Open Access Qatar Digital Library
WHAT IS THE QATAR DIGITAL LIBRARY?
The Qatar Digital Library (QDL) is making a vast archive featuring the cultural and historical heritage of the Gulf and wider region freely available online for the first time. It includes archives, maps, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs and much more, complete with contextualized explanatory notes and links, in both English and Arabic.
WHAT CAN I FIND IN THE QDL?
Content currently available on the QDL was developed during the first phase of the partnership, reaching a total of 500,000 images by the end of 2014. More content is being added all the time, but current highlights the QDL is proud to showcase include:
- India Office Records that span the period 1763–1951, comprising files from the Bushire Political Residency Records and the Bahrain Agency Records
- J. G. Lorimer’s Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf , Oman and Central Arabia (1908, 1915), a classic introduction to the history of the Gulf
- 500 maps, charts and plans of the Persian Gulf and the wider region
- The Private papers of Sir Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf between 1862 and 1872
- Arabic Scientific Manuscripts from the British Library’s Manuscripts Collections, covering topics such as medicine, mathematics, astronomy and engineering
- A selection of photographs, postcards and other printed objects as well as sketches, drawings and watercolors; etchings, engravings and illustrations
- A selection of audio collection materials including 200 shellac discs recorded in Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq between 1920 and 1940