Library Contact
Middle East or Southwest Asia?
Regional designations represent a conceptual framing linking particular territories in some way, often rooted in social, political or imperialist interests. There has historically been a lack of consensus on what countries and territories constitute the regional designation "Middle East," as used by governments, non-governmental agencies, and scholars. Areas of Africa are often included (subsumed without naming) and sometimes even Central Asian areas. Some agencies (such as the UN) have used terms like "West Asia" or "South-West Asia" for these areas and some liberation movements (such as SWANA Alliance) choose alternative expressions like Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) as decolonial terms. For more on the history and significance of these regional designations see "Where is the Middle East?" from the UNC Center for Middle East & Islamic Studies.
Transliteration / Romanization
Transliteration (called Romanization when converting to Latin characters) is essential for searching in catalogues, databases, indexes, full text collections, etc. Systems vary considerably by publication / electronic resource / scholarly community / language of influence. Most North American library catalogues (including our local catalogue) use the Library of Congress (ALA / LC) Romanization system. For comparison of various transliteration systems, see the samples linked below along with Thomas T. Pedersen’s comparison tables.
Sampling of Transliteration / Romanization Systems
- Encyclopædia Iranica Transliteration of Persian and Arabic (Arabic script)Also discusses preferred transliteration systems for Turkish, Avestan, Old Persian, Middle Persian, Chinese, Russian, and Tajik.
- Hebrew Transliteration (Hebrew script)List of several schemas for Romanization of Hebrew from The Open Siddur Project, including ALA-LC, SBL Handbook of Style, Academy of Hebrew Language, etc.)
Transliteration Comparison Tables (Thomas T. Pedersen)
Anti-Racism Resources
- Cultural Constructions of Race and Racism in the Middle East and North Africa / Southwest Asia and North Africa (MENA/SWANA)A Forum of Lateral: Journal of the Cultural Studies Association, edited by Rayya El Zein (2021) "This forum deepens ongoing work recognizing, naming, and undoing white supremacy, colorism, and anti-Black racism in the Middle East and North Africa / Southwest Asia and North Africa (MENA/SWANA)."
- POMEPS Studies 44 – Racial Formations in Africa and the Middle East: A Transregional Approach (2021)"...centered around the need for a genuinely transregional scholarship, one which rejects artificial divisions between ostensibly autonomous regions while also taking seriously the distinctive historical trajectories and local configurations of power which define national and subregional specificities. The workshop brought together nearly two dozen scholars from across multiple disciplines to explore the historical and contemporary politics of racial formation across Africa and the Middle East"
- MIZNA Webinar Series: Anti-Black Racism In SWANA + Diaspora"Panels in Arabic, English, and Farsi will address the history, present, and future of joint struggles between Black and non-Black South West Asian and North African communities, as well as solidarities and coalitions between SWANA communities and Black American communities in the United States. The series will also interrogate anti-Black racism in the SWANA region and its diasporas, and acknowledges the ways in which the SWANA communities have contributed to, profited from, and perpetuated forms of anti-Black racism and violence, while being subjected to anti-Arab, anti-Iranian, and anti-Muslim violence both locally and globally."
- Essential Resources on Racism and Anti-Blackness in the Middle East and North AfricaPink Jinn, 24 June 2020
- Anti-Blackness in the MENA-Region: time to reflect on racial bias, intersectionality, and paths to collective liberationAnwar Bougroug, My.Kali, 23 July 2020
- Collective for Black Iranians"...chapter-based not-for-profit organization with the mission to amplify Black and Afro-Iranians’ voices within the Iranian diaspora, educate on the connections between Africanness/Blackness and the Iranian identity as well as advocate for the representation of Black and Afro-Iranians in Iranian narratives."
- Contextualizing BLM in Turkey: A Panel Discussion (video)Held 14 October 2020
- Arab-Americans tackling anti-Blackness in the Middle EastEileen Hsieh, Middle East Eye, 5 July 2020
- Arab and Muslim Communities Need To Talk About Anti-BlacknessRowaida Abdelaziz, HuffPost, 6 July 2020
Find materials in our library's collections
To find book-length literature in our collections, start by searching our Library Catalog Search by subject, title, author, etc.
