Algeria launched the Maghreb Digital Library on Sunday, in a joint effort with the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF), an American-based NGO. The website aims to facilitate access to information and boost university research.
The launch comes almost two years after the UNESCO headed launch of the World Digital Library in Paris, in April 2009.
Algerian Minister of Higher Education Rachid Harraobya told reporters that the project aims to create “developing centers to provide information and documentation that benefits the university community.”
The US has contributed $1.5 million towards the project in an ongoing series of science and technology cooperation between the two nations.
“The project will boost bilateral co-operation with the United States in the fields of sciences and technology; something that would promote the quality of education and methods of research,” Harraobya told reporters.
The website provides free access to users in a variety of languages, including Arabic and French.
By Manar Ammar
