NO LIST AVAILABLE

RESCUING LIBYAN MUSEUMS FROM AFRICOM’S

OBLIVIOUS:

THE JAMAHIRIYA MUSEUM OF TRIPOLI

Pilar Gonzalo

http://libyanmuseums.wikispaces.com

Museum Technologies. Fall 2006

M.A. in Museum Professions

2

Index

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3

1.1. Purpose of the research ............................................................................................. 3

1.2. Methodology ............................................................................................................. 4

1.3. Main Contextual Issues ............................................................................................. 6

1.3.1. Africa, AFRICOM and Libya ....................................................................... 6

1.3.2. Internet in Libya and Libya in Internet ......................................................... 8

1.3.3. Web2.0 as an Alternative .............................................................................. 10

1.3.4. Impact on Museum Professions .................................................................... 10

2. IDENTIFICATION: Detection and listing of Museums in Libya ..................................... 11

3. MAPPING: Geographical Identification of Museums in Libya ........................................ 15

4. STANDARDIZATION: Organization of the Online Information about the Jamahiriya

Museum of Tripoli ............................................................................................................. 16

4.1. General Information .................................................................................................. 20

4.2. The Building ............................................................................................................. 20

4.3. History ...................................................................................................................... 20

4.4. Archive ..................................................................................................................... 19

4.5. The Collection .......................................................................................................... 21

4.6. Images ....................................................................................................................... 21

4.7. Virtual Tour .............................................................................................................. 21

4.8. Jamahiriya‟s Blog ..................................................................................................... 21

4.9. Research .................................................................................................................... 21

4.10. About Libya .............................................................................................................. 21

4.11. Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................... 22

5. PUBLICATION: Online Posting of the Research ............................................................. 23

6. References .......................................................................................................................... 24

3

1. Introduction

1.1. PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH

This research will address two starting facts, the first is the lack of information about

museums in Libya available in the website of the International Council of African Museums

(AFRICOM,) and the second is the apparent lack of museum websites in Libya. As a

consequence of this, the objective of this study is overcoming both realities through,

Complementing AFRICOM´s website by compiling, structuring, and improving the

information available online about museums in Libya

Gathering, locating and mapping in a reference document the museums in Libya

Overcoming the gaps of Web1.0 by using a methodology based on Web2.0 tools as a

flexible, interactive and participative alternative option

Raising awareness about the online situation of Libyan Museums in comparison with

other areas of the world by showing how uneven and disperse is the information about

them

Underlining the importance and role of the Jamahiriya Museum at Tripoli and

improving its online visibility for an international and local audience

Proving Web2.0 academic usefulness as a valid and effective research tool

Encouraging museum professionals about the use of Web2.0 tools as an inexpensive

ways of overcoming lack of IT personnel or electronic technology

Creating a methodology model for small museums and museums from developing

countries which can afford for several reasons design and keep a website

Finally, creating a reference document which will be subsequently published online

under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share Alike License

4

Accordingly to these objectives, the final goal of this research is achieving an

academic reference document on Libyan Museums, focused on the specific example of

Jamahiriya Museum at Tripoli, which intends to be a reference on the field of Libyan

Museums as well as a model for other museums located or involved in realities in which

having a website is a very difficult task. I will make a difference by accomplishing a primary

investigation and elaborating a reference study that will be made available online for

researchers, professionals and people interested in museums and Libyan culture. After this

research, the sentence “No List Available” will become an outdated portrayal of the museums

of Libya.

1.2. METHODOLOGY

This study is structured in four main steps (Identification, Mapping, Standardization,

and Publication.) The following steps,

Identifying what and where are the Museums in Libya: search online and offline

Listing them, specifying their location, and checking in a more specific way (by using

their names) their presence online in case some of them had their own website

Placing the museums on the map of Libya

Elaborating a reference document about the Jamahiriya Museum by using a basic

template resembling a standard museum website, and providing in this way

systematized contents available online

Making conclusions and best practices recommendations

As stated before, the approach to this challenging topic will be done by using Web2.0

tools as a flexible, interactive and participative alternative option to other traditional research

methods and information sources, that in the specific case of Libyan Museums an according

to their apparent lack of websites, seemed to be not enough effective. The idea is overcoming

