What is Arabic Collections Online?

Arabic Collections Online (ACO) is a publicly available digital library of public domain Arabic language content. ACO currently provides digital access to 17,699 volumes across 10,473 subjects drawn from rich Arabic collections of distinguished research libraries. Established with support from NYU Abu Dhabi, and supported by major grants from Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, and Carnegie Corporation of New York, this mass digitization project features volumes from the library collections of NYU and partner institutions. These institutions contributed published books in all fields—literature, business, science, and more—from their Arabic language collections.

What is the purpose of the project?

ACO aims to digitize, preserve, and provide free open access to a wide variety of Arabic language books in subjects such as literature, philosophy, law, religion, and more. Important Arabic language content is not widely available on the web, and ACO aims to ensure global access to a rich Arabic library collection. Many older Arabic books are out-of-print, in fragile condition, and are otherwise rare materials that are in danger of being lost. ACO will ensure that this content will be saved digitally for future generations.

Which institutions are involved in the project?

ACO contributing partners are New York University, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, American University in Cairo, American University of Beirut, United Arab Emirates National Archives and Qatar National Library.

Who does the project serve?

ACO can be used by anyone, anywhere in the world, who is interested in Arabic language works. Specifically, the target audience is for students, scholars, academics, researchers, librarians, and general interest readers.

What are the standards used for digitization?

All digital imaging meets the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI), which was developed with wide review and consensus by the cultural heritage community’s digital experts. Image master files must be produced as TIFF-6, uncompressed, sRGB- or RGB-embedded, 24-bit color (3-channels of 8-bit color), 400 ppi for all items.

How are items selected for digitization?

All out-of-copyright books from NYU and partner institutions are selected for ACO. These titles, in turn, have been collected over centuries by subject specialists at each respective institution for their academic quality and relevance to intellectual and literary inquiry.

What are ACO’s copyright guidelines?

NYU has researched copyright requirements and restrictions for each of the countries of publication and believes the materials displayed on this site are all in the public domain. However, if you believe that you are the copyright owner of any material displayed here, please see our takedown policy.

Is ACO metadata available?

MARC metadata records for all ACO content are available to the public at:
https://github.com/NYULibraries/aco-karms.

Have more questions?

For more information, please contact us at: aco-support@nyu.edu

ACO Advisory Board

• Marilyn Booth, Khalid bin Abdullah Al Saud Professor of the Contemporary Arab World, Magdalen College, Oxford University
• Virginia Danielson, Former Director of the NYUAD Library (retired)
• Roberta Dougherty, Librarian for Middle East Studies, Yale University
• Beshara Doumani, Joukowsky Family Professor of Modern Middle East History, Brown University
• James L. Gelvin, Professor of History, UCLA
• David Hirsch, Advisor to Mohammed bin Rashid Library, Dubai
• Charles Kurzman, Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina
• Zachary Lockman, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and History, New York University (ex officio)
• Carol Mandel, Dean Emerita of the NYU Division of Libraries

Project Management

ACO is managed by the libraries of NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU New York. ACO technical operations and this site are managed by NYU Libraries Digital Library Technology Services. Read more about the project team.