Gateway to the Koran of Kansuh al-Ghuri

The King of Egypt visits the Koran, in 1927

jwrobinson — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:08:52 +0000

Recently Carol and James attended the 7th annual TIMA conference in Cambridge, where James presented a paper on the digitisation project. While there, a fellow attendee mentioned an article from the Manchester Guardian they had uncovered from 1927, regarding the visit of the then King of Egypt to the Rylands Library. The Rylands holds the complete Guardian Archive, so it wasn’t long before we uncovered the article again! (The images are quite large so the text can be read)

Images of the Kings visit in 1927, including the Koran

The article of the Kings visit

Digitise Deliver Discover

jwrobinson — Tue, 24 May 2011 08:58:13 +0000

On Monday the 6th of June, Faculty Team Librarian and Senior Photograher James Robinson will be part of a very interesting conference here in Manchester.’3D: Digitise, Deliver, Discover‘ is being hosted by the University Of Manchester in the Manchester Conference centre. Unlike most events of this kind which tend to be highly specialised, 3D will be wide-ranging and aimed at a broader target audience, to include academics and students, technical experts and digital novices with an interest in digitisation.

Paul and James will give a presentation about the Koran digitisation project, covering all aspects from the history and importance of the Koran itself, to the virtual copy in Turning The Pages, and press coverage.

Turning the Pages Kiosk

jwrobinson — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:20:37 +0000

Turning the Pages station

The test section of the Koran is now installed onto the touch screen station in the library (John Rylands Library Deansgate). It is situated at the top of the stairs in the new atrium. We want your feedback! Comments cards are being drafted up now, along with a brief description of the software and how to use it, and also the history of the Koran itself. Other virtual books are being prepared now too. If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see, get in touch!

جهاز قلب الصفحات

تم الان وضع جهاز قلب الصفحات الألكتروني في مكتبة جون رايلندز – ديبسجيت, و قد قمنا بوزيع منشورات منعلقة بتاريخ القران كيفية استخدام الجهاز. يسعدنا تلقي تعليقاتكم على المشروع, كما يسعدنا تلقي اية اقتراحات لكتب اخرى

Missing Pages

jwrobinson — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:37:17 +0000

©The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin

The pages held over at the Chester Beatty Library are now with us and we are working to put them into the right order with our images. As the leaves were mounted together, we have had to cut them (in photoshop of course!) to fit into the virtual version of the manuscript.

It may take us a little longer to get these extra images inserted into the the correct place, but the Turning the Pages kiosk, with a test version of the Koran should be available in the Library this week. We are very excited to see the software in action, and will be looking for feedback. So come in and give it a go!

الصفحات المفقودة

تم الحصول على الصفحات المفقودة من مكتبة تشستر بيتي و قمنا اخيرا باضافتهم للجهاز اللذي نأمل على تشغيله هذا الاسبوع. و لذا نرجو من المهتمين بالمشروع تجربته و تزويدنا برأيهم عنه

Deutsche Welle Radio Broadcast

jwrobinson — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 10:02:44 +0000

A few weeks ago, reporter Lars Bevanger of Deutsche Welle radio interviewed us about the Koran digitisation. His report can be heard here.

قام فريق من الاذاعة الالمانية (فيللي) من مقابلة الفريق القائم الى المشروع الاسبوع الماضي. يمكن سماع المقابلة على الموقع التالي

Latest news

jwrobinson — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:05:47 +0000

Secure rolling stacks at the library, where the Koran is stored.

Now that the media furore has died down, and we have finished the digitisation, it is time for the manuscript to be returned to the climate controlled, secure storage area in the library. Before going back on its own shelf however, the Koran had to be re-acclimatised to avoid any damage. Because the conditions in the area we used for the photography are different to that in the store, a night of acclimatisation in the conservation studio was required.

الان و قد تم الانتهاء من عملية التحميل الالكتروني سيقوم الفريق من اعادة القران الى المنطقة المخصصة لحفظه في المكتبة. الا انه يجب العمل على اقلمة القران و ذلك بحفظه في درجة حرارة معينة لمدة ليلة كاملة قبل نقله الى منطقة حفظه و ذللك منعاً لتلفه.

The Koran back on its own shelf

The turning the pages kiosk is still being put together. As soon as we have the additional images from Chester Beatty, the virtual book will be fully put together. We aim to have this done very soon, and on display in the atrium to coincide with Islam Awareness Week.

مازال الفريق قائم على انهاء البرنامج و نحن بصدد استلام الصور تيين المتبقيتيتن من مكتبة (شستر بيتي) و نأمل بانهاء الرنامج ليتز امن مع اسبوع التعريف بالاسلام الذي سيقام بتاريخ 28 اذار – 3 نيسان.

ترجمة الصفحات – Page Translations

jwrobinson — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:34:20 +0000

If you look back through the posts on the blog, you will now notice an Arabic translation. We would like to thank Paul Tate (JRUL Middle Eastern Studies Librarian) and his wife Dr Orieb Masa’deh who kindly volunteered to translate for us.

تم ترجمة الموقع الالكتروني إلى اللغة العربية. و نود أن نشكر المترجمة الدكتورة عريب مساعدة لوقتها وجهدها

Turning The Pages Test

jwrobinson — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:18:45 +0000

Our Turning The Pages touch screen kiosk has finally arrived, and we have added a sample of 50 images from the koran as a test. It’s incredibly easy to use, and very impressive. The video below has a demonstration.

The Kiosk will be in the Historic Reading Room for the public to test. We will let everyone know when its ready, please do come in and try it out!

تجربة قلب الصفحات

مع استلام جهاز قلب الصفحات الكترونياً، قمنا بتحميل 50 صورة و ذلك كعينة ليتم تجربة البرنامج كما هو موضح فبما يلي

سيتم وضع الجهاز في غرفة التاريخ للمطالعة و ذلك لتمكين المهتميين من تجربته بأي وقت

Weighing in at…….

jwrobinson — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:03:28 +0000

Using a special set of digital scales, where a pad was placed under the manuscript which is connected to a read out, we have finally been able to weigh the Koran. It came in at almost 52kg, or 8st 2lbs.

The scales only weigh up to 60kg, so it was almost topping the maximum.

الوزن

تم اخيرًا التمكن من وزن القراَن باستخدام ميزان خاص حيث تبين ان وزن القراَن يبلغ 52 كغم.

Media interest continues…

harperanna — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:36:33 +0000

Media interest in the project is continuing: last week, project manager Carol, Middle Eastern Studies Librarian Paul, and photographer Jamie were interviewed for Deutsche Welle Radio, an English language German service. On Friday, a team from Al Arabiya TV interviewed us. This service will go out across different stations in the Middle East. Hopefully, despite the current events in Egypt, this will raise awareness of the project, and gain the interest of Middle Eastern scholars. Also, in the next week or so, Reuters will be visiting us.

The Al Arabiya crew filming the Koran

استمرارالتغطية الاعلامية

تم تغطية المشروع اعلامياً منذ الاعلان عنه. حيث تم تغطيته من قبل تلفزيون بي بي سي و الراديو الالماني دويتش فيلي، بالاضافة الى قيام فريق من تلفزيون العربية باجراء مقابله سيتم بثها لعدد من القنوات العربية. و من المتوقع قيام رويترز باجراء مقابله مع المسووليين عن المشروع في نهاية الاسبوع