5

the weakness of Web1.0 –as the apparent lack of museum websites in Libya reveals in

addition to the lack of information available in the website of the AFRICOM – and being able

to access other online information resources about museums in Libya. I will accomplish this

goal by using the alternative options that Web2.0 main tools provide. The ones used in this

research are,

Flickr: Photosharing engine

Wikipedia: Collaborative encyclopedia based on wiki technology

YouTube: Videosharing engine

Google Video Beta: Videosharing engine (in transition to be joined to YouTube as a

unique source)

Technorati: Informational syndication engine about post on blogs

del.icio.us: Sharing engine of bookmarked online references

The highlights of these selected services are, in general terms,

Being sharing and collaborative information services, which potentially provides

more personal visions and information than regular Web1.0 services

Syndication options for updating information, which avoids cumbersome and time-

consuming searches in the wide and increasingly growing world wide web

Tools for specific searches, which also can be syndicated

Their popularity among internet users, which assures a big scope on the searches in

addition to diverse and big sized potential information range

In addition to this Web2.0 tools, this research will also use another online resources:

search engines such as Google and Google Scholar as well as online data bases (Art Index,

art full Text, Lexis Nexis, and Groove Art Online.)

6

Finally, other offline sources (regular academic ones such as, books, articles and

publications) will be used to polish and complete the information gathered.

1.3. MAIN CONTEXTUAL ISSUES

1.3.1. Africa, AFRICOM, and Libya

Regarding to museums activities and even a general international interest and focus, I

could be said that Africa is the forgotten continent. Despite its enormous size, Africa‟s

international presence is remarkable low. This fact affects to all aspects of daily life in those

areas in which hunger, wars or illnesses are letting Africans develop their lives. In this

context, speaking about internet and digital technologies could seem unnecessary and even

shallow. However, it is my belief that improving the professional environment of African

museums could be a way of improving life in Africa.

Regarding internet, in Africa there is a significant lack of developed technical

infrastructure, which increases even more the lower levels of Africa‟s international presence.

According to Ken Feingold1, the main problems to access the web in most parts of the web

are,

Local phone service is metered and most internet providers charge for time or data

transferred (not only expense of time but also money)

Bandwidth severe limited

Need of specially configured browsers and hardware

1 Feingold, Ken. “ERROR 404: File not Found.” Leonardo Special Issue. Fifth Annual New York Digital Salon.

17 Nov. – 13 Dec. 1997, School of Visual Arts, New York. pp. 449-490.

7

This will have a major impact not only on the topic itself but also on the research

process, as it is fundamentally based on online published information and on the use of

internet to gather the information needed and as a publishing goal itself.

Internet access could be considered a luxury in Africa, not to mention museums

owning websites with updated information. As a consequence of this, and even regardless to

budgets, museums in Africa seem not having enough tools to develop their presence online.

In addition to this, museums‟ potential online audiences share the same access and

online presence problem. The optimistic assumption that the Web is “Universally accessible”

turns into a very different reality in Africa. In addition to this, the motivation to do a major

effort in launching websites is lesser because creating online audiences for Art Museums in

Africa is a more than hard challenge.

However, all these technical difficulties that surely will come up during my research

process will also underline my commitment to do it. It is my belief that internet is one of the

best tools to implant in Africa as it permits to overcome expensive physical infrastructures

and the information can be speeded on real time all over the world. That is why I want to

contribute on that.

AFRICOM, the International Council of African Museums, was established in the

year 2000 as a result of the evolving of the program for Africa of the same name supported

by the International Council of Museums (ICOM.)2 It main mission is contributing to

improve and develop the museums‟ world in Africa. In accordance with Chapter IV, Article

19.1 of the AFRICOM Statues, the regions of Africa are defined as follows:

North Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Egypt

2 Abungu, Lorna. “From the Director…” Africom News, Issue #5, 2006.

8

East Africa: Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda,

Burundi

West Africa: Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra

Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria

Central Africa: Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial

Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Gabon, Sao Tomé

Southern Africa: Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana,

Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa

Indian Ocean Islands: Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion,

Mayotte

Consequently, Libya is one of the six countries of North Africa Region and it is under

the scope of AFRICOM‟s activities.

