Znt. Libr. Rev. (1989) 21, 193-200

Library and Information Services at the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies at Riyadh SUHAIL MANZOOR*

FOUNDER ARAB ISLAMIC SOLIDARITY AMONG LEADERS

King Faisal Ibn Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia emerged as a celebrated international figure not only in the countries of his own language and tradition but in the world at large. His contribution brought a turning point in the history of Saudi Arabia as well as the Islamic world. He combined piety, political acumen, indomitable courage and strong conviction. The message of his mission stretched over far beyond his own Kingdom and influenced the lives of Muslims almost everywhere. He was instrumental in making the Muslim world aware of the poten- tials of their natural resources against the technological superiority of the big powers.

He has been the living symbol of Muslim solidarity. In fact, he initiated and nourished the idea of Islamic solidarity on political level. He made personal efforts to weld Muslim countries together by reconciling their differences. He gave generous aid to the Muslim religious, educational and cultural institutions all over the world.

KING FAISAL FOUNDATION (KFF)

Established in 1976, the KFF is a tribute from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the services of late King Faisal towards Islam. It was an attempt to reactivate the Islamic spirit and unity for which King Faisal strived.

The KFF is destined to fulfil in the Muslim world, the combined role of Carnegie, Rockfeller and Ford Foundations and the Nobel Prizes. The prime objectives of the KFF includes philanthropic projects and educational activities, including the establishment of Islamic insti- tutions, schools and mosques. It also offers assistance for building hos- pitals and public health facilities. It finances the charitable projects all over the world through authorised Islamic organizations and centres for the benefit of Muslims.

* Librarian, Library, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC), Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

0020-7837/89/020193+08 $03.00/O Q 1989 Academic Press Limited

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According to H.R.H. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Director General of KFF and the Governor of Asir region, “Charity is the part of religious teaching and helping the poor is one of the fundamental objectives of a Muslim”. The KFF provides scholarships to the meritorious Muslim students to pursue higher education in any part ofthe world. In addition to this, five King Faisal International Prizes are awarded every year in the area ofIslamic Studies, Services to Islam, Arabic Literature, Science and Medicine. Each prize carries a cash award of Saudi Riyals 350000/-, a gold medal and a certificate.

The most vital component of the KFF is the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies. The following paragraphs will highlight the various activities of the Centre with special reference to the Library and Information services.

KING FAISAL CENTRE FOR RESEARCH AND ISLAMIC STUDIES (KFCRIS)

The KFCRIS was established in 1983 as an independent unit to boost the scientific research in the field of Islamic Studies. It has to fulfil the information needs of the scholars as well as the role of clearing house for information sources throughout the world.

Research studies are performed in the area of Islamic history, culture, civilization, arts and architecture, in addition to the history ofArab and Islamic countries, Muslim minorities and other interrelated disciplines. The KFCRIS maintains well developed libraries and latest facilities for translation, reprography, audiovisual, book-binding and printing. Lecture and exhibition halls are available to support the national and international seminars and exhibitions.

Exhibitions on the “Unity of Islamic Art” and “Arabic Calligraphy” organized by the KFCRIS received wide appreciation from the visitors. Likewise the seminar on “King Faisal and the Islamic Solidarity” provided a chance to understand the role of late King Faisal in the enhancement of Islamic values and the unity of Muslim peoples. The seminar was organized to grace the 10th anniversary celebrations of KFF.

The King Faisal Memorial Gallery established by the KFCRIS depicts the various phases of the King Faisal’s life and his role in the development of the Kingdom and the Islamic world.

The Computer Department supports the automation services of the KFCRIS using a Hewlett-Packard (HP-3000) microcomputer. A user- friendly information handling system-MINISIS (International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada) is used for various library functions. However, the department has also developed various

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software of its own. It consists of other facilities for printing and word- processing. Several databases in the area of Islamic Studies have also been developed by the department.

The KFCRIS has co-operation programmes with number of national and international agencies: The Islamic University, Medina; Ummul Qura University, Mecca; Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic Uni- versity, Riyadh; King Saud University, Riyadh; World Association of Muslim Youth (WAMY); Muslim World League (MWL) and IFTA are at the top of the list. It has close links with the Library of Congress and the British Library. The UNESCO consultancy has also been sought for various projects. The KFCRIS participates in the various conferences and exhibitions organised by the professional institutions all over the world. Gift and exchange programmes exist with number of academic and research organizations. In a relatively short period it has issued several publications central to its mission. It encourages and invites the staff and the scholars to contribute the publications. A weekly newsletter is also issued which highlights the activities of the KFCRIS. Studies are in progress to publish scientific periodical in the area of Islamic Studies.

LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES AT KFCRIS

The key to the efficient and constructive development of the research climate in a society lies in the availability of information when it is needed. Most of the Islamic literature is marked by deliberate or biased attempts to mutilate or suppress the original contribution of Islam. The Islamic manuscripts generated in the remote antiquity of the medieval ages are often unavailable in the heap of scattered historical records. Retrieval of desired citation is often difficult. The research programmes of the KFCRIS are supported through well organized library and information services which is the initial attempt to solve the above problem.

The libraries are developing strong collections in the areas central to the mission and activities of the KFCRIS. They are utilizing new technology by automating several of their functions and by making use of microforms and other cost-effective storage and retrieval media.

In view of the type of the documents and nature of the material following libraries have been developed.

Main Library Acquisition Department. The acquisition policy in terms of subject cover- age is clear and well defined. The material is procured through national and international agencies. However, direct contacts are also made

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with the publishers. Sometimes selection is also made by the committee of subject specialists appointed by the KFCRIS. Direct purchase is also made from the national and international Book Fairs. A small percentage is also received through gift and exchange. The collection represents 30-35% material in languages other than Arabic. The record has been maintained on the computer.

Periodicals Department. Over 700 titles in Arabic and Latin are received in the department, of which 1O-15o/o are received as gifts. Subscription is usually made through vendors. Back volumes of more important titles have been acquired in hard and microforms. The record is automated and the computer-produced holding list of periodicals is available. A contents service is provided to the readers. Indexing of periodical articles is planned in the near future.

Indexing Department. The department is responsible for making the docu- ments and information available to the users in the appropriate form. The books received from the acquisition department are processed through successive stages of cataloguing, indexing and verifying up to the level of entry into the computer, and this forms the library database for Arabic and Latin books, the most vital and major database of the library system.

The UNESCO Thesaurus has been used as the base for Latin docu- ments. However, free indexing language has been used for Arabic documents since no comprehensive thesaurus is available on Islamic Studies. The descriptors in Arabic and English languages are selected from the existing thesauri, subject heading lists, classification schemes and subject literature. The descriptors are scrutinized to match them with the thesaurus criteria. Authority file for descriptors, later to func- tion as thesaurus, has been maintained for vocabulary control. Approved terms are periodically added. It is hoped that the department will develop its own thesaurus in Arabic which later on will be available in English also.

The department also evaluates the various databases developed/ acquired by other departments for their comprehensiveness, accuracy and consistency. The indexed books are transferred to the camp-u-rack department for registration and storage purpose.

Camp-U-Rack Department. A computer (NEC-PC) controlled mobile and compact shelving system (Comp-U-Rack, of Elecompack, Japan) has been installed. It has a storage capacity for one million books. The system could also be operated offline, or mechanically if there is failure

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of electricity or the computer. The following functions have been pro- vided in the system

(i) Registration of books and users. (ii) Retrieval, return and enquiry of books.

(iii) Amendment of books and users record. (iv) Control of time and quantity of books for retrieval. (v) Printing of labels.

The Registration is made by assigning the Book Identification Code (BIC) generated by the system which functions as the Call Number for the documents entered in the Library Database. Each BIC is supple- mented by an eight-digit Location Code (LC) which is fed to the computer. The LC is assigned in view of the size of the book. The LC could be encoded as follows:

Book Stack-9-9-99-9-9-99-Book Number E;dulei 1 1 -i&t

The BIC and LC are printed out on the labels through the print command which are later fixed on the book Spine. The books are arranged on the shelf according to LC irrespective of their subject and language.

The Registration of users is made by entering the user iD number and the name. The user’s ID is electronically coded on the membership card. The retrieval of the book is made by entering the BIC into the NEC computer along with the ID number, request and delivery stations. The ID can be read by the electronic card reader. A study is in progress to develop the interface between NEC and the HP system to allow direct retrieval through HP terminal. The retrieval message is communicated online to the book stack where the rack monitor, the racks and the printer are actuated. The rack monitor indicates the number of books requested from each module along with their BIC and LC. A request sheet is simultaneously printed in duplicate indicating the user’s name, ID number, request and delivery stations, date and the time of request.

The book location is identified by flashing lights on the end panel and the location indicator in the aisle. Once a book is removed, a button on the upright in the aisle is pressed to move the system to the new request within the same aisle. If there is no further request, the location indicator displays zero. The reset buttons at the end panel are actuated and the next aisle opens automatically. The procedure is repeated until all the requests are over and zero appears on the rack monitor.

