The digital library of Arab children's culture for sustainable development (DLACSD)

Abstract

Purpose

This paper focuses on a project to work on the digital library of Arab children's culture for sustainable development (DLACSD).

Design/methodology/approach

This project claims to link the past, present, and future by creating a platform that can grow to include not only works by adults but by children who inspire adults with their imagination and the joys they bring to the world.

Findings

This project addresses in phases the different aspects of the problem of the lack of material for Egyptian/Arab children at different stages in Arabic on the internet (with copyright law in mind). It is time to fill this gap by having a rich repository of stories, plays, games and songs for children in Arabic in a digital library to enrich the life of the child and to inform the world that much that is worthwhile is available in Arabic for parents, teachers, and children to enjoy.

Research limitations/implications

Through reading samples of the works by Abdel-Tawab Youssef (1928–2015) by using the Dublin Core Elements, it will be informative to see how his writings address the United Nations Goals of Sustainable Development way before these Goals were discussed.

Practical implications

Writers for children, librarians, teachers, psychologists, literary critics, illustrators, and parents need a platform that makes material available to promote children’s culture in the Arab world and to introduce the world to what is of value for children in Arabic.

Social implications

Currently, communication brings the world together and although the social media and the new technology have introduced problems that are serious, to say the least, collaborators on all levels must play an active role in redressing the social wrongs, especially those affecting children.

Originality/value

This ongoing project by members of a team who believe in interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity has taken the first step to create and develop (DLACSD).

Citation

Youssef, L.A., Elsayed, U., Shaheen, S. and Khalifa, N.M. (2024), "The digital library of Arab children's culture for sustainable development (DLACSD)", Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHASS-05-2024-0069

Introduction

This paper focuses on a project that links the past, present and future. Libraries, the production of knowledge, children’s literature and technology are all areas that have inspired scholars to work alone and with others. Every one of these areas has seen no less than paradigm shifts which continue in quantum revolutionary steps especially at the end of the 20th century and in the 21st. Libraries were only physical spaces until the internet was introduced to the world, but are now both physical and virtual; knowledge unknown to humanity is now produced every day and circulates with the click of a mouse; literature in general and children’s literature specifically which were regarded as limited to the realm of the imagination have become multidisciplinary fields of knowledge; children in our changing world are beings whom adults do not “talk down to” anymore; and technology and the internet affect our every move. Although these are sweeping generalizations, they show how human life has changed and human beings and scholars have been struggling to address and cope with this change.

Since the 1990s, the internet has enabled librarians to provide services online and since then having an online library, a digital repository, or a digital library (DL) (all terms refer to the same idea of making resources available on the internet) has not only become possible but popular. In her article entitled “What are digital libraries? Competing visions,” Christine Borgman indicates “that the term ‘digital library’ is used in two distinct senses. In general, researchers view digital libraries as content collected on behalf of user communities, while practicing librarians view digital libraries as institutions or services” (p. 227). When the article was published in 1999, these two definitions seemed distinct, but at present libraries do provide content and at the same time provide services and are cultural institutions. It is difficult to believe that the “tensions” that Borgan refers to still exist because definitions need to be inclusive rather than exclusive. This is particularly true now that the internet is allowing international digital libraries to share knowledge with local ones. The language barrier, though, renders it necessary to establish a project like this one, to make available material in Arabic and the translation of this material in the English language, to make it accessible to those who use Arabic and those who do not. In Egypt, President El-Sisi launched the Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB) as a national project in January 2016 to make knowledge accessible and to send a message to the people of Egypt that research is a priority in all fields.

Working on a project that is concerned with children implies an interest in the future of the nation. “The child is father of the man,” as Wordsworth succinctly argues, is a claim that is difficult to refute. Undoubtedly, childhood is an important stage in the mental and psychological growth of a human being and children constitute a national treasure. Children’s education, literature and culture are interdisciplinary fields of knowledge that have deservedly occupied the attention of intellectuals, scholars, psychologists, librarians, teachers, theoritians, governments and parents. With the pervasive use of the internet, the material available for children in English on the World Wide Web is overwhelming. In Arabic, however, there is not much, and the result is children fall prey to material for adults that can harm them at this vulnerable young age. Although like the children of the world, many Egyptian and Arab children use the computer and the internet well and often, what is available for Arab children on the internet in Arabic is limited and does not contribute to the development of the child. The International Children's Digital Library (ICDL http://en.childrenslibrary.org/) has resources in 48 languages, but nothing in Arabic. The material for children in Arabic is available only in hard copies until now.

