JISC

This programme is helping researchers navigate the wealth of Islamic Studies manuscript holdings in UK collections. 

Responding to a 2007 decision by the UK government to designate Islamic Studies a strategically important subject, JISC commissioned a report from the University of Exeter: Review of user requirements for digitised resources in Islamic studies

The report made various recommendations on how JISC could improve digital infrastructure for researchers and teachers in Islamic Studies.

HEFCE awarded JISC funds to follow up two of these recommendations:

1. Digitise recent PhD theses in Islamic Studies via the Ethos service
2. Catalogue and manuscript digitisation

JISC also funded two other projects in Islamic studies from other pots of money. These are the joint digitisation project between Yale University in the US, and SOAS in the UK, and another project at the University of Birmingham which has completed the digitisation of its Mingana collection of Islamic studies manuscripts