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The retrieval could be controlled in terms of time and the quantity of books. If the time is fixed for 10 minutes or 20 books, the system will be actuated accordingly. After every 10 minutes, provided retrieval is made, the system will be actuated even if the request figure is less than 20. Similarly if 20 books are requested in less than 10 minutes the system will be actuated. This facility helps in delivering the multiple requests under one lot. It also helps the person in the book stack to organize the requests with least manual pressure. The book is sent to the delivery station along with the copy of the request sheet. The other sheet is kept in the book stack for record purpose. A request for an already issued book is indicated by the system along with the borrower’s details and the date of issue.

The retrieval could also be made offline, if the autosystem is down. The BIC is matched with the LC which is taken from the statistical sheets maintained at the CPU of the camp-u-rack. The aisle is opened by pressing the reset button on the end panel. The aisle could also be opened mechanically using the hand lever. The book is identified by reading out the LC.

The book is returned to the counter in the reading room along with the request sheet. The BIC of the book is entered into the NEC terminal or read by the optical code reader (OCR). The system cancels the book which is later sent to the book stack manually. The return key of the rack monitor is pressed and the aisle opening is automated in the fashion similar to the retrieval. Books are returned to the correct location manually.

The statistics of the books registered and the circulation records are maintained on the sheets on daily, weekly and monthly bases. The emergency safety bars are placed in between the aisle to allow emerg- ency stop of the aisle.

Reference Department. The department provides both a study area and, through the staff, the point of access to the wider range of library and information services. The collection provides an open access to the most heavily used bibliographies, catalogues, dictionaries, directories, encyclopaedias and the comprehensive studies of a classical nature. The material has been processed according to the DC/AACR-2 system. The computer terminals have been provided for the readers’ use, through which they can access the various databases available in the library.

Manuscript Library The library holds originals and photocopies of over 7000 manuscripts, mostly in Arabic. The manuscripts are properly catalogued and indexed. The data are fed into the computer. The Library maintains

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the holding lists of various libraries within and outside the Kingdom. It has a number of microfilming projects with the various libraries.

A conservation laboratory, probably the best in the Middle East, has been set up for the processing and preservation of the manuscripts. Each manuscript undergoes several operations in view of its physical condition, the age, type of the paper and the ink. They are stored under controlled conditions of temperature, light and humidity.

Audiovisual Library The library collects the material in accordance with the KFCRIS objectives. The material includes films, slides, audio and video cassettes. Documentary material related to the scientific and cultural activities such as lectures, seminars and conferences, is also maintained in this library. Facilities are available to make use of this material for the researchers. The material is indexed and the data are fed into the computer.

Children’s Library The library aims to develop library consciousness among the children and to help them to understand the Islamic heritage through the large collection of children’s books and audiovisual material.

The library is the mini version of a traditional library using a sim- plified DC/AACR system. Care has been taken to identify the indi- vidual interest of the child and to nourish it in the best possible way. The library provides the facilities for creative recreation such as writing, story-telling, modelling and painting to satisfy the multidimensional interest of the children. It is hoped that the library will help the children in understanding the potential and the utility of the library at various levels of education.

Databases The online databases at the KFCRIS offer a unique information system on Islamic literature collected and collated on a world-wide basis. The computer-readable collection is novel in style, scope and character. The databases are structured on a par with other international biblio- graphic databsases. The following databases are in various stages of development.

(1) King Faisal Database. (2) Women Database. (3) Islamic Education Database. (4) Muslim Countries on Minorities Database.

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(5) Manuscript Database. (6) Audiovisual Database. (7) Library Databases (Arabic and Latin). (8) Muslim World Bibliographic Database.

An inventory is maintained for commercially available databases for their purchase, or lease of the machine readable version. The KFCRIS has the access to the databases available at the King Abdulaziz City for Science on Technology (formerly Saudi Arabian National Centre for Science and Technology). Riyadh through a dedicated line. Possibilities exist to access the international databases through communication links.

Online Search Service The library provides instant access to the various databases available. The service has been initiated to locate and deliver the needed infor- mation to the researcher. Each request is analysed and the search strategy is developed. All the potentially relevant databases are searched. The search results are edited for duplication and precision before being delivered to the requester. The library provides photocopy services for the requested documents. The requests come from a wide variety of institutions within and outside the Kingdom.

CONCLUSION

The KFCRIS with all its facilities and ideals represents a clear evidence of the high status occupied by the Kingdom and its leaders in the world and the great role it plays in leading the Islam and the Islamic institution.

The Library and information services represent a landmark in the history of libraries of Saudi Arabia. The services are likely to fill up a vacuum felt for a very long time. It may form a positive aid to researchers and information specialists in projecting the correct per- spective of Islamic culture and civilization. It will be able to provide a first rate service not only within the Kingdom but to other Islamic countries and institutions all over the world. The success of these services will be a tribute to the memory of the late King Faisal.