The purpose of this project is to address the different aspects of the problem of the lack of material for Egyptian/Arab children at different stages in Arabic on the internet (with copyright law in mind) in phases to fill this gap. It is time to have a rich adequate repository of stories, plays, games and songs for children in Arabic in a digital library to enrich the life of the child and to inform the world that much that is worthwhile is available in Arabic for parents, teachers, and children to enjoy. Providing material that is educational and entertaining for children in Arabic and translated in English for the children of the world to be familiar with is needed. The material in Arabic that is in print or broadcast on the Radio and TV is rich and varied. Making it all available on the internet in one stage is practically impossible. This is why this first stage of the project is only focused on a digital library that introduces some of the works of the prolific Egyptian writer for children Abdel-Tawab Youssef (1928–2015), classified according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Although papyrus that survived from ancient Egypt and the walls of ancient Egyptian monuments show that the ancient Egyptians told stories to their children and had everyday activities to entertain them, in the modern world, interest in children’s culture in Egypt and the Arab world only started in the seventies of the 20th century when Abdel-Tawab Youssef launched the Centre for Children's Culture in Cairo, Egypt late in the 1960s. He wrote more than a thousand books for children, uncountable programs for Cairo Radio and TV and organized and took part in conferences focusing on children’s literature and culture in many countries in the world. His works include creative writings about rural Egypt (The Scarecrow published in Arabic in 1973) and The Life of Prophet Muhammad in Twenty Stories (1981) that were read as school textbooks for 6th graders in all Egyptian national schools in the 1970s and 80s. He abridged and translated 45 world literature books for children into Arabic (Peter Pan, Beowulf, John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, and others). These are incorporated in a series known as الروائع (Alrawayie, that is Masterpieces) to familiarize Arab children the classics. Youssef’s critical works helped in introducing the ideas of western critics on children’s literature like Jack Zipes and Perter Hunt to Arab writers for children. His first series entitled اللقاء الفريد (The Unique Encounter) won the State Prize early in his career in 1975. This award is an acknowledgment that this series contributes to the production of knowledge for children in general. He received many more prizes from numerous local, regional, and international institutions (The UNESCO International Award for Eradication of Illiteracy in 1975, The International King Faisal Award in Literature from Saudi Arabia in 1991 and became the first individual who was honored as a member of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young Readers). The American Cultural Centre in Egypt invited him on a tour to give lectures at American universities and libraries for children in 1992, The New Horizons Award at Bologna International Children Book Fair in Italy in 2000 for his book A Life of Prophet Mohammad in Twenty Tales, The International Council Award for children’s books in Basel for his series of books on the Egyptian Toshka Project in 2001, and The Library of Alexandria nominated him for the Astrid Lindgren Award in 2007 for three years in a row). When he passed away in 2015, he left behind a legacy that should not be ignored and that should be put to good use.

Believing that creating a digital library for Arab children’s culture is paramount to establishing an institution that is multidisciplinary. The members of the team who joined forces belong to different disciplines and believe that interdisciplinarity is invaluable. Two members of the team working on this project are professors of Library Science at Cairo University, namely Ossama Elsayed Mahmoud and Kamel Shahin (previously the Dean of the Faculty of Arts); the third member is associate professor Nour ElDeen Mahmoud Khalifa of the Faculty of Computer and Information and me, Loubna Youssef, professor of English Language and Literature (previously Chair of the Department and Vice Dean of Graduate Studies). We gave this project the title “The Digital Library of Arab Children's Culture for Sustainable Development (DLACSD)” and provided the following vision, mission, and objectives:

Vision

Creating a digital library as a repository to introduce Arab children’s culture to enrich the content and enhance the knowledge of children with regards to sustainable development.

Mission

To design a prototype of a digital library for sustainable development with an understanding of the UNSDGs: Abdel-Tawab Youssef (1928–2015) as the Case Study.

Objectives

This research project has many objectives and will be carried out in different stages. The first objective is to create awareness about what is available for children in Arabic. The lack of information about what is available in Arabic for children is disturbing. The digital library will provide a searchable bibliography of works by the late writer for children Abdel-Tawab Youssef as exemplary of the vitality of Arabic children’s literature in Egypt. The works by Youssef will be classified according to the goals of sustainable development to show that he realized the importance of these goals before they were documented by the UN. The classification will resort to filling out the Dublin Core Elements of literary works that address the UNSDGs to help researchers interested in focusing on a specific goal. This will be done by abiding by copyright laws and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (http://www.cybertelecom.org/cda/cipa.htm).

The more general and comprehensive objectives for other stages are:

Firstly, Compilation and Research:

• (1)

  To compile lists of what is available in Arabic in the field of Arab children’s culture in Egypt and the Arab world.

• (2)

  To compile lists of websites and libraries that develop Arab children’s culture.

• (3)

  To display on the internet works that can be presented in different formats to attract children.

• (4)

  To devise a criterion to choose works that can be translated into English and other languages for the children of the world.