All the countries of the North Africa Region share with Libya certain characteristics,

their location on the Mediterranean coast which means the African connection with Europe

and Asia and an Arabic cultural background.

Libya is 90% Sahara Desert and hosts a population of no more than 6,000,000

habitants. The country is led by Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi under a dictatorial regime

since 1969 and its currency is stronger than the Euro. I can guess that the specific political

situation under a long dictatorship had part of responsibility in the current situation about its

museums and its websites. However, in case it is the reason for the internal situation,

AFRICOM should contribute to overcome it as it is part of their mission and, as this paper

will demonstrate, need of a bit of commitment and imagination.

1.3.2. Internet in Libya and Libya in Internet

As in the rest of Africa, internet in Libya is an important issue. Regarding to this, the

article, “Libya, The Internet in a Conflict Zone” is a good portrait of the internet status in

9

Lybia despite have been published in 2004. This article was published in the issue, “The

Internet in the Arab World. A New Space of Repression?” of the magazine of The Arabic

Network for Human Rights Information, and it underlines the close connection between

internet development in Libya and the political situation of the country under Mohammad

Muammar Al-Qadafi‟s dictatorship.

According to the text it seems that the situation is less repressive than in other

countries such as Saudi Arabia, although censorship in addition to banning and blocking

websites in opposition to the regime is a common practice,

It is difficult for the Libyan government to roll back the privileges it granted

its information society and to do what other Arab governments have done:

grant a single company a monopoly over Internet service provision so as to

limit the availability of oppositional websites and their impact on Libyan

citizens3.

Despite this presumed censorship climate, I personally do not find any reason to ban

Libyan Museums from the internet when, indeed, some of them are tributes to the

Mohammad Muammar Al-Qadafi‟s figure.

Possible reasons to ban Libyan Museums‟ online presence could be the nudity of

some of the Greek and Roman sculptures or just lack of interest on the topic. Another

explanation to this lack of websites and online presence of Libyan Museum could have no

connection with political issues and being just because of lack of technical infrastructure.

With the aim of avoiding speculations I contacted Ms. Lorna Abungu, Executive

Director of AFRICOM to get accurate information about the impact of the internet in Libya

on the Libyan Museums‟ online presence, as well as to know the specific reasons why these

museums are not listed by AFRICOM. Unfortunately, I did not receive any answer to my

question. However, in other occasions I have got quick and kind responses from AFRICOM‟s

3 “Libya, the Internet in a Conflict Zone.” The Internet in the Arab World. A New Space of Repression? Arabic

Network for Human Rights Information (http://www.hrinfo.net/en/reports/net2004/libya.shtml)

10

Executive Director, so I can infer that there is some issue between Libya and the

administration of AFRICOM and that is why Ms. Abungu did not answer my information

request email.

In addition to this absence in AFRICOM, Libya is not listed in the following

remarkable websites and institutions for African Culture,

Africalia: http://www.africalia.be

ICOM National Committees: http://icom.museum/nationals.html

Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa: http://ocpa.irmo.hr/index-en.html

Africa Union: http://www.africa-union.org

1.3.3. Web2.0 as an Alternative

Researching about a country such as Libya, deeply marked by its dictatorship and its

African-Arab condition and location, is researching about a very little trendy topic.

Accordingly, the academic sources are limited. On the other hand, and as noted in the article,

“Libya, The Internet in a Conflict Zone,”4 internet is a wonderful vehicle to avoid

establishment ways of information. That is why lots of websites opposed to the political

situation in Libya raised their voices from the outside.

Under the „web 2.0′ umbrella: blogs, wikis, Flickr, del.icio.us, and all kinds of

networking software are increasingly used in current life. Web2.0 tools -such as Flickr- are

based on the idea of exchange and collaboration and that is why these tools are becoming a

useful source for academic research on current or less popular topics.

In the case of Libyan Museums, not even listed by AFRICOM, an organization

specifically committed to the development of museums in Africa, the standardized

information available online is really limited. That is a strong reason to turn to Web2.0 as the

expression of individuals instead of established organizations.

4 “Libya, the Internet in a Conflict Zone.” Ibid.

