optical Character
Recognition (OCR), to convert images into searchable files, and to create derivative files in the
PDF format. The OCR process was fully automated without any manual editing due to a large
volume of files. Quality control of the processed text files, however, demonstrated that the
accuracy of the OCR performed with Readiris Pro 11 is relatively low. OCR accuracy for the
Arabic language can be generally lower than for Latin characters, but other factors could have
contributed to this problem. The output of the OCR is affected by the quality of images, which
to a large extent depends on the condition of the original paper. The scanning software and
hardware play a role as well as the resolution, but the best scanner or digital camera cannot
make up for tears, speckles, poor printing, or bleeding through. In addition, newspapers pose
problems for scanning and OCR because of a complex page layout and variety of font types
and sizes with titles and headlines typically in much larger letters. Although search and
retrieval is not very accurate, PDf files, created as a result of this project, are available for
browsing and reading.

The collection is not available online at this point, but the project team is exploring options for
presenting the collection on the Web and making it available to a wider audience. The Al-Aqsa
Library does not have an appropriate infrastructure for presenting a large online collection, but
it is possible that a different non-profit or academic institution will agree to host the collection.

Preservation and Documentation
Digital images may prove not to be as stable as microfilm for preservation purposes, but
nevertheless digitization provides an opportunity to create multiple surrogate copies of
endangered materials when other preservation methods are not available. Multiple derivative
files of digitized materials also contribute to conservation efforts by providing options for
viewing and printing of PDF versions, thereby reducing the handling of deteriorating paper
originals. Copies of the publications in the PDF format are also stored at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Library and are available in-house to library users.

In addition to the PDF version, two sets of digital archival copies (in the TIFF format) of the
digitized newspapers and periodicals were created. The first set is stored at the Al-Aqsa
Mosque Library; the second was deposited at the British Library. Documentation of the

8
collection, the project, and the individual publications was also created and deposited at the
British Library. The documentation regarding the newspapers and periodicals includes basic
descriptive information about each title, such as the title in the Arabic and Latin alphabets,
dates and frequency of publication, name of publisher, place of publication, language, and
format of the original. The documentation also provides information about the extent and
medium of the digitized version as well as an explanation of the system of arrangement of
digital files and a reference ID. A number of reference sources were used in the research
process to determine the publication titles, dates, and publishing history. Yusuf Q. Khoury’s
work (Khoury, 1986) was used as a primary source in the research process.

Conclusion
The project faced a number of challenges due to external factors as well as those directly
related to undertaking a large digitization project of historical newspapers. The quality of the
original papers, including different text characters, irregular fonts, text density, torn or
smudged pages, and a variety in layout posed many challenges during the image capture
process. The project team also realized that the digitization process for long-term preservation
is very challenging and time-consuming, taking much longer to scan and create digital master
files than originally expected. In addition, the project faced a shortage of trained staff and
significant budget shortfalls because of the global economic downturn. Despite these
challenges, the project team was able to complete the conversion process and prepare an
extensive documentation describing the digitized titles. The digitization project provided a
unique opportunity to conduct research on the development of the Arabic language press in
Palestine and collect information about individual publications and their publishers. The
historical newspaper and periodical collection at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Library now exist in
multiple formats and is available for research to students and scholars.

References
Ayalon, Ami. (1995). The Press in the Arab Middle East: A History. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Endangered Archives Programme. (2009). Copying Guidelines. Retrieved April 2, 2009 from
http://www.bl.uk/about/policies/endangeredarch/pdf/09guidelines_copying.pdf
Gilboe, Lynda James. (2005). “The challenge of digitization: Libraries are finding that
newspaper projects are not for the faint of heart.” The Serials Librarian 49 (1/2)
Jacobsen, Peter and Merav Mack. (2007). Survey of Historical Libraries and Archives in
Jerusalem: Draft Project Report. Retrieved April 22, 2009 from
http://www.writtenheritage.org/EN/progress.html
Khoury, Yusuf Q. (1986). Al-Sihafah al-‘Arabiyyah fi Filastin (1876-1948). Beirut: Institute of
Palestinian Studies.
King, Edward. (2005). “Digitization of newspapers at the British Library.” The Serials
Librarian 49 (1/2).
Klijn, Edwin. (2008). “The current state-of-art in newspaper digitization: A market
perspective.”D-Lib Magazine 14(1/2). Retrieved April 14, 2009 from
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january08/klijn/01klijn.html
Library of Congress. (2009). The National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP): Technical
Guidelines for Applicants. Retrieved April 8, 2009 from
http://www.loc.gov/ndnp/pdf/NDNP_200911TechNotes.pdf
Mellor, Noha. (2005). The Making of Arab News. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

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Musallam, Adnan A. (2005). “Arab press, society and politics at the end of the Ottoman era.”
Al-Liqa' Journal, 25. Retrieved April 3, 2009 from
http://admusallam.bethlehem.edu/publications/EndofTheOttomanEra.htm
Musallam, Adnan A. (2008). “Turbulent times in the life of the Palestinian Arab press: The
British era, 1917 –1948.” Al-Liqa' Journal, 31. Retrieved April 3, 2009 from
http://admusallam.bethlehem.edu/publications/Turbulent_Times.htm
Najjar, Aida Ali. (1975). The Arabic Press and Nationalism is Palestine, 1920-1948.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University.
Natsheh, Yusuf. (2001). “Al-Aqsa Mosque Library of al-Haram as-Sharif.” Jerusalem
Quarterly, 13. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from
http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/details.php?cat=5&id=134
Nussiebeh, Mazen. (2007). “Islamic libraries in Jerusalem.” Al-Aqsa Journal, 10(1): 21-27.
Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/2742257/ALAQSA-
JOURNAL-ON-PALESTINE-Autumn-2007
Rugh, William A. (1979). The Arab Press: News Media and Political Process in the Arab
World. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Walravens, Hartmut. (2008). “Keynote address.” In: The Impact of Digital Technology on
Contemporary and Historic Newspapers (pp. 1-8). Proceedings of the International
Newspaper Conference, Singapore, 1-3 April, 2008 and the papers form the IFLA
World Library and Information Congress, Quebec, Canada, August, 2008. Munchen:
K.G. Saur.

Figures
1. Page from Al-Jinan magazine published in Beirut in1874
2. Title page of Filastine, January 1, 1933
3. Title page of Mirat Al-Sharq, November 11, 1922
4. Title page of Al-Jami’ah Al-Arabiah, January 27, 1927
5. Al-Sirat Al-Mustaqim (The True Path), February 29, 1928
6. Title page of Al-Jami’a Al-Islamiah, November 30, 1932
7. Al-Liwa' February 17, 1936, organ of the Arab Party
8. Damaged title page of Al-Difa, June 4, 1934
9. Page from the Al-Zahra magazine (November 1923), damaged because of the use of
adhesive tape
10. Cover page of Al-Fajr magazine, June 1, 1935

Tables
1. List of Selected Titles for the Digitization Project



10


Figure 1


11


Figure 2


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Figure 3

13


Figure 4


14

Figure 5


15

Figure 6

16


Figure 7


17

Figure 8


18
Figure 9

19
Figure 10


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