• (5)

  To devise a criterion to choose works that can be translated into Arabic.

• (6)

  To turn stories into digital E-books that students can enjoy at home and in school for one story.

Secondly, establishing a digital library that has metadata about stories in Arabic that are captivating and funny. Translating some of these works into English will contribute to spreading the culture of Arab children. Children can interact with these works and possibly take part in enriching them.

Thirdly, designing an Arabic website for Arab children’s culture to bring together samples of diverse literary works for children using all the visual, auditory, and interactive resources of the internet.

During another stage, it could be possible to enrich this Digital Library by translating stories about culture and religion from Arabic into English, not only for the Muslim child who cannot read Arabic, but to introduce the children of the world to prominent Muslim figures, ideas and the history and teachings of Islam.

This Arabic/English Digital Library may inspire internet users to search for books for children that empower youngsters and contribute to the production of knowledge. Unfortunately, teaching Arabic in schools in Egypt does not lead the children to appreciate the Arabic language, but reading Youssef’s biography of an Arabic teacher, كان أبى معلمًا (1976) My Father, An Egyptian Teacher (2014), is a work that both Egyptians and non-Egyptians should read. This biography creates awareness that before the middle of the twentieth century there were Arabic teachers who inspired children and adults alike to be conscientious, innovative, patriotic and to lead children to cherish the Arabic language. It is vital to make available what is adequate and appropriate in Arabic for children at different stages of childhood and turn this Arabic material into a format (in both Arabic and English) that can attract children who use the internet. Psychologists, critics, intellectuals, teachers, parents, and specialists in the field of pedagogy should collaborate to determine what is adequate and appropriate because some material on the internet is inadequate for children.

Youssef’s story entitled “Al-Haytham meets Newton,” one of a series of ten short stories اللقاء الفريد (The Unique Encounter) with the subtitle “The Story of Arab Civilization: How Arab Scholars Paved the Way for Western Scientists,” is transformed into a digital book in Arabic and English (attached in the Appendix). The subtitle of this series reflects Youssef’s plan that he clearly states in his introduction when he said that Arabs “were the founders of their civilization.” Winning the Egyptian state prize for this series implies that literature for children deserves state recognition. Like many of Youssef’s writing, the framework of these stories is fictitious, but the historical details are accurate and true to life. Clearly his message to Egyptian and Arab children is evident: be proud of your heritage and work on reviving the glory of this heritage. Digitalizing one of Youssef’s stories and uploading it in both Arabic and English on the internet (in 2D Motion by Appsinnovate at https://appsinnovate.com/services/) will, hopefully, encourage children to read the other stories of this series and possibly adapt other works into an attractive digital format.

This paper includes four salient sections: firstly, a literature review; secondly, The Portal of the Digital Library; thirdly, Digital Libraries in Egypt; fourthly, Abdel-Tawab Youssef’s books classified according to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals; and finally, a sample of Youssef’s books identified by means of the Dublin Core Elements.

Firstly: children’s libraries in the digital environment: a review of the literature

Although there is an important emerging area of research devoted to digital libraries and information retrieval, most of the content and interfaces are aimed at adults or children and young adults. There are websites in English for “children’s books full text,” “children’s books library online,” “children’s interactive books online for free,” “free online children’s mystery books,” “little golden books online free,” and “children’s books websites.” The number of children's books and works in digital library projects and platforms worldwide is limited, especially those in Arabic. Allison Druin worked with two teams on two different projects, the first discussed in 2003 the “First Use” of The International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL). The team points out that “the aim of the research is to leverage the power of the Internet to build cultural bridges by developing The International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL)” and stress the importance of conducting research in this area and the “pressing need for a collection of children’s materials in multiple languages, from multiple cultures.” These declarations refer to the role of digital libraries in “building cultural bridges” and the necessity of having material available for children in “multiple languages”. The second team in 2005 included 7–11-year-old children which led to “new approaches to collection development, cataloging (metadata standards), and the creation of new technologies for information access and use.” This allows children to take part in designing what is created for them, to understand that “adults take them seriously” (p. 13) and gives them a voice.

“Children’s Books Online,” which the world has been using since 1996 has user interfaces that were designed for children’s use to facilitate access, search and viewing of the content. (Children’s Books Online: The Rosetta Project, 2017). It is interesting that it is entitled “The Rosetta Project” because the mention of the Rosetta Stone is a direct reference to the Egyptian civilization. It is not only the key to the hieroglyphics and translation but signifies a great deal more. For children (as well as for adults), the Rosetta Stone has a story to tell, is alive because it speaks three languages: hieroglyphic, demotic and ancient Greek and has gone through a long journey that started in ancient Egypt in 196 BC, moving on to another stage during the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt in 1799 when it was discovered. The next stage was in 1801 when the English came to Egypt to end the Napoleonic invasion and took the Rosetta Stone to the British Museum. Hopefully, the journey will end when the Egyptian efforts succeed in bringing back the Rosetta Stone to its home country, Egypt.