11

1.3.4. Impact on Museum Professions

This research is important to museum professionals because it will constitute a

reference document in the field. There is lack of organized and updated online information

about of museums in Libya. A document like this will facilitate access to basic information of

Libyan Museums to professionals from other parts of the world. In addition to this, it will

increase the sense of more cohesive museum environment among museums professionals at

Libya.

In addition to this, providing museums, museum professionals, researchers, and art

dealers with a reference tool about Libyan Museums will surely contribute to deter the illegal

trade in artworks from this area of the world. In fact, Kamal Shtewi, main responsible of the

Jamahiriya Museum has denounced the lack of security in the museum as well as the looting

risk and he demands more security cameras inside the building. According to Rana Jawad in

the article “Libia teme por su patrimonio robado,” this risk is not specific of the Jamahiriya

Museum: because of this the Sabratha Museum had to send its most valuable works to other

museums in Egypt5.

2. IDENTIFICATION: Detection and Listing of Museums in Libya

Libya is one of the six countries with not list of museums available in AFRICOM‟s

website, in addition to: Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome & Principe, and Somalia. The

reason for specifically choosing Libya among all them is because Libya shares more

similarities than any of the rest with my cultural background as a Spaniard. Regarding the

scope and time limitations of this paper, I thought it was the most feasible one.

5 Jawad, Rana. “Libia teme por su patrimonio robado.”BBC Tripoli Mundo, Cultura.“

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_4957000/4957662.stm)

12

Regarding the searching process, the idea of this study is not describing the

exploration practice, but the results. In other words, this paper only describes and analyzes

the results, as far as the searching process basically consisted on typing in search engines‟

boxes increasingly specific words as I was finding more specific information about the topic.

However, I can add a few notes about it.

The main portrayal about the searching process is that it has being really time-

consuming, as there was not any reference place from where starting the research. In addition

to this, the different languages used in Libya, as well as in the web, made this searching job

even more time-consuming and cumbersome.

Far to be easy, this work has been complicated and bulky, because of the lack of

information and reference sources of all kind. Although Web2.0 tools have been crucial to

find information about some of them, social tagging made my search process a compendium

of different languages, possibilities and imagination. In this sense, I have to finally mention

the idea of social tagging and folksonomy as one of the main features of Web2.0 tools.

Folkosonomy, as stated by Wikipedia English is,

A folksonomy is an Internet-based information retrieval methodology

consisting of collaboratively generated, open-ended labels that categorize

content such as Web pages, online photographs, and Web links. A folksonomy

is most notably contrasted from a taxonomy in that the authors of the labeling

system are often the main users (and sometimes originators) of the content to

which the labels are applied. The labels are commonly known as tags and the

labeling process is called tagging6.

Regarding my experience, although folkosonomy is useful and praiseworthy to offer

different perspectives and ways of understanding a unique reality, it has being revealed as a

fair inaccurate searching method. However, it is true that thanks to the social tagging7 I was

able to find information which would probably have been hidden to me. In this sense, the

6 “Folkosonomy.” Wikipedia, English. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy)

7 “Social Tagging.” Wikipedia, English. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_tagging)

13

promises of the pursued Semantic Web or Web3.0 to transform contents in to knowledge are

currently a chimera,

The Semantic Web is about two things. It is about common formats for

interchange of data, where on the original Web we only had interchange of

documents. Also it is about language for recording how the data relates to real

world objects. That allows a person, or a machine, to start off in one database,

and then move through an unending set of databases which are connected not

by wires but by being about the same thing.8

Despite the limitations of social tagging, which can be defined as an extensive source

instead and intensive one, it is my belief that imagination is probably one of the main tools

for researchers, especially when the specific study is a primary research like in this case.

Although cumbersome, I have to conclude that the searching process of museums has been a

real adventure. Whenever I found a museum totally “hidden” in Google or in academic

papers, the idea of being making a difference for museums and museum professionals, was

taking shape.

That is why I am really pleased about the results obtained, because they are a first step

in the Libyan Museums environment, complementary information for AFRICOM, and a

model for non wealthy institutions. This humble but significant step forward is the very value

of primary field investigations such as this.

