Arsheef: Getting Closer to Libraries and Archives
ARSHEEF is a collaborative project and a website that makes available up-to-date guides to libraries and archives across North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and South Asia, as well as digital options for those who cannot travel.
Run by graduate students and edited by Athina Pfeiffer and Mathias Ghyoot, ARSHEEF is funded by Princeton University. This talk introduces the website and gives air to some of the concerns and ideas that have gone into the making of this project. We also discuss political and practical problems associated with research in these regions, and we encourage a wider discussion on how the digital humanities—instead of broadening the distance between scholars and physical archives— may actually help getting us closer to libraries and archives.