The digital library (DL) for children

In an article entitled “Role of Digital Library in an Electronic Environment,” Yadav et al. (2023) provide an exhaustive salient list of the “Functions of Digital Library,” two of which stand out and are quite relevant, namely that.

• (1)

  It provides online access to historical and cultural documents whose existence is endangered due to physical decay.

• (2)

  It supports multimedia content along with text. (256)

The first function is important because humanity lost a great deal with the burning of the ancient Library of Alexandria. The second function is specifically useful for children because reading for them will be more enjoyable with multimedia. The benefits of reading for children are endless, especially when the stories are animated, arouse their curiosity, inspire them to innovate and think critically and introduce them to other cultures. Books about ancient Egypt are read and cherished by children all over the world and enchanting stories like Open Sesame, Beauty and the Beast and Sindbad the Sailor do not only take the child to times and lands that deal with the far away and long ago but can also improve children’s level of concentration and introduce them to an environment that is altogether different from classrooms and even computers. Going to a library can yet be another different experience of being exposed to the legacy of the world and to read in a quiet atmosphere. Such diverse experiences help in building a child's personality. Literary writing that inspires the imagination of children plays an important role in their intellectual and cultural growth and development. Studies and research assert that books for children increase their cognitive, social, and motivational development. Introducing children to stories from different cultures can also provide them with opportunities to understand themselves and the world around them in a better way. Such stories allow them to know their place in that world.

Children are clever in using electronics, and this is why a digital/electronic library that has resources (text, images, audio, video, etc.) stored in digital format can be easily accessible to children. A teacher accompanies a child to the school library, or a parent drives a child to a public one, but the digital library can be accessed through iPads, computers and mobile phones. A physical library requires space, books, journals, and bookshelves but the material available in a DL is in a machine-readable form rather than in hard copy. These libraries also allow some books to be downloaded via the internet so that readers can read them online, which saves time and money. It allows access to information from more than one source at the same time.

It is well known that children assimilate aspects of their own culture through their parents, teachers, stories and works addressed to them, but they grasp aspects of other cultures through reading, traveling and the internet. The radio, TV, books, and magazines provide limited knowledge and entertainment compared to the information communication technology (ICT) available in the 21st century. Now, the media, in its different forms, broadcasts stories dealing with misunderstandings, intolerance, violence and outright aggression between individuals, groups, and countries. There are disputes over land, water, religious and cultural practices, and conflict in general. Whatever adults do, the atrocities of what Palestinian children are exposed to is now known even to children everywhere.

Developing new technologies suitable for children is challenging, because some youngsters struggle with reading, writing, and spelling; their interests are constantly changing; and their abilities and skills are growing exponentially. Nowadays, the digital library is important for the education process and some claim it is more useful than traditional libraries in school in terms of availability. The teacher or the librarian does not get involved in a cycle of following up on returning or losing books, or other tasks that are a waste of the teacher’s precious time. It allows the teacher to focus on the task of enhancing language skills and tailoring the content to the interests of students. It also enables the teacher to choose suitable content for each child easily and quickly, based on the information collected by the system about the student’s readings. There are ways to monitor the students’ response to the books suggested by their teachers and share this information on a larger scale with parents. In addition, electronic systems keep pace with the technological revolution that invaded every classroom and school and provide a great way to “read for fun” for children at all times and places (in and out of school). Using digital libraries can help both teacher and students in various ways. Students can have access to information and knowledge and there are tools that assist the teacher to create lesson plans and customize content that suits the individual differences between students. Digital libraries also help teachers to ensure the assimilation of what is being studied in the prescribed curricula in an interesting and attractive way for every child, which the traditional method of teaching does not allow.

There are many prominent digital libraries for children, with a range of services for all stages in different languages. They provide a variety of useful cultural, entertainment and scientific content, including multimedia videos, stories, games, activities, tips and fun facts on specific topics. There are “Free Online Book Libraries for Kids” for educators (https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2023/01/5-great-ebook-libraries-for-kids.html) in which the books are classified according to the child’s grade in school and there are also books for pre-school and pre-kindergarten children. In the UK, The Reading Mate Digital Library for Children offers “Hundreds of Books in Our Free Children’s Digital Library” (https://readingmate.co.uk/free-digital-library-for-children/). The Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library in Spain (with a branch in The Library of Congress and another in The New York Public Library) which offers a large section available for young people, including published works by authors from Spain and Hispanic America aimed at children and youth, including magazines, stories, workshops, and audio recordings with children's stories. This library is an integrated place where children can enjoy learning.

