Digital BooksIn the

National library

Challenges, Plans & Status

Nov, 2013

Hebrew Books - Vision

The National Library of Israel vision is to undertake the Hebrew Bookshelf, making the entire body of relevant Hebrew textsfrom the period of Mt. Sinai to the present day readily availableover the Internet.

WHAT IS THE HEBREW BOOK?

The Book of Moses

According to Tradition, Just before the revelation at Sinai, Moses wrote everything that had transpired up until that point. Moses would transcribe each of these portions as a small scroll. Shortly before his death, he combined all these portions to form the Torah that we have today.

Book of Moses Deposited in Temple

According to tradition, before his death, Moses wrote 13 Torah scrolls. Twelve of these were given to the 12 tribes. The thirteenth was placed in the Ark of the Covenant. This was eventually deposited in the Holy of Holies in the Temple.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The most ancient Torah scrolls have been found near the Dead Sea, in Israel. They are known to be the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some of the scrolls are more than two thousand years old!

The Cairo Bible

After the Dead Sea Scrolls,the earliest dated Hebrew manuscript is a Bible which was found in the Cairo Karaite Synagogue from the year 895.

Hebrew Manuscripts around the world

Additionally, experts estimate that there are about 75,000 Hebrew books in manuscript form.

Hebrew Printed Books

In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.

By 1455, Gutenberg was able to print his Bible.

The first Hebrew book was printed in 1470

How many Hebrew printed books are there?

The Hebrew Bibliography Projectassociated with the National Library of Israel, has registered 141,000 books, published between 1470 and 1960.

However, the unique number is much smaller (< 100,000), since many books have been published several times.

So, how many books?

We estimate that about 250,000 additional unique Hebrew books have been published since 1960.

Overall, about 350,000 unique Hebrew books have been published since the invention of printing press.

National library Current Plan

50,000 Hebrew manuscripts 50,000 books from 15th-20th centuries Several thousands copyrighted books

The Hebrew Book: Potential Sources

Microfilm was the best way to preserve copies of manuscripts. But the quality and accessibility are very poor.

Digital Copy

Microfilm

Digital Programs

פרויקטים דיגיטליים

Create a Logical Thesaurus &Modern Dictionary

Create a Logical Thesaurus enabling one to search for related ideas rather than specific terms or key words.

Create a modern dictionary which will help in translating Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew into Modern Hebrew.

What features will be included with each book?

o Digitized text

o Modern Hebrew Dictionary

o Modern Lexicon of Concepts

o Hierarchical Breakup of Book’s Structure

o Full Index

o Search Engine

o Bibliography (accurate metadata)

חומרים מתווכים

שכבת הפריט

שכבה מארגנת

Viewer – Multi platform use

מחקר קהליםמקורות מידעהצורך

תלמידים

סטודנטים

מורים

חוקרים

קהל רחב

מקורות מידע •לעבודות

לימוד עצמאי •בתחומים שונים

הכנה לבחינות•

התעדכנות במחקרים •חדשים

עיון במידע מגוון •בתחום

העשרת הידע•

עניין ראשוני •בתחומים ומונחים

שוניםהעשרת הידע•מעקב אחר נושאי •

עניין אישיים

משתמשים

אנציקלופדיות•ספרי לימוד ומחקר•תוכניות לימודיות – •

מט"ח, סנונית, או"פאתרי אינטרנט•

מגזינים •מקצועיים

ספרי עיון •ומחקר

אתרי אינטרנט •מקצועיים

התרוצצות בין •ספריות כלליות

ומקצועיותגישה מוגבלת•רמת חומר ירודה•

אנציקלופדיות •ולקסיקונים

ספרי עיון •וקריאה

אתרי אינטרנט•

TASCניתוח

הקושי בשימוש

התרוצצות בין •ספריות

הגבלות השאלה •בספריות

איתור החומרים •והאתרים

הרלבנטייםנגישות נמוכה •

לספריותעלות גבוהה •

ברכישת התכנים הרלבנטיים

קושי באיתור •חומר איכותי

Content (My)• My Shelf• My Lists• My Books• My Comments• My Groups• My Friends• My recommendations

Actions (Do)• Read Together• Work Together• Publish Together• Teacher-Student Model• Community Model• Learning Aids• Activity Board

Thank You

Questions:

Alon.Strasman@nli.org.il