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Ibn Sina's "Kitab Al
Qanoun fi Al Toubb"
 In an attempt to
make available Ibn
Sina's (Avicenna's)
"Kitab Al Qanoun fi Al
Toubb" (Book of
Canon of Medicine) to as many
people as possible,
Saab Medical Library (SML)
digitized the book in
collaboration with the AUB
Digital Documentation Center
(DDC), and published it on
the web.
Ibn Sina's "Book of
Canon" was still in use in
Europe until the 19th
Century. The copy
available at SML was acquired
by AUB in 1929, and it
predates that at the National
Library of Medicine
(USA) this spurred
SML's director, Ms.
Hilda Nassar, to preserve the
book for future generations
and make available to as many
people as possible.
Professor Børre
Ludvigsen, professor of
Information
Architecture,
Østfold University
College, Norway, and
editor of Al Mashriq and DDC
websites, was
approached for the job.
With an allocated tight
budget, prof. Ludvigsen
designed a custom-made page
holder allowing the book to
be held while being
photographed without
incurring any damage to
it. Whence, the book
was returned to its sheltered
place at the SML, prof.
Ludvigsen and the DDC team
set on resizing the images
and setting the pages.
The project required 70 man
hours before it was
completed, and the book found
its place on the web.
Ms. Nassar recalls her
encounter in August 2002, in
Scotland while attending a
Librarians Conference, with
the Librarian at the "Royal
College of Physicians of
Edinburgh", who was showing a
group of Librarians their
historical collection, and
mentioned that, the College
wants to digitize Avicenna's
"Book of Canon".
Here, Ms. Nassar asked him to
check AUB's website at:
http://ddc.aub.edu.lb/projects/saab/avicenna/index.html
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Digital Documentation
Center (DDC):