Why the international children digital library (ICDL)?

It is a fact that any digital library project requires interdisciplinary research. In their paper entitled “Developing Digital Libraries for Global Children Community with Special Reference to ICDL: Analysis and Evaluation,” Jana and Das discuss the project initiated by The University of Maryland in collaboration with the Internet Archive who organized an integrated research team comprising computer scientists, librarians, educational technologists, teachers, graphic designers, and graduate students from the University of Maryland's School of Information Studies (CLIS) and Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL). They worked on a pioneering children's interface design. This team stresses that the International Children's Digital Library follows a specific and transparent policy to promote cross-cultural development among children, so it deliberately does not use machine translation, and is fast-access, searchable, and well-organized (Jana and Das, 2008). In her paper “The International Children’s Digital Library: Increasing Children’s Access to Books through Technology,” Ann Carlson Weeks, one of the founders of ICDL, states that this Library “was introduced at an international celebration at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, in November 2002 … [to] help Children understand the world around them and the global society in which they live.” The website of ICDL which has the subtitle “A Library for the World’s Children” (http://www.childrenslibrary.org/) indicates that,

The mission of the International Children's Digital Library Foundation (ICDL Foundation) is to support the world's children in becoming effective members of the global community – who exhibit tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas -- by making the best in children's literature available online free of charge. The Foundation pursues its vision by building a digital library of outstanding children's books from around the world and supporting communities of children and adults in exploring and using this literature through innovative technology designed in close partnership with children for children.

The reference to creating a “global community” is significant in allowing children to cross boundaries and become familiar with the richness and diversity of what is already available. What the children read can be inspiring and can bridge the gaps between cultures. What is also noteworthy is that ICDL is “free of charge” in a time when making money is the ultimate goal of many and is more important than ever. Making the resources of the Library free sends a message to children that there are those who care enough to provide them with knowledge and entertainment without asking for anything in return.

On April 19, 2021, the Founders of ICDL Ben Bederson (Director), Allison Druin, Ann Weeks, Anne Rose and Tim Browne wrote a note on the website that deserves attention. The first part said,

Dear Readers,

It has been over 20 years since we launched the International Children’s Digital Library. In that time, we have served about 15 million people reading over 1,000,000 hours of children’s books. We launched at a time when the concept of reading books online was a bit odd, and almost unheard of for children’s books. After all these years, as far we know, we are still the largest collection of freely available complete children’s books from around the world. And we did that without ever exposing children to commercial activities or risking their privacy.

In a matter-of-fact tone, this extract includes information that should be taken seriously and must result in raising questions that should be publicized because answering them is not easy, to say the least. Firstly, if in 2021, this Library has been active for 20 years, and some of the children who have used it since it was launched are now adults, why are none of these adults active in the field of library science, children’s literature, or digital technology? Secondly, including such an incredible number of books and having served millions, how much research has been done with such resources online and why have a few of the millions of users not contributed to supporting this Library? Thirdly, how far has the fact that the Library has served “without ever exposing children to commercial activities or risking their privacy” inspire other institutions for children to do the same?

The concluding part of the note is heartbreaking in announcing the following,

And so now it is time to say goodbye and read with the innumerable other resources in the world. The ICDL has been our labor of love, and we will always remember these books, the volunteers, libraries, publishers, and readers around the world with great fondness.

Keep reading!

http://childrenslibrary.org/

How has this distressing “goodbye” been received? Although ICDL only introduces two Arabic books for children, which is sad because no one among the Founders made the effort to include more, it is still unfortunate that a multicultural repository of such magnitude has no future.

Not wanting to believe that this is the case, we searched the internet and first found the Ames Free Library: Where the Community Meets” https://www.amesfreelibrary.org/international-childrens-digital-library; secondly, the International Children’s Digital Library affiliated with University of Prince Edward Island (https://library.upei.ca/icdl); thirdly, the International Children’s Digital Library affiliated with the Department of Education, South Australia; and there might be more. They are digital libraries with the same name: International Children’s Digital Library and the same acronym ICDL. The first has this link: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/leading to the page with the extracts quote above. One can only assume that they all provide books and multimedia information to encourage children to read and learn.

Druin’s observations about the International Children's Digital Library are helpful for this project because his first recommendation that collections of books, stories and works should be available for children is important. In time, more material should be added as a second step to enrich the library. Thirdly, diversity in the subjects that are made available is vital. By referring to the works that address all the 17 UN Goals of Sustainable Development will fulfill this task. Finally, children belonging to different countries and cultures can interact and communicate with each other through the Library.