After an intense and meticulous search on the cited Web2.0 tools, I have found

indications of the existence of the following museums in Libya,

Apollonia Museum, Apollonia

Cyrene Museum, Cyrene

Germa Museum, Germa

Ghadames Museum, Ghadames

Jamahiriya Museum, Tripoli

8 “Semantic Web.” World Wide Web Consortium. (http://www.w3.org/2001/sw)

14

Leptis Magna Museum, Leptis Magna

Museum of Islamic Art, Benghazi

Museum of Islamic Art, Tripoli

Qasr Libya Museum, Qasr Libya

Sabratha Museum, Sabratha

Slonta Museum, Slonta

Tocra Museum, Tocra

Tolmeita Museum, Al Marj

After this achievement, I consider that AFRICOM‟s website is not treating Libyan

Museums in equal terms as museums from other African countries. The absence of these

museums referenced in its website is something that should be changed on behalf of the

AFRICOM‟s main mission and the international museum environment.

15

3. MAPPING: Geographical Identification of Museums in Libya

After realizing that there are numerous and significant museums in Libya, moreover,

which are internationally competitive in terms of the quality of their collections, it is my

belief that one of the Libyan Museums‟ most urgent needs is projecting a professional group

image. In this sense, one of the first steps is achieving a group image by placing them on

Libya‟s map and providing accurate directions. According to this, I have created an

interactive map which not only locate the different Libyan Museum settlements, but also

provides basic information about each one available in Web2.0 tools.

16

4. STANDARDIZING: Organization of Online Information about the

Jamahiriya Museum of Tripoli

One of the main highlights regarding the research process on the Jamahiriya Museum

of Tripoli is the different names used to denominate it. These are the different denominations

found,

Tarabulus Museum

Museum of Tripoli

National Museum of Tripoli

Jamahiriya Museum

Red Castle

Al-Saray Museum

Wonderful night image obtained from the website

http://www.q8castle.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8006&page=2 (This image only can be found if the search is

made in Arabic)

17

In fact, all these different names mean the same in some cases although in different

languages or refer to different uses and physical characteristics of the museum and/or the

building.

This lack of consensus in the way of calling this museum happens because of the

specific history of the building regarding its different uses and because of the multilingual

landscape of the city. In addition to this, Web2.0 tools use to offer a diverse approach to

topics as users are different and with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

The Jamahiriya Museum at Tripoli is an outstanding museum which unfortunately

does not have its own website. In addition to this, as stated before there is a shameful lack of

information about it by significant organizations focused on African culture and museums.

There are numerous proves about the importance of this museum. UNESCO, mentor

of this museum, has available online some of the documents about the creation of this

museum. The fist one is a preparatory study made in 1977 titled “National Republic Museum

of Libya” elaborated by: Jan Jelikek, Ivan Ruller and Peter Sewell as a commission for

UNESCO9. Another document available online regarding UNESCO‟s commitment with the

Jamahiriya Museum is, “Agricultural Galleries Planned for the Libyan National Museum: an

interview with Dr. Jan Jelinek.10

,” which depicts the specific plans for these galleries and

their significance. In addition to this, UNESCO is publishing online the address given by Mr

9 Jelinek, Jan; Ruller Ivan and Peter Sewell. “National Republic Museum of Libya.” UNESCO, 1977.

(http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0002/000248/024894eb.pdf)

10 Jelinek, Jan. “Agricultural Galleries Planned for the Libyan National Museum: an interview with Dr. Jan

Jelinek.” Museum, #143, vol. XXXVI, nº 3, 1984. UNESCO.

(http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001273/127342eo.pdf#60790)

18

Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Director-General of Unesco, on the occasion of the inauguration

of the National Museum of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in Tripoli, 10 September 198811

.

There are also some articles underlining Jamrihiya‟s significant role and collection, as

the titled, “The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Museum: A first in the Arab World” written by

Mounir Bouchenaki at the magazine Museum published by UNESCO12

.

These are some examples of how standard academic sources can prove the importance

of this museum in addition to the fact that its absence on the AFRICOM‟s website is

something not fair according to its quality.

But not only academic sources are giving proves about the relevance of Jamahiriya‟s

collection. According to Wikipedia, “The Jamahiriya Museum, built in consultation with

UNESCO, may be the country's most famous museum. It houses one of the finest collections

of classical art in the Mediterranean”13

In addition to this, sources from tourist companies use to depict Jamahiriya‟s quality.

