Digital Library

Keeping pace with technological advancements, IRCICA tries to carry librarianship to digital platforms. Thus it formed the IRCICA Farabi Digital Library as of 2008. In 2020 it combined the Farabi Digital Library with the Farabi Integrated Library Software and put it at the service of users through a single interface.

In the Farabi Digital Library, materials in handwritten, printed, visual and audio forms are subjected to OCR procedures through scanners compatible with set standards and then transferred to the electronic medium in readable, treatable and usable format.

Collections have been formed in the Farabi Digital Library on a wide range of subjects in order to allow users to reach the largest possible number of sources. Thus it comprises collections of copies of the Holy Quran, calligraphic works, maps, yearbooks, periodicals, early printed books and historical photographs. The collections that are selected for digitization are mostly related to Islamic culture and civilization. Among them are chronicles that list historical events by title and date, original sources on the history of the Muslim world, palace records such as calendars and war reports, complete sets of newspapers and journals, and some publications of IRCICA.

Farabi Digital Library also includes 70.000 photographs, among them the world-renown Yıldız Photograph Albums, accompanied by their meta-data. Thus researchers gained access to these photographs which are immensely valuable as sources of information on peoples in different countries, their social lives, architectural and artistic activities.

By means of the OCR system, Farabi Digital Library offers the word search facility across texts in any language. It allows readers to compose their own digital collections and to add and delete notes or lines on their documents.