Digital libraries in Egypt

What follows is a list of the most prominent Arab studies in the field of digital libraries for children in a chronological narrative:

Iman Fawzy Omar. Websites of Egyptian Children’s Libraries on the Internet: a Study of Reality and Planning for the Future. Supervised by Soheir Mahfouz, Randa Ibrahim. Cairo: E. F, 2005 (MA thesis, Department of Library and Information, Helwan University) http://aplis.cybrarians.info/index.php/abstracts/365-2009-05-05-09-49-00.

The researcher pointed out the scarcity of studies dealing with the creation and evaluation of pages and websites of public and school children’s libraries on the internet. The study also focuses on the characteristics of the following terms: content, structure, design, form, and output, at a time when there is an interest in creating pages and offering services to children through the sites of Egyptian public and school libraries. The study suggested the need to develop children’s pages on the sites of public libraries and Egyptian school sites currently available on the internet, and to create pages for children on the sites of school libraries currently available on the internet. It encourages the creation of pages for the websites of public and school children’s libraries through the organization of competitions by interested parties such as the Integrated Care Association, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Youth. The researcher also suggested that a group of agencies related to the development of libraries host the pages of public children’s libraries, such as the Integrated Care Association, the General Egyptian Book Organization, and the Information and Decision Support Center of the Council of Ministers. In addition, the Ministry of Education website needs to allocate space for library pages on public and private school websites, as well as to train children’s library specialists to design, manage and follow-up websites to participate in the design and creation of children’s and youth pages in public and private school children's libraries. The researcher requested that the content of the pages of children’s libraries include three basic functions: introduce the library or the children’s section, provide appropriate services and resources for them, and include links to appropriate sources for them and those interested in them, namely parents, psychologists, and teachers.

The researcher stressed that the main language of the pages of public and school children’s libraries must be Arabic, with the addition of a copy or an introduction in the language that the officials deem appropriate for the needs of the beneficiaries. This researcher also emphasizes the importance of providing links to appropriate Arabic sources of information, keeping the site up to date, and including metadata in both Arabic and English to facilitate access to the content. Finally, making the digital library available to the differently abled is vital.

Muhammed Ibrahim Hassan Muhammed. “Designing Children's Digital Libraries -Arab Childhood Journal” [Kuwait]. MG 6, p. 23 (June 2005) https://goo.su/oJGqZPh.

Hashem Farhat. The International Children's Digital Library: A Case Study – Recent Trends in Libraries and Information, Vol. 15, No. 29 - January 2008.

Aya Salem Ahmed Hefny. The Use of Digital Libraries for Children: A Field Study on Middle School Students, Department of Libraries and Information, Fayoum University. https://www.academia.edu/10275728/The_use_of_Digital_Libraries_for_Children_An_Empirical_Study_on_the_Prep_School_Students.

Basant Fouad Zaki. Children’s Digital Libraries Projects, Supervised by Zain El-Din Abdel-Hadi, Soheir Ahmed Mahfouz. Helwan: B.Z., 2011 (MA thesis, Department of Libraries and Information, Helwan University).

http://db4.eulc.edu.eg/eulc_v5/Libraries/Thesis/BrowseThesisPages.aspx?fn=PublicDrawThesis&BibID=11211145.

Laila Hassan Sabah. Building children’s digital libraries using content management systems: an experimental/survey study. Supervised by Talal Nazim Al-Zuhairi. Baghdad: L.P., 2013 (MA thesis, Department of Information Science, Al-Mustansiriya University), published in the Iraqi Journal of Information Technology, Volume 5, Issue 2, 2013 AD. Available at the following address: https://www.iasj.net/iasj/download/acdcdf277f2e6ee4.

The study deals with projects for creating digital children’s libraries. The researcher uses the experimental method in several schools. A sample of 150 male and female students was taken from private schools. The sample included 10 schools, with 15 students per class. The researcher conducted a comprehensive survey of the sites of digital children's libraries and reached the following conclusions: (1) the works are not intellectually stimulating to children. (2) many schools did not have libraries. (3) librarians did not play a significant role. The researcher made a few recommendations, the most important of which are: (1) Activating the Public Libraries and School Libraries Law. (2) Teaching children's literature and journalism in the Information and Libraries Department is necessary to identify the components of children’s libraries. (3) Teaching content management systems because they are useful in digital libraries. (4) The participation and cooperation of children in libraries can be productive, through selecting and designing library topics of discussion to encourage them to write and compose digital library material, as well as publish their work on the pages of the digital library. One of the promising Arab projects in this field is the Abu Dhabi Children’s Library, which offers new and interesting books for children to read daily, as well as multimedia, a video library, interactive programs and many fun activities. (Abu Dhabi Children's Library, 2019).

