Bibliotheca Alexandrina it’s role in non-formal education & it’s role in non-formal education By: Mahmoud Ezzat “The Challenge of Intercultural Education – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” 9 June 2016

Ancient Library of Alexandria 3rd century BC

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina aims to be: A center of excellence in the production and dissemination of knowledge and to be a place of dialogue, learning and understanding between cultures and peoples.

The unique role of the Library of Alexandria, as that of a great Egyptian Library with international dimensions, will focus on four main aspects, that seek to recapture the spirit of the original ancient Library of Alexandria. It aspires to be The world’s window on Egypt. Egypt’s window on the world. A leading institution of the digital age. A center for learning, tolerance, dialogue and understanding.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina consists of: Main Library

Planetarium Science Center History of Science Museum

Specialized Libraries Arts & Multimedia Library Taha Hussien Library Children’s Library Young People’s Library Microfilm Library Rare books Library Depository Library Maps Library Francophone Library

4 Permanent Museums Antiquities Museum Manuscripts Museum Sadaat Museum History of Science Museum

Collection of Permanent Exhibitions: Impressions of Alexandria, The World of Shadi Abdel-salam, Arabic Calligraphy, History of Printing: Bulaq Press, The Artist Book, The Permanent Sculpture Collection, and other artistic exhibitions.

Conference Center

CULTURAMA VISTA (Virtual Immersive Science and Technology Applications )

The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina also hosts a number of institutions: The Academia Bibliotheca Alexandrinae (ABA). Arabic Society for Ethics in Science & Technology (ASEST). The Anna Lindh Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures – the first Euro-Med foundation based outside Europe. The HCM Medical Research Project The Arab Regional Office of the Academy of Science for the Developing World (TWAS-ARO). The International Federation for Library Associations (IFLA) Regional Office. The Secretariat of the Arab National Commissions of UNESCO. The Middle Eastern and North African Network for Environmental Economics (MENANEE). The Arab Network for Women in Science and Technology (ANWST). The number of these institutions continues to grow, making the BA the center of many international and regional networks.

Today, this vast complex has become a reality, receiving about 1 Today, this vast complex has become a reality, receiving about 1.5 million visitors a year.

BA Projects

The Universal Networking Language (UNL) Project The mission of the UNL program, initiated by the United Nations and devised by the Universal Networking Digital Language (UNDL) Foundation, is to enable people around the world to generate information and have access to cultural knowledge in their native language. It addresses the obstacles caused by linguistic diversity among nations and is considered a new technique towards bridging the linguistic gap among civilizations. UNL is an artificial language attempting to replicate the functions of natural language in human communication. UNL applications will include multilingual web pages, the UNL encyclopedia, and more. Currently, 15 languages have been included and a number of institutions have started to work on their respective native languages. Website: http://www.bibalex.org/unl/Frontend/home.aspx

Digital Assets Repository (DAR) The Digital Assets Repository (DAR) is a system developed by the BA International School of Information Science (ISIS) to create and maintain the Library's digital collections. DAR acts as a repository that preserves and archives all types of media (including books, slides, negatives, manuscripts, maps, audio and video) and provides public access to these digitized collections through web-based search and browsing facilities. The system is easy to integrate with any web-based interoperable digital library as it is based on evolving standards. Over 210,000 books and 35,000 images are now available online. All out-of-copyright books are available in full for Internet users. For books that are in copyright, Internet users can browse only 5% of the book. However, they are available from within BA, with simultaneous access limited to the number of physical copies available at the Library. Content-based search is performed on all books; the online collection is searchable by author, title, or subject. Website: http://dar.bibalex.org/webpages/dar.jsf

BA Documentation Projects Memory of Modern Egypt http://modernegypt.bibalex.org The BA “Memory of Modern Egypt” (MoME) project is a collaborative effort between ISIS and the Special Projects Department. It is a digital repository documenting the last 200 years of Egypt’s modern history through tens of thousands of varying items, such as documents, pictures, audios, videos, maps, articles, stamps, coins, etc. that created an index of 14 different material types. The interface and the underlying infrastructure of the repository allow the user to browse by facets, thus allowing for optimum data filtration and a more precise browsing over 500 dimensions.

II. Memory of the Arab World http://www. memoryarabworld The Memory of the Arab World is concerned with applying the latest software in developing a specialized online portal to introduce Arab civilization to the world and to contribute to the Arabic content on the Internet. The bilingual gateway is meant to connect the younger Arab generations with their cultural identity and to maintain the collective memory of the people of the Arab World. It is the first Arab project that aims to digitize the Arab heritage and preserve its memory for future generations

III. Extremism and Terrorism Confrontation program The BA is organizing an international conference to intellectually combat extremism and terrorism. The conference will include over 300 participating researchers, thinkers, and specialists in the issues related to terrorism. It aims to strengthen the relations between Arab research centers specializing in extremism and forming mutual visions. The conference is held as part of an integrated program that aims to intellectually combat extremism. Implemented by the BA, the program includes several phases and levels, the first of which promotes the study of the phenomenon of extremism on the social and religious levels. Therefore, the BA has created its Marased series, which specializes in studying the different phenomena of extremism and criticizing extremist discourse. So far, the BA has published 28 issues of the series with the participation of researchers from Egypt and abroad.

BA E-Learning Services The E-learning Unit has established an online educational service at the BA, encouraging BA users to gain greater enthusiasm for self-learning and enabling them to reach their full potential through the development of a desire for ultimate learning. Providing e-learning services to BA users, especially those who live outside the city, will encourage more users from Egypt and around the world to attend the BA educational courses. This service will also provide sustainable educational development. Thus, the E-Learning Services Unit is using Moodle as its e-learning platform. The Moodle platform provides a wide range of features that include content delivery and collaboration between tutors and learners, such as content creation or upload up-to-date e-materials, discussion forums, assignments and quizzes, monitoring of participants’ online activities, and much more. Website: https://moodle.bibalex.org/login/index.php  

Science Supercourse Project Initiated by University of Pittsburgh and mirrored at the BA, the Supercourse, an online repository encompassing more than 3,600 PowerPoint lectures on epidemiology and preventive medicine, represented a useful tool for at least one million students around the globe. It also represented a well-established starting point which triggered the emergence of the new Science Supercourse, an online repository of lectures freely available online for academics in four major fields of science; Public Health, Computer Engineering, Agriculture and Environment. The aim of the new Science Supercourse is the avail online accessible educational resources to empower academic students and educators worldwide. Through the system, users may have access to more than 169,000 searchable PowerPoint lectures where they may search the overall repository of search keywords within lectures. Website: http://ssc.bibalex.org/home/list.jsf  

Intel Bibliotheca Alexandrina Science and Engineering Fair (Intel BASEF) The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) is the first science competition in the world exclusively for 14–18 year old students. Intel ISEF annually provides a forum for more than 1,500 high school students from over 40 countries to showcase their independent research. Intel ISEF, the world’s largest international pre-college science competition, brings together outstanding young scientists and inventors from all over the world to share ideas, showcase cutting-edge science projects, and compete over millions of dollars in scholarships, tuition grants, scientific equipment, and scientific trips. The Intel Bibliotheca Alexandrina Science and Engineering Fair (Intel BASEF) is a local competition that prepares students for participating, competing, and winning the Intel ISEF that takes place every year in the United States of America. Website: http://www.bibalex.org/psc/intelbasef/staticpage/staticpage_en.aspx?page=2  

Embassies of Knowledge In keeping with the BA objectives to disseminate science and knowledge all over the country, an agreement has been struck to establish Embassies of Knowledge in all Egyptian universities, the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology’s regional branches, several exploratory centers affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and a number of public libraries and institutions interested in the dissemination of science and culture in Egyptian society. The Embassies of Knowledge represent a replication of the full digital functionalities and privileges offered to BA visitors, such as unrestricted access to the BA Digital resources. They will also facilitate access to numerous BA-affiliated websites, such as La Main à la Pâte, Arab InfoMall, and the Development Gateway. The Embassies of Knowledge also offer their beneficiaries a good quality webcasting service, which provides live and archived access to all the conferences, lectures, and events taking place at the BA Conference Center in smooth streaming, clear display, and at a high speed. Furthermore, the BA grants embassy users full access to the BA Multimedia Library and the supercomputer network.

Youth Programs BA organizes different activities and programs to raise awareness about the library’s collection, mission, and vision. Improve the skills of Egyptian youth, in most of its activities since 2005 till now. Simulation models to engage young people in a structured dialogue with policy makers. Cultivate young leaders through improving their skills Help them take the initiative to positively change their communities.

Youth for Change The Bibliotheca Alexandrina and TakingITGlobal believe that young people need further inspiration, information, and involvement — key ingredients for effective participation in their communities and in the world. Youth are not apathetic by nature, however they can be considered as simply uninspired. They lack information about issues, and a personal connection or imperative for action. And once inspired, youth lack a pathway to action — they lack a comprehensive, easy to navigate way to get information on opportunities for involvement, events to participate in, funds to access, networks to join, and other youth to involve in their work. In addition, youth are rarely meaningfully involved in policy development and therefore lack the framework, support and legitimacy for sustained action. The BA is relaunching the Youth for Change Program in its fourth phase, under the title “ICT: Supporting Leaders of the Future”, after the program’s success in its first three phases. This phase is executed in cooperation with the TakingITGlobal organization and through local coordinators and some local organizations in the Middle East and North Africa. This phase includes 10 Arab countries, namely Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. Website: http://www.bibalex.org/YFC/en/default.aspx

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