Iranian and German libraries sign MOU

TEHRAN,Oct.19(MNA) -- The National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) and the Berlin State Library have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), focusing on cultural collaboration and the restoration of Persian manuscripts. The memorandum was signed between the NLAI Director Es’haq Salahi and Berlin State Library’s Director Barbara Schneider-Kempf on Wednesday during Salahi’s trip to Germany last week. The agreement will enable Iran to prepare copies and bibliographies from rare Persian manuscripts kept in the Berlin Library, which is believed to be an abundant source for manuscripts in Germany, Salahi on Thursday. Both sides also agreed to exchange knowledge on preservation and restoration of manuscripts and the process of digitizing rare manuscripts, he added. Holding workshops and seminars on librarianship and periodicals were other topics stressed in the agreement. The Berlin State Library also agreed to provide NLAI with a list of the Islamic documents the library is housing. Christoph Rauch, Head of the Oriental Department of the library who was also present at the meeting said that the library is home to rare historical documents about Iran, Salahi said. Rauch also said that Iran has good experience in graphology, which can be of great help to the library, Salahi added.