Secondly: the portal of the digital library of Arab children's culture for the sustainable development project

System design

The system/architectural design of the digital library of Arab children's culture for sustainable development (DLACSD) consists of two levels, the first is the application level while the second is the database. The application level is the front-end of the system, which allows interacting with users and presenting the content and features of the library. Typically, this level includes a User Interface (UI) (Stone et al., 2005) that allows users to browse and search the content, as well as features of the library, such as a list of the books which align with UNSDGs, the digital story, and the complete biographical list of the works by Abdel-Tawab Youssef. The application level also includes other components such as who created this digital library (in a “Who are We?” section), other digital libraries, and social media sharing. The database level is the back-end of the system, which stores and manages the content and metadata of the library. This level typically includes a database management system (DBMS) (Maier et al., 1986) and a data model that defines the structure of the data being stored. The database level is responsible for storing, organizing, and retrieving the content and metadata of library, and also includes features such as backup and recovery, performance optimization, and security.

Overall, the DLACSD is designed to provide a user-friendly interface for accessing and interacting with the content of the library, together with ensuring the reliability, security, and scale of the system.

The application level

The UI of the application is implemented by means of a variety of technologies, such as HTML (Raggett et al., 1999), CSS (Duckett, 2011), and JavaScript (Guhan et al., 2010) for the front-end web-based application and PHP (Welling and Thomson, 2003) for the back-end web-based application. Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the front-end of the web-based application allows for the creation of a visually appealing and interactive UI. Using PHP for the back-end enables the UI to communicate with the database level and retrieve data whenever needed. The UI is designed with usability and accessibility in mind, to ensure that any user can easily navigate through the different features of the library. The UI supports many types of user groups, be they children, parents, researchers, teachers, librarians, psychologists or simply those who surf the internet.

Supporting multiple user types, such as children, parents, researchers, and common users may require the UI to include different features and functionality based on the needs and preferences of each user group. For example, the UI for children may include simpler navigation and larger buttons to make it easier for them to use, while the UI for parents may be able to customize their experience within the DLACS portal. This can happen by setting preferences for content recommendations or choosing a specific language or theme for them or their children. Researchers may include more advanced search and filtering options to help them find specific content more easily.

Overall, the goal of the UI is to provide a seamless and intuitive experience for users, regardless of their user type, so that they can easily access and interact with the content. Figures 1–5 introduce screenshots of the different sections of the DLACSD portal.

The database level

The database level is the back-end of the DLACSD system, which stores and manages the content and metadata of the library. This level typically includes a database management system (DBMS) and a data model that defines the structure of the data being stored. The DBMS used in the research is MYSQL (Welling and Thomson, 2003). A popular open-source DBMS that is widely used for a variety of applications, MYSQL is a software program that is responsible for managing the database, including storing, organizing, and retrieving data as needed. The type of DBMS used in this research is relational databases, which store data in tables with rows and columns format. The data model (Simsion and Witt, 2004) is a conceptual representation of the data being stored in the database, including the types of data, the relationships between different types of data, and the rules for storing and manipulating the data. The data model helps to ensure that the data is structured logically and consistently, making it easier to store, retrieve, and query the data as needed.

The data model is a crucial part of the database level, as it defines the types of data that will be stored in the database and the relationships between them. A well-designed data model helps to ensure that the data is structured logically and consistently, making it easier to store, retrieve, and query the data as needed. Figure 6 presents the data model of DLACSD so far.

Overall, the database level of DLACSD is responsible for storing, organizing, and retrieving the content and metadata of the library, and is designed to be efficient, reliable, and secure.

Thirdly, digital libraries in Egypt

Because a list of the digital libraries in Egypt is not readily available to Egyptians, here it is. This list provides evidence that the material on the internet in Arabic for children is limited, and hence this project does fill a gap. More work in this direction is vital. Table 1 presents a list of Egyptian digital libraries.

Fourthly: Youssef and the UN sustainable development goals

Although the term Sustainable Development was first used in 1980, it is in 1992 that The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was established. In September 2015 world leaders at the UN agreed to adopt and apply the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The website of the United Nations states that in January 2016 the 2020–2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development became officially in force: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/Egypt is one of the countries that supported this initiative and encouraged all institutions to work on these goals. In Egypt, the interest in the UN Goals of Sustainable Development started when during Egyptian President Abdelfattah Elsisi took part in a UN meeting in New York on 26th September 2019 and announced that Sustainable Development is on top of the list of the national Egyptian priorities. Reading this piece of news in the Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Ahram aroused my curiosity to start a journey to explore whether Abdel-Tawab Youssef, who passed away in 2015, had a futuristic vision in writing for Egyptian and Arab children that led him to address some of these goals. And the discovery was: indeed, he did. A bibliography of his works is included in his autobiography that was published posthumously by The General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO 2022), listing more than one thousand one hundred books. It is impossible to provide an exhaustive list that classifies his books with the 17 UN Goals of Sustainable Development (UNSDG) in mind. The list below, however, provides evidence that he covered all 17 goals, but quality education (goal 4) was his most serious concern. Table 2 list samples of Youssef’s works classified according to the UNSDGs.

Finally: Youssef and the Dublin Core Elements

To avoid copyright infringement, the team working on this project decided to provide information on Youssef’s books through making use of the Dublin Core Elements. A team of assistant lectures conducting research at Cairo University in the field of literature, namely Enjy Mito, Hend Elhady, Mona Abdelrahman and Najwa Ibrahim and Huda Gamal worked on this task. They joined forces and discussed the definitions of the Dublin Core Elements. Tables 3–9 presents different stories with Dublin Core Elements for each story.

UNSDG 1: No Poverty.

UNSDG 5: Gender Equality.

UNSDG 15: Life on Land.

Goal 3:Good Health and Well-being.

Goal 4:Quality Education.

Goal 8:Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Goal 10: Reduced Inequality.

Goal 11:Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Goal 12:Responsible Consumption and Production.

UNSDG 3: Good health and well-being.

UNSDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure.

UNSDG 12: Responsible consumption and production.

UNSDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities.

UNSDG 15: Life on Land.

These samples provide evidence that Youssef’s works address all the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is, however, beyond the scope of this paper to discuss in depth which goals Youssef dealt with more than others or how each goal is addressed. These points and others can be the focus of attention of future research.

Conclusion

The Digital Library of Arab Children's Culture for Sustainable Development (DLACSD) is a system designed to provide access to a wide range of cultural and educational content for children in the Arab region and can be used all over the world. It is designed to provide a user-friendly and feature-rich interface for accessing and interacting with the content, while also ensuring the reliability, security, and scalability of the system. Intended to support a variety of user types, it can hopefully encourage children and researchers alike to submit work that can enrich it with original content. The creation of the DLACSD portal involved a process. First, the authors designed a two-tier architecture, separating the use-interface application level from the management of the database level. In the second step, they focused on crafting the application level user interface (UI) using web development technologies HTML, CSS, and Javascript. This ensured an attractive and interactive experience for users. Finally, they tackled the database level, choosing a MySQL database management system (DBMS) to store and organize the content of the library and metadata efficiently. Underpinning this entire process was the creation of a data model, a blueprint that defines how data is structured and organized within the database, ensuring smooth retrieval and storage of information.

Making sure that the DLACSD is user-friendly to both children and adults was of paramount importance. Usability testing includes actual users representing various age groups such as children, parents, librarians, psychologists, teachers, scholars or even college students who are looking for some educational material in both Arabic and English in on online libraries. The UI serves different types of users in terms of age categories; hence children’s interfaces have easier navigation as well as bigger buttons; at the same time parents might introduce some suggestions for what they intend their children to read by selecting the language and the theme of the DLACSD portal. Some researchers might prefer to search for information using filters. Teachers might prefer to discuss certain books that discuss specific sustainable development goals depending on what students are interested in or what certain lessons focus on. Once the DLACSD is online, putting the material to the test among users from around the world is feasible. At another stage of this project in the future, members of the team can encourage children, teachers, libraries and others to share stories, plays, songs or digital books that can be integrated to enlarge and enrich the scope of this library. Children and youngsters can create digital books like the one cited here or videos that can be educational and entertaining. New members can join the DLACSD team to identify areas for improvement even after launching the Library to the public. The exchange of ideas can be refreshing, exciting and rewarding for everyone involved. The system may feature recommendation engines, analytics tools, and social media integration to enhance the user experience. There may be opportunities to expand and improve upon the DLACSD system. For example, additional content and features could be added to the library, or the system could be integrated with other platforms and resources to provide even more value to users. Additionally, ongoing maintenance and updates may be needed to ensure that the system remains reliable and effective over time.

Figures

Figure 1

Section 1 of the DLACS portal has a gallery slider and the objectives of the project

Figure 2

Section 2 of the DLACSD portal: “Who are we?” who are the assistants?

Figure 3

Section 3 of the DLACS portal includes the available services and digital libraries links

Figure 4

Section 4 of the DLACSD portal includes books aligned with SDG

Figure 5

Section 5 of the DLACSD portal includes the search engine and a view of a single-story page

Figure 6

Data model for DLACSD system

Table 1

Egyptian digital libraries

Table 2

Samples of Youssef’s works classified according to the UNSDGs

Table 3

The scarecrow

Table 4

Planet of youngsters

Table 5

My father: an Egyptian teacher

Table 6

A challenging test difficult challenging

Table 7

A unique encounter: Al-Hassan Ibn Al-Haytham meets Isaac Newton

Table 8

A handful of sand from Sinai

Table 9

Abou Lamaa

Supplementary material

The supplementary material for this article can be found online.