You'll also find other materials held by our library such as maps, films / DVDs, archival collections, manuscripts, and even journal and newspaper titles.
To find article-length literature, start with Library Articles Search or one of our more subject-specific literature databases / indexes.
Follow the MGetIt links to get copies of particular articles and chapters.
Access materials from other libraries
Search the WorldCat catalog to find materials (books, microfilmed newspapers, archival collections, etc.) held by other libraries.
Place an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request for materials that we don't own. We will request material(s) from other libraries on your behalf!
Important literature databases / indexes
- Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies This link opens in a new window(MECAS) Index of research, policy and scholarly discourse on the countries and peoples of the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa
- Index Islamicus (Ebsco) This link opens in a new windowIndexes materials on Islam, the Middle East, and the entire Muslim world from periodicals, monographs, and other collections in European languages
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text access to the archives of core scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences
- Historical Abstracts with Full Text (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowCovers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present
- Humanities and Social Sciences Index (with Abstracts and Full Text) This link opens in a new windowCovers 1,500+ periodicals across all humanities and social sciences fields, 1907 - present.
- PASCAL and FRANCIS This link opens in a new windowMultidisciplinary, multilingual bibliographic databases, produced by the INIST-CNRS in France
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides access to the international literature in sociology and related disciplines. Covers 1800+ journals, back to 1952.
- Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science) This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary database with searchable author abstracts covering over 1700 journals in the social sciences.
- Political Science Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowProvides indexing and abstracts for 2900 journals, and full-text articles for 500 top-ranked scholarly journals.
- ATLA with ATLASerials (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowPremier index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion
- Chronology of Arabic, Persian and Ottoman-Turkish PeriodicalsComprehensive chronology of Arabic, Persian and Ottoman-Turkish periodicals, which were published during the period from 1840 to 1950. Compiled by the Department of Islamic studies and Middle Eastern languages at the Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies at the University of Bonn as part of the Translatio Project
Browse or search Library Databases Search to find additional literature indexes, reference works, and electronic text collections useful for your research.
Reference works
Find additional online reference works searching our catalog or Library Databases Search.
- Chronology of Arabic, Persian and Ottoman-Turkish PeriodicalsComprehensive chronology of Arabic, Persian and Ottoman-Turkish periodicals, which were published during the period from 1840 to 1950. Compiled by the Department of Islamic studies and Middle Eastern languages at the Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies at the University of Bonn
- Encyclopaedia of IslamPlatform for cross-searching Encyclopaedia of Islam titles, including: Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936) (EI), Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition (EI2), Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Historical Atlas of Islam
- Encyclopedia of Ancient History This link opens in a new window
- Brill Online Reference Works This link opens in a new window
- Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new window
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
Browse the Near East Reference Collection to find additional reference works in print, including: dictionaries, grammars, bio-bibliographical works, editions of religious texts, volumes from the Handbuch der Orientalistik / Handbook of Oriental studies Section 1 The Near and Middle East, and more.
Online Date Conversion
- Iranian Calendar Converter (Iranian Chamber Society)Jalali / Jalaali / solar Hijri, Gregorian, Hijri
- Conversion of Islamic and Christian dates (Johannes Thomann)Hijri, Gregorian
- Conversion of Maliyya, Islamic and Christian dates (Johannes Thomann)Maliye, Hijri, Gregorian
- Calendar Conversion (Tadayoshi Funaba)Gregorian, Julian, Hijri, Hebrew, Hindu, Coptic, Ethiopian, Jalaali / solar Hijri, etc
- Tarih Çevirme KılavuzuGregorian, Hijri, Rumi
- Kalenderrechner 2 Vergleich (Nikolaus A. Bär)Julian, Gregorian, Islamic, Hebrew, Coptic, Jalaali, etc.
Digital libraries / text collections / corpora
- Access to Mideast and Islamic Resources (AMIR)Compilation of open access bibliographic resources including online journals, archives, digital libraries, etc. Keyword search by topic or use tags to navigate.
- Alphabetical List of Open Access Journals in Middle Eastern Studies (AMIR)List of Open Access Journals in Middle Eastern Studies compiled since December 2010. By no means exhaustive. Suggestions of additional titles welcome.
- الأرشيف للمجلات الأدبية والثقافية | صخرDigital archive of Arabic periodicals organized by place of publication, title, and author. From Sakhr Software.