The following information is an extract from the Lonely Planet Online Guide “Libyan

Eclipse 2006”14

,

11 Mayor Zaragoza, Federico. “Inauguration of the National Museum of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Keynote

Address.” UNESCO. Tripoli, 10 September, 1988.

(http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000805/080502eo.pdf)

12 Bouchenaki, Mounir. “The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Museum: A first in the Arab World.” Museum, #143, vol.

XXXVI, nº 3, 1984. UNESCO. (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000857/085703eo.pdf#85688)

13 “Libya.” Wikipedia. English. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya#_note-56)

14 “Libyan Eclipse 2006.” Tripoli and the Northwest. Lonely Planet.

(http://www.lonelyplanet.com/journeys/feature/pdf/libyan_eclipse.pdf)

19

One of the finest collections of classical art in the Mediterranean is housed in

Tripoli‟s Jamahiriya Museum (Phone: 3330292; Martyrs Sq; adult/child

3/1LD, camera/video 5/10LD; h9am-1pm Tue-Sun). Built in consultation with

Unesco, it‟s extremely well designed and provides a comprehensive overview

of all periods of Libyan history. If time is limited, you may want to restrict

yourself to those galleries that provide context to the places you‟re most likely

to visit. Most of the galleries are located on the ground floor, which covers,

among other subjects: Saharan rock art (Gallery 4); the Garamantian empire of

Wadi al-Hayat (Gallery 5); artefacts from Cyrene and Greek Libya (Galleries

7 and 8); and the exceptional displays covering Roman Leptis Magna and

Sabratha (Gallery 9). On the 2nd floor, the sections on Islamic architecture

(Galleries 15 to 19) and the Libyan ethnographic exhibits (Gallery 20), with

some fine sections on Ghadames, are also excellent. The museum once formed

part of the 13,000-sq-metre Al-Saraya al-Hamra (Tripoli Castle or Red Castle;

Phone: 3330292; Martyrs Sq; adult/child 3/1LD, camera/video 5/10LD; h.

9am-1pm Tue-Sun), which represented the seat of power in Tripolitania from

the 7th until the 20th centuries. Tripoli Castle has a separate entrance.

If tourist guides are able to report about this museum, there is no apparently logical

explanation to AFRICOM‟s lack of information about this museum. To solve this issue, I

have compiled all the significant information available online about this museum and I have

imitated the structure of a standard museum website. With this document I try to prove that

not only there is information about this museum, but also that common people‟s initiatives

are in this case more insightful and helpful than some of the organizations supposed to be in

charge of Libyan Museums.

The following is the map with all the relevant information I was aware of as it looks

in the interactive presentation. Below, there are listed the contents and their links.

20

General Information

• Location: http://www.world66.com/lib/map/handle?loc=africa|libya|tripoli

• Hours and Admission: http://www.world66.com/africa/libya/tripoli/museums/castlemuseum

• The African Alhambra: http://www.ciao.es/Castillo_rojo_de_Tripoli_Assai_al_Hamra_Tripoli__Opinion_107

9073

The Building

• Image of the Old Building: http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Africa/Libya/West/Tarabulus/Tripoli/photo378556.

htm

• Images of the New Building:

http://archnet.org/library/images/thumbnails.tcl?location_id=2400

• Architect: http://archnet.org/library/parties/one-party.tcl?party_id=586

• Documents: http://archnet.org/library/pubdownloader/pdf/4708/doc/dpt0652.pdf

History

• A First in the Arab World:

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000857/085703eo.pdf#85688

21

Archive

• Preparatory Study by UNESCO (1977): http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0002/000248/024894eb.pdf

• Agricultural Galleries Planned for the Libyan National Museum: an interview

with Dr. Jan Jelinek: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001273/127342eo.pdf#60790

• Address by Mr Federico Mayor, Director-General of Unesco, on the occasion of

the inauguration of the National Museum of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

(Tripoli, 10 September 1988): http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000805/080502eo.pdf

The Collection

• Contents and Distribution:

http://www.araldodeluca.com/root/campagne/scheda.asp?lingua=ING&id=62

• The National Museum at the Guardian Unlimited: http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2006/mar/09/libya

