Libraries

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Middle East Studies Collection

OVERVIEW NEWS PLATFORMS AND SOURCES OPEN ACCESS DATABASES AND DIRECTORIES DIGITAL ARCHIVES, LIBRARIES AND REPOSITORIES CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS OTHER RESOURCES


This collection offers resources covering the Middle East, including the North African region, and its diverse Diaspora Communities. Whether you're a student, faculty member, a scholar or simply curious about the region, you'll find a wealth of resources here.

Resource Types:


  • News platforms and sources: Stay updated on current events and perspectives from the Middle East, including North Africa, and its diaspora communities.
  • Open access databases and directories: Access a wide range of scholarly articles, research papers, and other digital resources.
  • Digital archives, libraries, and repositories: Explore historical documents, photographs, and other primary sources.
  • Civil society organizations: If you want to learn more about what local people think about their challenges and how they address them, learn about the work of NGOs and grassroots initiatives in the region.
  • Other resources: Discover a variety of other valuable materials, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and almanacs.

Key Benefits for Your Research and Studies


  • Global Perspectives: Whether you're looking to understand the history, culture, politics, or social dynamics of Middle Eastern and North African communities, this collection gives you access to a broad range of viewpoints. Gain insight into both local realities and global connections that shape these regions.
  • Diverse Languages: You'll have the opportunity to explore resources not only in English but also in regional languages like Arabic, Pashto, and Persian. By accessing original materials, you can deepen your understanding and connect with voices from within the region.
  • Coverage: With resources spanning West Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, and Diaspora communities, you'll find information that covers the region's rich diversity. This comprehensive approach gives you the tools to explore the many facets of the Middle East and its global impact.

If you have resources that could add value to this collection, please send them to areastudies@wiu.edu. We'll review them to ensure they fit our collection development policies. Thank you for your contribution!

This section provides information on News platforms and sources with related links.

  • Al Jazeera

    • Qatar-based news organization covering global events


  • RT TV

    • Russian international television network


  • TRT World

    • Turkish international news platform


  • BBC World Service

    • Offers news from around the world with a focus on impartiality and diversity


  • Human Rights Watch

    • International non-governmental organization
    focusing on human rights


  • The Guardian

    • British news organization with a global reach,
    offering diverse perspectives on international affairs


  • Press TV

    • Iranian news outlet with a focus on international affairs


  • Middle East Eye

    • Independent news organization covering the Middle East


This section provides information on open access journals and links to their websites or recent publications.

  • African Journals Online (AJOL)

    • AJOL is the world's largest online library of peer-reviewed, African-published scholarly journals. It provides access to a variety of journals from different African countries, including North Africa.


  • Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review

    • Offers open access to a wide range of business and management research articles.


  • BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)

    • A comprehensive search engine for academic web resources, including open access documents.


  • Central Asian Journal of Global Health (CAJGH)

    • CAJGH publishes original research, reviews, and other articles related to public health in Central Asia. The journal is open access and provides a platform for researchers in the region.


  • Central Asia Journal of Water Research (CAJWR)

    • CAJWR is a bi-lingual, open-access, peer-reviewed e-Journal dedicated to water and environmental related aspects in Central Asia and the wider Eurasian region.


  • Central Eurasian Studies Society

    • It is the only established peer reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal in the world concerned with the history, politics, cultures, religions, and economies of the Central Asian and Caucasian regions.


  • Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)

    • DOAB is a community-driven discovery service that indexes and provides access to scholarly, peer-reviewed open access books and helps users to find trusted open access book publishers. All DOAB services are free of charge and all data is freely available.


  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

    • DOAJ is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high-quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.


  • EBSCO Arab World Research Source

    • A database providing access to open access scholarly journal articles, reports, and other content from the Middle East and North Africa.


  • Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS)

    • EThOS offers access to doctoral theses from UK higher education institutions, with some content relevant to Central Asian studies.


  • Hilaris

    • Hilaris SRL is an academic and scholarly publisher of the science, medicine, engineering and technology. We publish a wide range of open access journals that sets the standards for the quality publications. Cutting across the major scientific disciplines and their subsets, Hilaris focuses on both pure and applied research.


  • Journals of Middle East Studies Association (MESA)

    • MESA provides access to a range of academic journals focusing on Middle East studies, featuring research articles from and about the region.


  • Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD)

    • OATD indexes open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world.


This section provides information on open access journals and links to their websites or recent publications.

Archives
Digital Libraries
Repositories
  • Internet Archive

    • The Internet Archive offers a vast collection of digitized books, manuscripts, photos, and other materials from and about the MENA region.


  • Middle East Photograph Archive

    • Hosted by the University of Chicago Library, MEPA offers a digital collection of photographs from the Middle East.


  • Al Manhal Digital Library

    • Al Manhal provides access to e-books, peer-reviewed journals, theses, and other academic publications from the Arab world.


  • Bibliothèques d’Orient (Libraries of the Middle East)

    • Launched by the National Library of France (BnF) in collaboration with regional partners, this digital library focuses on the historical and cultural exchanges between France and the Middle East. It features over 10,000 digitized documents including manuscripts, photographs, maps, and more​.


  • Bibliotheca Alexandrina

    • Homage to the ancient Library of Alexandria in Egypt, this modern library is a major cultural center housing extensive digital and print collections. It also features museums, art galleries, and a manuscript restoration lab


  • Digital Library of the Middle East

    • This platform is an extensive archive aiming to preserve and share the cultural heritage of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It includes digital records of artifacts, documents, maps, and more, originating from various museums, libraries, and archives worldwide.


  • Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

    • The digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica, contains numerous documents related to North African countries, including historical books, manuscripts, and maps.


  • King Fahd National Library (KFNL)

    • KFNL houses a rich collection of Saudi Arabia's national heritage including rare books, manuscripts, and photographs. Their digital collections are accessible online and provide valuable resources for historical and cultural research.


  • National Library and Archives of the Islamic Republic of Iran

    • The NLAI Digital Library offers access to a vast collection of manuscripts, photos, maps, and printed materials from Iran and the world.


  • Open Edition Journals

    • OpenEdition Journals is an open access digital library that provides access to a wide range of academic journals, books, and research blogs in the humanities and social sciences. The platform includes content from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, focusing particularly on francophone regions. Some content is freely accessible, while other content requires a subscription or institutional access.


  • Qatar National Library (QNL)

    • Located in Doha, QNL offers a blend of classical and modern collections with over a million books and a significant digital archive. The Heritage Library within QNL includes rare manuscripts and documents relevant to the history of the Arab-Islamic civilization


  • World Digital Library (WDL)

    • WDL makes available significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world, including manuscripts, maps, and photographs from the MENA region.


  • Access to Mideast and Islamic Resources (AMIR)

    • AMIR (Access to Mideast and Islamic Resources) is a blog-formatted repository of Open Access material including books, journals and papers with a focus Middle Eastern studies.


  • AfricArXiv

    • AfricArXiv is a free community-led digital archive for African research. It provides a platform for African scientists to upload their working papers, preprints, accepted manuscripts (post-prints), and published papers


  • Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN)

    • A regional network promoting open science and providing access to research and educational resources in the Middle East and North Africa.


  • Digital Assets Repository (DAR) - Bibliotheca Alexandrina

    • The DAR at Bibliotheca Alexandrina provides access to digitized books, manuscripts, maps, and other cultural and scientific heritage materials.


  • HAL (Hyper Articles en Ligne)

    • HAL is an open archive where authors can deposit scholarly documents from all academic fields. It includes a significant amount of research from North African countries, particularly from French-speaking regions.


  • King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Repository

    • The KAUST Repository provides open access to research outputs from KAUST, including theses, dissertations, and journal articles.


  • MENAdoc - Digital Collections of Middle East and North African Documents

    • Hosted by the University of Halle, MENAdoc offers access to a variety of digitized materials, including books, articles, and other scholarly works related to the MENA region.


  • Mohammed Bin Rashid Library

    • The Mohammed Bin Rashid Library in Dubai, designed to resemble a traditional wooden book rest, houses millions of books and rare manuscripts. It aims to foster knowledge, support research, creativity, and entrepreneurship, and preserve Arabic culture through extensive collections and innovative services.


  • Qatar National Library Digital Repository

    • Provides access to a wealth of research and academic materials from Qatar and the wider Arab world.


  • QU Institutional Repository

    • The QU institutional repository is an online digital collection of scholarly output and academic activities. It includes, but is not limited to: faculty publications, research materials, learning materials images, audio/video outputs, book chapters, reports and associated data, theses and dissertations, conference proceedings


  • South African National ETD Portal

    • The National ETD Portal provides access to theses and dissertations submitted at South African universities, which often include research relevant to North Africa.


  • The American University in Cairo Libraries and Learning Technologies

    • AUC Libraries and Learning Technologies (LLT) stands at the core of the University’s academic mission. LLT can claim a century-long legacy of contributions to the University: within two years of its 1919 founding, AUC began developing a library.


  • The House of Wisdom in Sharjah

    • The House of Wisdom in Sharjah is a cutting-edge cultural hub offering open access to extensive libraries, digital resources, reading lounges, exhibition spaces, and advanced tech like 3D printing. It aims to foster learning, creativity, and cultural exchange in a modern, innovative setting.


  • The International African Institute

    • The IAI publishes the long established and prestigious journal, Africa, the Journal of African Cultural Studies the annual Africa Bibliography, Research and Documentation, the International African Library series, the African Arguments series, and the Urban Africa Book Series.


  • Zayed University Digital Repository

    • An institutional repository for Zayed University, offering access to theses, dissertations, and research papers.


This section provides information on civil society organizations and links to their websites or resources.

  • Middle East and North Africa Civil Society Network for Displacement

    • The Middle East and North Africa Civil Society Network for Displacement (MENA CSND) joins civil society actors including NGOs, academic institutions, faith-based organizations, artists, cultural influencers and the private sector in their shared commitment to contribute to the protection, resilience and development of displaced persons and host communities.


  • Middle East and North Africa

    • The Open Society Foundations’ work in the Middle East and North Africa seeks to promote democratic governance and to protect human rights amid entrenched regional conflicts and political restrictions.


  • Environmental Civil Society in the Middle East Working Group

    • The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges.


This section provides information on Middle East resources.

  • Open Edition Search

    • OpenEdition Journals is a platform for electronic resources in the humanities and social sciences. It covers a wide range of regions and countries globally, focusing particularly on francophone countries. It includes academic publications from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, providing access to journals, books, and research blogs.


  • Open Educational Resources (OER)

    • Open educational resources are teaching, learning, and research materials intentionally created and licensed to be free for the end user to own, share, and in most cases, modify.


  • Persée

    • Persee primarily covers scholarly content from France and francophone regions, but it also includes international research. It focuses on the humanities and social sciences, offering resources in disciplines such as history, archaeology, sociology, and literature. The platform is a valuable resource for accessing academic literature from a wide geographical range, with a strong emphasis on French-speaking countries.