- Middle East Research Journals Project (MERJ)Includes searchable article-level index and digital full text for select journals held by American overseas research centers
- Arabic and Middle Eastern Electronic Library = AMEELWeb-based portal and a digital collection of information for the study of the Middle East, including its history, culture, development, and contemporary face. Currently [2018.06], AMEEL holds approximately 350,000 pages of full text, indexed and searchable in the language of publication including Arabic and Western scripts. The full text in AMEEL has been extracted using Optical Character Recognition software (OCR) rather than re-keying all works.
- MENALIB Middle East Virtual LibraryCoordinated by the University and State Library Saxony-Anhalt in Halle (Saale)
- MENAdoc Digital Collections (MENALIB)Open Access digital documents with regard to the MENA-region and to Islamic studies
- ilissAfrica | internet library sub-saharan Africa"Portal that offers an integrated access to relevant scientific conventional and digital information resources on the sub-Saharan Africa region"
- Qatar Digital LibraryQatar Digital Library is free to use and reuse.This growing archive covers modern history and culture of the Gulf and wider region, available online for the first time. The QDL provides access to Archival files, Letters, Maps, Manuscripts, Photographs.
- American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Library PortalDigital library content can be accessed onsite or remotely by members. Anyone is welcome to search or browse the catalogue and access open access guides and publications.
- Digital Library of the Middle EastWorldwide effort to federate all types of cultural heritage material, including archives, manuscripts, museum objects, media, and archaeological and intangible heritage collections
- Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library : Sciences, history, and geographyFull-text searchable digital library of early printed books in Arabic script. This module covers Natural history, medicine, physiology, other science, classical sciences, philosophy, logic, politics, ethics, mathematics, arithmetic, geometry, mechanics, astrology, chemistry; history, early caliphs and conquests, modern history, genealogy, biographies; geography and travel, regional geography, and topography
- North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic Database Project"Recordings, transcribed texts and grammatical descriptions of the North Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialects. Most of these are now highly endangered and some of have recently become extinct."
Archival collections
- Cairo Genizah Collection (Cambridge University Library)Manuscripts from across the Taylor-Schechter, CUL Or. and Jacques Mosseri Collections available online, including a substantial number of documents (letters and legal deeds) and liturgical texts
- Aga Khan Library Digital CollectionsDigitized rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and papers (in progress)
- Middle East Centre (MECA) Useful LinksLinks to resources for finding contact information for archival repositories, catalogue networks, resources for finding archives and digitised online resouces and other heritage websites.
- SALT Research Digital archivesCompilation of more than 1 million digital documents for the history of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic. Includes correspondence, records, reports, photographs, maps, drawings, and a vast array of other material. Search across the entire digital archive or browse / search within one of the specialized collections
- DLIR Digital ArchiveSelected materials from Guatemala, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Yemen, and Mongolia, and numerous other countries where American Overseas Research Centers (AORCs) are located made easily and freely available over the Internet
- Amnesty International Archives: A Global Movement for Human Rights"...archival records of the International Secretariat of Amnesty International from the period of 1961-1991. The collection covers a wide range of human rights concerns and issues such as migrants and refugees, mass atrocities, minority rights, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience (POCs), torture and the death penalty."
- Archives Unbound This link opens in a new windowGateway to a variety of subject specific digitized microfilm collections drawn in large part from the records of the US Department of State. For Middle East Studies, collections include:
French Mandate in The Lebanon, Christian-Muslim Relations, and the U.S. Consulate at Beirut, 1919-1935
Middle East Online: Iraq, 1914-1974
British Campaign in Mesopotamia, 1914-1918
Libya: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1796-1885
Egypt: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1853-1962
Turkey: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1802-1949
Iraq: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1888-1944
Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Trans-Jordan: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1836-1944
Middle East Online: Arab-Israeli Relations, 1917-1970
Evangelism and the Syria-Lebanon Mission: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1869-1910
Records of the Persian Gulf War
Afghanistan and the U.S., 1945-1963
Iran (Persia): Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1883-1959 - Confidential Print: Middle East This link opens in a new windowDigital collection of documents issued by the British Foreign and Colonial Offices.
- Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, 1971-1981Digital collection of documents from the British Foreign Office for the history of the Middle East during the 1970s
- Middle East Online: Series 1: Arab Israeli Relations, 1917-1970 This link opens in a new windowIncludes original source material from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers from the 1917 Balfour Declaration through to the Black September war of 1970-1.
- Middle East Online: Series 2: Iraq, 1914-1974 This link opens in a new windowOffers a broad range of original source material from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers covering the period from the Anglo-Indian landing in Basra in 1914 through the British Mandate in Iraq of 1920-32 to the rise of Saddam Hussein in 1974.
- Slavery and Manumission Manuscripts of TimbuktuArabic nineteenth-century manuscripts relating to slavery and manumission in Timbuktu provide documentation on Africans in slavery in Muslim societies. From the Bibliothèque Commémorative Mama Haidara in Timbuktu, Mali
- Targeting Iraq, part 1 : planning, invasion, and occupation, 1997-2004Collection of 2,141 records, many only recently declassified, documenting U.S. policy toward Iraq from 1997 through mid-2004. Part of the Digital National Security Archive (DNSA)
- Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA)Digital archive that focuses on Western interactions with the Middle East, particularly travels to Egypt during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. TIMEA offers electronic texts such as travel guides, museum catalogs, and travel narratives, photographic and hand-drawn images of Egypt, and historical maps of Egypt and Cyprus
- Gertrude Bell Archive (Newcastle University)"Gertrude Bell Papers comprise Gertrude's personal correspondence, diaries and miscellaneous items, such as Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia (1920), notebooks, obituaries, lecture notes and miscellaneous reports, memoranda and cuttings. Circa.1,600 letters and diaries covering the years 1877-1879 and 1893-1900 (with some gaps reflecting where we do not have the hard-copy diary) can be found transcribed on this website, along with c.7,000 of her archaeological and travel photographs. (The photographic portion of the Gertrude Bell archive is administered by the School of History, Classics and Archaeology.) Neither letters to and from army officer Charles Doughty-Wylie (written 1913-1915) nor any of the Miscellaneous materials have been transcribed although a handlist to the Miscellaneous part of the collection is available."
- Maps of Persia : The Dr Cyrus Ala'i Collection (SOAS)"The Collection consists of 255 old maps and 5 facsimile maps which have been fully described alongside many other maps of Persia in two large volumes of the map-history of that county by Dr. Cyrus Ala’i: General Maps of Persia, 1477-1925 (Leiden, Brill, 2004) and Special Maps of Persia 1477-1925 (Leiden, Brill, 2010)."
- The Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine QuestionFrom the Institute for Palestine Studies & The Palestinian Museum, an open acess Arabic–English platform entirely devoted to the history of modern Palestine, from the end of the Ottoman era to the present. Includes Overall Chronology, Thematic Chronologies, Highlights, Biographies, Places, and Documents (consisting of hundreds of primary texts, photographs, maps, and charts)
- The Palestine Chronology (Institute for Palestine Studies)"Since the beginning of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, the Institute for Palestine Studies has chronicled daily political and military events surrounding the Palestine Question. These day-to-day summaries are based on Palestinian, Arab, Israeli and international sources. Prior to August 2018, the chronology was published quarterly in the Journal of Palestine Studies. It is now updated monthly on this platform."
- Digital Palestinian Archive (Birzeit University)"The Birzeit University Palestinian Archive Project (BZUPAP) is dedicated to documenting the life of Palestinians (persons, families and organizations) over the past century. Documents collected include the most diverse types of written and audiovisual materials (texts, photographs, videos, recordings). This growing, largely open archive is being preserved at the university"
- الأرشيف الرقمي للمتحف الفلسطيني | The Palestinian Museum Digital Archive"With archival records nearing about two hundred thousand digitized items dealing with a variety of historical and social axes, the Palestinian Museum Digital Archive illuminates over 200 years of the Palestinian narrative through photographs, artworks, audio recordings and documents..."
- Planet Bethlehem Archive"The Planet Bethlehem Archive brings Bethlehem's history of global connections to life through photos, audio and video recordings, forgotten treasures and exquisite works of art, all made available in digital form here on the site. Every Bethlehem family has a story to tell. We invite you to discover their fascinating world. The archive currently consists of 8 collections and 34 sub-collections. For a quick view of all collections and sub-collections you can use the "Collection Index" or...browse all collections."