Images

• Set at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/h4ppy/sets/72057594134911178/

• Mosaic Atlas:

http://www.mosaicatlas.com/atlassite.aspx?RegionID=74&LocationID=240

• Jorge Tutor Set 1: http://www.jorgetutor.com/libia/tripolimuseo1/tripolimuseo.htm

Set 2: http://www.jorgetutor.com/libia/tripolimuseo2/tripolimuseo.htm

• Galen Frysinger: http://www.galenfrysinger.com/tripoli_libya_museum.htm

• Ioannis Logiotatidis: http://www.pbase.com/logios/museum

• Wild Focus Images: http://www.wildfocusimages.com/gallery/829593

• Trek Earth:

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Africa/Libya/West/Tarabulus/Tripoli/photo497749.

htm

Virtual Tour

• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b79LjYI0BY

Jamahiriya’s Blog

• Tripoli and the Outstanding Jamahiriya Museum:

http://www.h4ppy.com/blog/2006/04/tripoli-and-outstanding-jamahiriya.html

Research

• The Society for Libyan Studies: http://www.britac.ac.uk/institutes/libya/index.html

• Archaeological and Cultural Trips: http://www.farhorizon.com/Africa/libya-

archaeology-culture.htm

• Les Richesses Archeologiques de la Lybie:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-

7571032763416162868&q=valpard&pl=true

• Jamahiriya Fighting Looting in Libyan Museums:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_4957000/4957662.stm

• UNESCO: Museums in the Arab States: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-

URL_ID=26399&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

22

About Libya

• Geography: http://www.maplibrary.org/stacks/Africa/Libya/index.asp

• Culture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Libya

• Photographic Tour of Libyan Museums:

http://www.montada.com/showthread.php?p=3788760

• Libya in Images: http://www.peterlanger.com/Countries/Africa/Libya/index.htm

• Wold Heritage at Libya: http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ly

• Libya, the Land of the Colors: http://www.alnawi.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-

3231.html

Conclusions and Recommendations

The main conclusion obtained after my research is that by doing it, I have been able to

establish a starting online reference point for the academic environment and general public

interested in the Libya museum environment and specifically, the Jamahiriya Museum. In

addition to this, these are other specific conclusions,

The museum reality in Africa and Libya is rich, diverse and multilingual, and it is

directly affected by the need of a better technological infrastructure

There are numerous and significant museums in Libya, internationally competitive in

terms of the quality of their collections

The lack of information available online has no relation with the size and the quality

of Libyan museums‟ collections

Libyan Museums need to project a professional group image. One of the first steps

could be placing them on Libya‟s map and providing accurate directions.

The Jamahiriya Museum deserves a better placement in the international museum

landscape and a first step to achieve that should be creating a website

Standardization of the name of the museum: Choosing a clear name of the museum

and branding the museum.

Web2.0 tools are a proved way of gathering and offering information online when

other reasons are blocking online official information

Web2.0 tools can make a difference in the museum world. Small museums and/or

with small budgets can overcome the boundaries of expensive technologies by

approaching their presence online thanks to Web2.0 tools. In addition to this, their

23

embrace of such technologies will surely project a more engaging profile to their

audiences, as they will be aware that museums care about their visions and feedback.

Web2.0 can be a helpful academic source of information. In fact, now I can say that I

was able to transform all the individual initiatives online in a reference paper.

PUBLICATION: Online Posting of the Research

For disseminating the contents of this map and contributing to the goals of this paper,

I have posted online the map and the information about the Jamahiriya Museum of Tripoli.

For that purpose and addressing the main basis of these research based on Web2.0 tools, I

have chosen the wiki technology. That is why I have created a wikispace specifically focused

on the objectives of this paper that I have called Lybian Museum and I have made available

in this internet address,

http://libyanmuseums.wikispaces.com

In addition to this, I have done some postings online including this research as part of

the contents of my blog e-artcasting. Sociable Technologies in Art Museums (http://e-

artcasting.blogspot.com.) This blog is part of a whole research project called „lamusediffuse,‟

a collaborative team exploring the forms, impact, and possibilities of electronic technologies

in contemporary culture. “We are a group of Fulbright Scholars from different parts of the

World directed by Pilar Gonzalo, sharing a common interest in improving lives for

individuals by improving access to culture through digital technologies and their creations.”

