Organization of Information

Elizabeth Bolton

Public Libraries of the Abbasid Caliphate

750-1258 CE

in the

Map, Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Abbasid Empire, 1258 CE

Frontispiece to a translation of:

Zad al-Musafir

(medical book by Ahmad ibn al-Jazzar)

Courtyard and fountain

Bayt al-Hikma, Abbasid era portionBaghdad, Iraq

Acquisition of ClassificationTranslation of Greek and Persian literature

Iraq, 1224, Arabic translation of

Materia Medica of Dioscorides ("The Pharmacy")

Hallway

Bayt al-Hikma, Abbasid era portion

Baghdad, Iraq

Hallway

Bayt al-Hikma, Abbasid era portion

Baghdad, Iraq

Sardar, Ziauddin. Islam Outline of a Classification Scheme.

Qaisar, Mahmood Hasan. Islamic Sciences: Expansion of the Dewey Decimal Classification.

MODERN RECOMMENDATIONS:

“How often does a Muslim scholar find himself lost in the turns and twists of Western classifications of his culture? A classification scheme that reflects his world-view is long overdue.” -Ziauddin Sardar, Islam: outline of a classification scheme

Bayt al-Hikma,Abbasid era portion

Baghdad, Iraq, 2003

Acknowledgements, Photographs

Yalman, Suzan. Based on original work by Linda Komaroff. "The Art of the Abbasid Period (750–1258 AD)." In Timeline of Art History. New York: Photograph Studio, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2001. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abba/hd_abba.htm. Slides 2, 6.

Nabil al-Tikriti, Iraq Manuscript Collections, Archives, & Libraries: Situation Report. Chicago: Oriental Institute, University of Chicago; MELA Committee on Iraqi Libraries, June 8, 2003. http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/mela/LibraryPix/LibraryPix.htm. Slides 5, 8, 9, 12.

State University Library, Leiden, Werner Forman, Art Resource. In Lunde, Paul. Saudi ARAMCO World. “The Leek Green Sea.” http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200504/the.leek-green.sea.htm. Slide 10.

Norman MacDonald. The Longest Hajj: The Journeys of Ibn Battuta. Aramco Services Company, Public Affairs Digital Image Archive. http://www.photoarchive.saudiaramcoworld.com/default.asp. Slide 4.

Aramco World Magazine. January-February 1989, photo Jeffrey Crespi. Slide 7.

Nabil al-Tikriti, Iraq Manuscript Collections, Archives, & Libraries: Situation Report. Chicago: Oriental Institute, University of Chicago; MELA Committee on Iraqi Libraries, June 8, 2003. http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/mela/LibraryPix/LibraryPix.htm. Slides 5, 8, 9, 12.