- Palestinian Oral History Archive (POHA)"The Palestinian Oral History Archive is a project to digitize, index, catalog, preserve, and provide access (through a searchable digital platform) to an archival collection of around 1,000 hours of testimonies with first generation Palestinians and other Palestinian communities in Lebanon." Hosted by AUB Libraries
- May Seikaly Palestinian oral history collection, circa 1990s - 2000s"This collection consists primarily of recordings of oral histories of Palestinians conducted by May Seikaly. The recordings include audio cassettes and digital files. There are also summaries, transcripts, releases, photographs, and ephemera. The ephemera includes maps, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, articles and other materials. The audio cassettes are arranged chronologically by year, and arranged alphabetically within each year."
- Project 48"Project48 provides educational material, eyewitness testimonies, images, videos and artifacts that bring to life the Palestinian Nakba (“Catastrophe” in Arabic), its generational impact, and the struggle for return of Palestinian refugees....Project48 was created to center Palestinians in the telling of their own history..." Includes curriculum, galleries, testimonies
- Palestine Open Maps"Palestine Open Maps is a platform that seeks to combine emerging technologies for mapping and immersive storytelling to:
-Open-source and make searchable, for the first time, a uniquely detailed set of historic maps from the period of the British Mandate of Palestine;
-Curate layered visual stories that bring to life absent and hidden geographies, in collaboration with data journalists, academic researchers, and civil society groups.
This alpha version of the platform allows users to navigate and search the historic map sheets, and to view basic data about present and erased localities." - Palestine Nexus : Sources (Zachary Foster)Selection of digitized archival documents, publications, maps
- The Middle East 1916-2001 : A Documentary Record (The Avalon Project, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale)Declarations, resolutions, agreements and other diplomatic documents relevant for the modern history of Palestine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the "Mideast Peace Process"
- Taliban Sources Project (TSP)Free access but registration required. Large private collection of Taliban documents compiled between 2006 and 2011 by researchers based in southern Afghanistan. Includes original documents in Pashto, Dari and Arabic as well as English translations. Documents include: full runs of dozens of official newspapers and magazines, works of poetry, maps, night letters, press releases, transcripts of radio broadcasts, memoirs, government publications, the Taliban’s own foreign press monitor and multiple volumes of Taliban laws and edicts.
- Endangered Languages Archive (SOAS University of London)"Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) is a digital repository for preserving multimedia collections of endangered languages from all over the world, making them available for future generations." Browse map or language listing by region, search on keywords, etc. Registration is required to access many of the materials.
- Woman, Life, Freedom Movement of Iran (web archive)"This web archive preserves material on, about, and from the Woman, Life, Freedom movement of Iran, which emerged in the wake of the 2022 police killing of Mahsa Jîna Amini." Submit additional sites for inclusion via the form.
- Sudan Memory / ذاكرة السودان"The Sudan Memory project seeks to conserve and promote valuable cultural materials from and about Sudan through digitisation and via an online platform....The materials scanned by Sudan Memory include films, photos, manuscripts, objects, documents and art works."
- ARSHEEF (Princeton University)"ARSHEEF is a collaborative project that aims at promoting research in North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and South Asia. Based on first-hand experiences of scholars and graduate students, ARSHEEF makes available up-to-date guides to libraries and archives across North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and South Asia. We acknowledge that there might be financial, political, or personal circumstances that restrict travel for some, which is why ARSHEEF also endeavors to provide links to digital libraries and archives in and beyond North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and South Asia. ARSHEEF is run by graduate students, edited by Athina Pfeiffer and Mathias Ghyoot, funded by the Department of Near Eastern Studies, and co-sponsored by the Humanities Council at Princeton University. To learn more about us, read below."
Photographs / Images / Visual material
- HAZINE | Guide to Online Visual Sources in Middle East, North Africa, and Islamic Studies (Amanda Hannoosh Steinberg)"...some of the best sites for finding credited visual resources for Islamic, Middle Eastern and North African Studies." Updates welcome.
- ARTstor This link opens in a new windowProvides over 1.5 million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences.
- Arachne"iDAI.objects arachne (short form: Arachne) is the central object database of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) and the Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne. It is administered by Reinhard Förtsch and part of the iDAI.world." A number of projects are represented, including Syrian Heritage Archive Project, The Archive of Friedrich W. Hinkel, Bequest of Friedrich Rakob, African Archaeology Archive Cologne
- ArchnetOpen access curated collection of images, drawings, publications, seminar proceedings, articles, and other resources on the built environment of Muslim societies
- Akkasah Center for Photography (NYUAD) Database | عكاسةDigital collection drawn from the growing Akkasah archive of more than 60,000 images, including albumen and gelatin silver prints as well as negatives, from across the Middle East and North Africa. Browse by Collection, Location, Date, Photographer, etc
- Arab Image Foundation | المؤسسة العربية للصورةArchive of historical photographs from the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab diaspora
- Aerial Photographic Archive of Archaeology in the Middle East (APAAME)Project "designed both to develop a methodology suited to the region, discover, record, monitor and illuminate settlement history in the Near East. The archive currently consists of over 115,000 (mainly aerial) images and maps, the majority of which are displayed on the archive’s Flickr site. Although principally focused on Jordan, in which there has been an annual programme of flying since 1997 (The Aerial Archaeology in Jordan (AAJ) Project), high resolution satellite imagery on Google Earth is now permitting research on neighbouring countries"
- ACOR Photo Archive (Jordan)Digital archive of the extensive photographic holdings of the ACOR Library (Amman, Jordan). Includes Jane Taylor Collection, Rami Khouri Collection, and George Bass Collection. Click on About for more details
- AUC Rare Books and Special Collections Digital LibraryDigitized historical photographs, magazines / periodicals, and other resources from the Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library at the American University in Cairo
- The Middle East in Early Prints and Photographs (NYPL)Evolving digital collection with classics of illustrated travel and regional archaeology, as well as the New York Public Library's earliest works of photography in the Middle East region
- Palestine Poster Project ArchivesArchive of some 5,000 Palestine posters from myriad sources
- Egyptian Caricature Archive of CEDEJ | أرشيف الكاريكاتير المصريFrom the CEDEJ, archive of cartoons from the Egyptian press across the years 1970-2010
- Abdul Hamid II Collection (Library of Congress)"This monumental collection portrays the Ottoman Empire during the reign of one of its last sultans, Abdul-Hamid II. The 1,819 photographs in 51 large-format albums date from about 1880 to 1893. They highlight the modernization of numerous aspects of the Ottoman Empire, featuring images of educational facilities and students; well-equipped army and navy personnel and facilities; technologically advanced lifesaving and fire fighting brigades; factories; mines; harbors; hospitals; and government buildings. Most of the places depicted are within the boundaries of modern-day Turkey, but buildings and sites in Iraq, Lebanon, Greece and other countries are also included."
- Sources for Historical Photographs of the Middle East (Library of Congress)A selection of institutions and organizations with significant collections, first prepared in 2005.
- Pierre de Gigord collection of photographs of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey, 1850-1958, bulk 1853-1930 (Getty Research Institute)Finding aid and digitized versions available online
- Portraits, Individuals and Groups of People in Algeria and Tunisia (U-M Library Digital Collections)"Portraits, Individuals and Groups of People in Algeria and Tunisia is a collection of 69 photographs featuring portraits of people and landscapes of Algeria and Tunisia. The photographs, believed to have been taken around 1910, provide insight into ethnic costumes, clothing and dress codes of North African indigenous people during the first decade of the 20th century."
- Library Databases Search | Image DatabasesBroad selection of image databases with digital reproductions of photographs, artworks, posters, buildings, and much more
Performing Arts Resources
- International Performing Arts Resources | Middle East & North AfricaAn introduction to researching music, theater, and dance in the Middle East & North Africa and across the globe
Dissertations / Theses
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new windowDescriptions, sometimes with full text, of doctoral dissertations & master theses from US, UK, Canada, Ireland, etc.
- Cairo University E-RepositoryOnline system for Cairo University Journals and Theses
- المستودع الرقمي العراقي للاطاريح والرسائل الجامعيةIraqi Digital Repository For Theses and Dissertations. Browse titles and abstracts. Copies can be requested from holding libraries.
- EThOS e-theses online serviceUK’s national thesis service for online access to the UK's doctoral research theses
- Open Access Theses & DissertationsFree repository of theses, dissertations, and other academic documents, coupled with powerful search, organization, and collaboration tools.
- Find ETDs (NDLTD)Guide to locating electronic theses and dissertations (search and browse) from the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)
- Dissertation Reviews"Founded in 2010, Dissertation Reviews is a new site that features overviews of recently defended, unpublished doctoral dissertations in a wide variety of disciplines across the Humanities and Social Sciences"
- CRL Dissertations searchSearch the dissertation holdings of the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), available for Interlibrary Loan. Especially rich in copies of dissertations from institutions outside of the US and Canada
Government information & Statistical data
- Middle East/North Africa Government Institutions Web Archive (Library of Congress)Collection of sites from Bahrain, Mauritania, Qatar, Turkey and Yemen. In Arabic, English, French and Turkish. Sites captured quarterly (2014-present)
- Middle East & North Africa | International, Regional, and National Data SetsA selection of regional and national statistics (health data, economic indicators, etc) for the Middle East & North Africa
- Finding Statistics and Data | International (Catherine Morse)Research guide with resources for finding statistics by region or country, demographic data, political economy, & trade
- Global Census Archive (East View)Includes a range of census data for
Palestine (1922, 1931)
Iran (1956, 1966, 1976)
Turkey (1927, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1985, 1990, 2000)
and other areas - Arab Barometer Public Opinion Survey Series (ICPSR, U-M)The Arab Barometer Public Opinion Survey Series reflects multi-country social surveys designed to assess citizen attitudes about public affairs, governance, and social policy in the Arab World, and to identify factors that shape the public's attitudes and values. The first wave of the Arab Barometer began in 2006/07 with the first round of surveys administered in seven countries. An eighth country was surveyed in 2009. First wave covered Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Bahrain, Algeria, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Yemen. Fourth wave conducted in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia, 2016
- Iran Data PortalEnglish and Persian language resource for social science data on Iran
- UN Data This link opens in a new windowProvides official statistics produced by countries and compiled by United Nations data system, as well as estimates and projections. The domains covered are agriculture, education, energy, industry, labour, national accounts, population and tourism.
- Sage Data This link opens in a new windowCreate tables, charts and maps with wide range of variables using data from governments and private organizations. Subjects include health, crime, population, finance, industry, and marketing.
- WIPO LexGlobal database that provides free of charge access to legal information on intellectual property (IP) such as treaties administered by WIPO, other IP-related treaties, and laws and regulations of the Members States of WIPO, the United Nations and the World Trade Organization
- Europa World Plus This link opens in a new windowOnline version of the Europa World Year Book and all nine volumes of the Europa Regional Surveys of the World series, containing detailed political, economic, and geographic information on over 250 countries and territories, including recent statistics, directory information, and current analysis
- World Constitutions Illustrated (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new windowContains the current constitution of every country in the world (193 countries) in its original language. For countries where multiple original-language versions exist, each language is provided.
- Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)Full text of conference proceedings, think tank articles, some journals, and working papers on international affairs from 1996 to present. Browse by Political Geography >> Middle East
Government documents and ephemeral publications acquired by the Library of Congress Cairo Office, microfilmed and available for borrowing (via ILL) from the Center for Research Libraries (CRL)
· Pamphlets about Algeria http://catalog.crl.edu/
· Pamphlets about Egypt http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about Jordan http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about Lebanon, Iraq, Mauritania, the Middle East http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about Oman http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about Pan-Arab Organizations http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about Saudi Arabia http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about Sudan http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about Syria and Morocco http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about Tunisia http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about West Bank http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
· Pamphlets about Yemen http://catalog.crl.edu/record=
Scholarly Societies
- Middle East Studies Association (MESA)Non-profit association (est 1966) that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encourages public understanding of the region and its peoples
- British Society for Middle East Studies (BRISMES)Established in 1973 to encourage and promote the study of the Middle East in the United Kingdom
Other relevant research guides
Working on a specific religious tradition in the Middle East (Southwest Asia) and North Africa? You may find the following U-M Library research guides helpful as well
Last Updated: Nov 19, 2024 6:54 PM
Subjects: International Studies