Under this identity, I have disseminate this project in some blogs, such as,

Ly-Hub http://libyans.blogspot.com/2006/12/map-of-museums-in-libya.html

Museums on the Web http://conference.archimuse.com/blog/286

KhadijaTeri http://khadijateri.blogspot.com/2006/12/libyan-museums.html#comments

24

References

Websites

Archives and Museum Informatics http://www.archimuse.com

Art Museum Network http://www.amn.org

CIMI Consortium for the Computer Interexchange of Museum Information

http://www.cimi.org

Computers and the History of Art (CHArt) http://www.chart.ac.uk

del.icio.us http://del.icio.us/

Global Museum http://www.globalmuseum.org

Group on Museum Information Centres (CIDOC)

http://www.willpowerinfo.myby.co.uk/cidoc/infocent.htm

ICOM Handbook of Standards. Documenting African Collections

http://icom.museum/afridoc

ICOM Museum Directories List http://icom.museum/museum_directories.html

ICOM Red List Africa http://icom.museum/redlist/afrique/english/intro.html#redlist

International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

(ICCROM) http://www.iccrom.org

International Council of African Museums (AFRICOM) http://www.africom.museum

International Council of Museums (ICOM) http://icom.museum

Musematic http://www.musematic.net

Museum Computer Network http://www.mcn.edu

Museumblogs http://www.museumblogs.org

Museums and Computers Group http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk

Museums and the Web http://www.archimuse.com/conferences/mw.html

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) http://www.soas.ac.uk

Southern Africa Development Community Association of Museums & Monuments

(SADCAMM) http://icom.museum/affiliates/sadcamm.html

25

Swedish Africa Museum Program (SAMP)

http://www.natmus.cul.na/projects/samp/samp.htm

Technorati http://www.technorati.com

The Annual Journal of Record of the Society for Libyan Studies. Society for Libyan Studies,

London. http://www.britac.ac.uk/institutes/libya/libstud.html

UNESCO DigiArts Portal http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-

URL_ID=1391&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

http://www.unesco.org

Virtual Library Museum Pages. A Distributed Directory of Online Museums

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/icom/vlmp

Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org

Blogs

Digital Africa http://digitalafrica.blogspot.com

e-artcasting. Sociable Technologies in Art Museums http://e-artcasting.blogspot.com/

KhadijaTeri http://khadijateri.blogspot.com/2006/12/libyan-museums.html#comments

Ly-Hub http://libyans.blogspot.com/2006/12/map-of-museums-in-libya.html

Many2many. A Group Weblog on Social Software http://many.corante.com

Museums on the Web http://conference.archimuse.com/blog/286

Online References

“Folkosonomy.” Wikipedia, English. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy)

“Libya, The Internet in a Conflict Zone.” The Internet in the Arab World. A New Space of

Repression? Arabic Network for Human Rights Information

(http://www.hrinfo.net/en/reports/net2004/libya.shtml)

“Libya.” Wikipedia. English. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya#_note-56)

“Libyan Eclipse 2006.” Tripoli and the Northwest. Lonely Planet.

(http://www.lonelyplanet.com/journeys/feature/pdf/libyan_eclipse.pdf)

“Semantic Web.” World Wide Web Consortium. (http://www.w3.org/2001/sw)

“Social Tagging.” Wikipedia, English. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_tagging)

26

Abungu, Lorna. “AFRICOM: Connecting Africa's Heritage to the World,” Archives and

Museum Informatics: Museum and the Web 2006 Demonstration.

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/abstracts/prg_315000669.html

Abungu, Lorna. “From the Director…” Africom News, Issue #5, 2006.

Abungu, Lorna; Monda, Lwarence; Ombachi, Geroge. “Connectivity, Collaboration and

Culture: Challenges of African Museums on the Web,” Archives and Museum

Informatics: Museum and the Web 1999 Paper. pp. 1-7.

http://www.archimuse.com/mw99/papers/abungu/abungu.html

Africa Union (http://www.africa-union.org)

Africalia (http://www.africalia.be)

Bouchenaki, