analysis-palestinian-newspapers.ppt

1. CHAIR: DR. MERAV MACK,
THE VAN LEER JERUSALEM INSTITUET
DR. STUART HAMILTON,
THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS
MR. QASEM ABU HARB,
THE ARAB STUDIES SOCIETY
MRS. SAMIRA MAHAMID,
THE PEACE LIBRARY, GIVAT HAVIVAH
MR. DAVID AMITAI,
THE PEACE LIBRARY, GIVAT HAVIVAH
HISTORICAL PAELSTINIAN
NEWSPAPERS
EVA/MINERVA 2009
Jerusalem, 11 NOVEMBER 2009

2. “IFLA, the digitisation of Palestinian newspapers
and the possible use of cultural preservation
as a bridge between communities”
IFLA Senior Policy Advisor, Stuart Hamilton

3. International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA)
International NGO based in The Hague, Netherlands
Active since 1927
Member based: IFLA is the leading international body representing
the interests of library and information services and their users.
Purpose: -Promote high standards of provision and delivery of
library and information services
-Encourage widespread understanding of the value of
good library & information services
-Represent the interests of our members throughout
the world

4. Committee on Free Access to Information and
Freedom of Expression (FAIFE)
FAIFE’s mandate is to:
• Publish reports, participate in conferences and organize
workshops
• Monitor the state of intellectual freedom within the library
community world-wide and publish newsletters and online
news.
• Respond to violations of free access to information and
freedom of expression and make press releases.
• Support IFLA policy development and co-operation with
other international human rights organizations.

5. http://www.ifla.org/files/faife/publications/FAIFE-Mission-report-Aug2007.pdf

6. Preserving the Israeli Arabs’ Heritage
The Digitization of the Palestinian Press Archive
At the Peace Library, Givat Haviva
Givat Haviva November 2009
http://www.givathaviva.org.il/english/library

7. Old Wing (1954)
New Wing (2001)
• Founded 60 years ago, Givat Haviva serves as the national education center of
HaShomer HaTzair movement, promoting education for peace, democracy,
coexistence and social solidarity through different centers and activities.
• The Peace Library (70,000+ titles, 400 journals) is considered to be the vastest
repository of materials about the Israeli Arabs. It houses and maintains a
number of unique collections in this regard including a one-of-a-kind Archive
of Palestinian Press with publications dating back to the 1930’s.

8. •The inauguration of the library’s
New Wing facilitated a more
suitable storage space at the
Old Wing for the heavily used
collection of some 200,000 pages
of newsprint (through 2009, and
growing).
•Views of current location and shelves
with the Peace Library’s director, Mrs.
Samira Mahamid in the background.
•Once digitized, originals are scheduled
to be moved for permanent storage at
the climate-controlled and fire-
protected repositories of the
HaShomer HaTzair’s Central Archive
at Givat Haviva (Yad Yaari)

9. What we face: “Al-Difah” 1935

10. What we face : “Al-Difah” 1935 (2)

11. What we face : “Al-Ittihad” 1945

12. What we face : “Palestine” 1958

13. Project title: Digitization of Givat Haviva’s Historic Collection of Palestinian Newspapers: A
Collaborative Project
Project proposal authors and professional consultants: Dr. Merav Mack and Peter Jacobsen
from Cambridge Research Technology
Project co-directors: Samira Mahammid and David Amitai, the Peace Library GH
Project process: photographing of materials onto microfilm (35 mm reels) and from microfilm
digital scanning (300 DPI) to Tiff and PDF formats.
The data would be stored on a server with another backup and made available online using
Greenstone, UNESCO’s free software for digital libraries.
Project estimated cost: $183,000 for both stages of digitization process and
feasibility study ($100,000 for the digitization stage).
Project Collaborators
• Givat Haviva’s Peace Library, Israel, owner of the collection.
• UNESCO, Israel
• Mr. George S. Blumenthal, New York
• Cambridge Research Technology (CRT), UK and Israel
• IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations
Project in Brief

14. Where did we plan to be (2005): “Al-Difah” 1934

15. Where we are now (2008): Stage 1 “Falastin” website

16. Where we are now (2008): Stage 1 “Falastin” website

17. Where we are now (2009): Stage 2 UNESCO’s Greenstone site

18. Where we are now (2009): Stage 2 UNESCO’s Greenstone site

19. Where we are now (2009): Stage 2 UNESCO’s Greenstone site

20. Where we are now (2009): Stage 2 UNESCO’s Greenstone site

21. The next stages: More & Better
• Continue with efforts to develop and improve the
project in terms of usage and searchability.
• Upload more materials, as much as our (limited)
resources allow for.
• Make Grennstone’s interface more user friendly.
In process (UNESCO)
• Develop and test tools which enable users to
add content and information. Done (IFLA)
• Conducting users survey and studies.
• Enhance public access to such materials
through joint projects with other institutions.
• Raise more funds :-)

22. Digitization project dilemmas: Time (1)
Digitize what is possible now ASAP versus
allowing for more planning/preparation time
and the secure of funding toward comprehensive
project, maybe in cooperation with other
institutions that hold similar/complementary
collections.

23. Digitization project dilemmas: Time (2)
Digitize now without OCR versus delay
execution until a mature OCR for Arabic is
available

24. Digitization project dilemmas: Time & Budget (1)
Digitize less issues in higher resolution standards
versus digitize as many issues as possible using
the industry common standards.
8 bit Grayscale
300 DPI
28 MB Files?!!
3,000 pages
1 bit 300 DPI
Black & White
2 MB Files…
30,000 pages

25. Digitization project dilemmas: Time & Budget (2)
invest funds in commercial user-oriented software
for online display and access versus using a
less-friendly freeware and save the money for
extending the scope of the digitization itself.

26. Digitization project dilemmas: Time (3)
Digitization of selected titles from the
collection in full versus digitize only the
earliest issues from all titles

27. Digitization project dilemmas: Time & Budget (3)
Accepting available private donations that
may decrease control over open access
and/or usage of the digitized items versus
limit the operation to slow hard-to-get
public/institutional funding only.

28. Digitization project dilemmas: Time &Ethics
Post all digitized issues online for public access
versus allowing for full clarification of Copyrights
status and acquiring of legal consent beforehand.
------------------------------------------------------
“The Peace Library has made every reasonable
effort to locate, contact and acknowledge copyright
owners and wishes to be informed by any copyright
owners who are not properly identified and
acknowledged on this website so that we may make
any necessary corrections.”

29. In Conclusion:
Inspired by the spirit and legacy of Givat
Haviva, this project deals not only
with the preservation of the Palestinian
heritage, but bears with it as well invaluable
assets for the future study and research of
the evolution of the State of Israel, and
Israeli Arab society in particular.