Dear Sir or Madam,

I would be very interested in seeing the manuscript survey form, if that 
is possible. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend the conference, though 
it sounds most stimulating.

With best wishes,

Kristen Kern

Paul Auchterlonie wrote:

>Dear Sir or Madam,
>
>Invitation to the Second Islamic Manuscript Conference 2006
>
>Following the great success of the First Islamic Manuscript Conference 
>last year, we are delighted to announce that the Thesaurus Islamicus 
>Foundation and the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the 
>University of Cambridge will host the Second Islamic Manuscript 
>Conference, entitled The Islamic Manuscript II: A Conference to Establish 
>The Islamic Manuscript Association, from 7-9 August 2006 at Emmanuel 
>College, University of Cambridge.
>
>Since our last correspondence detailing the activities of The Islamic 
>Manuscript Association (TIMA), the following have happened:   
>
>1.	As you will recall from our last letter, on 2 October 2005, the 
>Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation signed a protocol with the National Library 
>and Archives of Egypt (Dar al-Kutub) and the Egyptian Ministry of Culture 
>making it responsible for the cataloguing and conservation of the Qur’an 
>manuscripts of the National Library.  This project, which is entitled the 
>TIF-DAK Conservation Project (Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation – Dar al-
>Kutub Conservation Project) is an affiliated project of TIMA.  During 
>March 2006, nine world-renowned conservators visited the National Library 
>at the invitation of the TIF-DAK Conservation Project. They were: Mr. 
>Robert Proctor of the Fitzwilliam Museum and Trinity College, University 
>of Cambridge in Cambridge, United Kingdom; Mr. James Bloxam and Ms. 
>Kristine Rose of Cambridge University Library in Cambridge, United 
>Kingdom; Ms. Cheryl Porter of the Cardinal Barbarigo Seminary Library in 
>Montefiascone, Italy; Mr. Paul Hepworth and Ms. Nil Baydar of HB 
>Preservation and Conservation; Ms. Ana Beny of Barbáchano and Beny 
>Conservation in Madrid, Spain; Mr. Marco di Bella of Social Fund for 
>Development in Sana‘a, Yemen; and Mr. Abdulwahid Al Shami, Freelance 
>Conservator in Appaiano, Italy. The purpose of the conservators’ visit was 
>to survey the manuscript collection; examine the premises of the National 
>Library’s conservation laboratory and recommend what must be done to raise 
>the level of the laboratory to the highest standard; and to identify from 
>amongst the existing conservators at the National Library those who have 
>the potential to become competent conservators through an education and 
>training program that will be designed by the TIF-DAK Conservation 
>Project. The conservators also prepared the first manuscript survey form 
>created specifically for Islamic manuscripts.  This form is freely 
>available through TIMA.  Any suggestions to improve the form will 
>obviously be welcomed.  Please contact us if you would like to obtain a 
>copy.
>
>2.	The TIF-DAK Conservation Project welcomed Mr. Hermann Cruse, 
>manufacturer of Cruse Scanners (www.crusedigital.com), one of the world’s 
>finest digital scanners, to Cairo.  Mr. Cruse visited the National Library 
>and Archives of Egypt where he examined the manuscript collection in order 
>to design a custom scanner that the TIF-DAK Conservation Project is hoping 
>to purchase in order to digitize the National Library’s manuscript 
>collection.  We have suggested that this design could be made available 
>for purchase by other members of TIMA as a way to initiate a possible 
>convergence of digital hardware and digital software technologies between 
>Islamic manuscript collections.
>
>3.	The Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation also welcomed two Turkish 
>visitors to Cairo: Mr. Tevfik Barın, chairman of the Barın Bindery and son 
>of the famous Turkish calligrapher, typographer, graphic artist, and 
>bookbinder Emin Barın; and Mr. İslam Seçen, Turkey’s greatest living 
>traditional bookbinder and former assistant to Emin Barın.  Mr. Barın and 
>Mr. Seçen were invited to Cairo to examine the Qur’an manuscripts at the 
>National Library and Archives of Egypt and to discuss the plans for 
>establishing an international institute to teach conservation and the 
>traditional Islamic book arts.  This school would invite students from 
>across the world to study with the world’s best conservators and 
>craftsmen.  This much-needed training institute has met with unanimous 
>approval by the directors of manuscript collections.
>
>4.	On a recent trip to Turkey, representatives from the Foundation 
>met Prof. Uğur Derman, the world’s foremost expert on Ottoman calligraphy 
>and calligraphers.  Professor Derman has agreed to work with the 
>Foundation and the TIF-DAK Conservation Project in order to prepare a 
>catalogue of the Ottoman masahif of the National Library and Archives of 
>Egypt.  Masahif from other regions and eras will be catalogued by a team 
>of scholars to be organized by Prof. Dr. Jan Just Witkam, Professor of the 
>Paleography and Codicology of the Islamic World at Leiden University in 
>Leiden, The Netherlands, and Dr. Ayman Fuad Sayyid, Professor of Islamic 
>History and Manuscript Expert.  Contributors will include Dr. Habibollah 
>Azimi, Director General of the Handwritten Books Department of the 
>National Library of Iran and author of that National Library’s Qur’an 
>catalogue.  Other persons who wish to nominate a colleague or themselves 
>for working on these catalogues should contact Prof. Dr. Witkam at once.  
>His e-mail address is [log in to unmask]  The TIF-DAK 
>Conservation Project’s catalogues of the masahif of the National Library 
>and Archives of Egypt, which will be realized through the exchange of 
>knowledge and experience that TIMA has made possible, will serve as an 
>example for other TIMA affiliated cataloguing projects.  Any suggestions 
>or recommendations are welcomed. 
>
>As these recent accomplishments demonstrate, TIMA has made real progress 
>since the First Islamic Manuscript Conference held at King’s College, 
>University of Cambridge in July 2005.  Given that TIMA has already proven 
>itself to be active and influential, we have decided that the purpose of 
>the Second Islamic Manuscript Conference will be the signing of the 
>constitution and the formal establishment of TIMA.  For this reason we 
>will welcome to the conference those who are willing to work over the 
>coming months to finalize TIMA’s draft constitution and who will, in 
>August 2006, sign that constitution and commit their institutions to 
>TIMA’s mission.  Therefore, between now and the conference, we kindly 
>request that all persons interested in joining TIMA, including those 
>intending to join as an individual, be in communication with us so that we 
>can come to an agreement on the constitution as well as all other aspects 
>of the organization of TIMA, namely nominations for the membership of the 
>board of directors and the association’s subcommittees, before the 
>conference is convened.  
>
>The Second Islamic Manuscript Conference will open with a constitution 
>signing ceremony, a general meeting, and a celebratory dinner on the first 
>day.  The remainder of the conference will be dedicated to presentations 
>on those subjects with which TIMA is concerned: accessibility, 
>cataloguing, conservation, copyright, and digitization.  These topics will 
>be discussed as they pertain to furthering the work of TIMA, not as 
>subjects in and of themselves.   As explained in the draft constitution, 
>the object of TIMA shall be to standardize the terms of and facilitate 
>access to digital and microfilm images of manuscripts as well as construct 
>a mechanism for protecting the rights of institutions possessing 
>manuscripts. It will assist in the creation of universal cataloguing 
>standards and encourage and assist with conservation. It will assess the 
>needs of manuscript collections around the world, draw up a list of 
>priorities for action, and seek international funding for fulfilling those 
>objectives. Furthermore, it will encourage scholarship related to Islamic 
>manuscripts. In general, it will promote the welfare and interests of 
>Islamic manuscripts. TIMA is non-profit and non-denominational.
>
>I take great pleasure in inviting you to the conference as a distinguished 
>guest and as a founding member of The Islamic Manuscript Association. 
>
>To accept this invitation, please reply immediately as there are a limited 
>number of places at this conference. Please return the enclosed 
>registration form to either of the TIMA contacts below:
>
>Mr. Davidson MacLaren
>Director of Manuscript Research
>Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation
>21 Misr Helwan al-Ziraa‘i St.
>al-Ma‘adi
>Cairo
>EGYPT
>Telephone: +20 2 380 1764
>Fax: +20 2 380 2171
>E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>Webpage: www.thesaurus-islamicus.li
>
>
>Ms. Phoebe Luckyn-Malone
>Senior Secretary
>Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge
>Sidgwick Avenue
>Cambridge CB3 9DA
>UNITED KINGDOM
>Telephone: +44 (0) 1223 335103
>Fax: +44 (0) 1223 335110
>E-mail: [log in to unmask] 
>Webpage: www.cmeis.cam.ac.uk
>
>Should you be unable to join TIMA at the forthcoming conference, please 
>contact us as we are interested in your comments and suggestions.  We will 
>keep you informed of our work and await your participation at a later date.
>
>After receiving your registration form, we will send you additional 
>information about the conference. You may also be interested in visiting 
>the conference website at www.islamicmanuscript.org.  We await a 
>favourable reply and will be honoured to host you at the second Islamic 
>Manuscript Conference this summer.
>
>Yours faithfully,
>
>Mr. Faarid Gouverneur
>
>Chairman
>Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation
>
>  
>

-- 
Kristen Kern
Preservation/Catalog Librarian
Portland State University Library
P.O. Box 1151
Portland, OR 97207-1151

phone:  503-725-5218
fax:       503-725-5799
email: [log in to unmask]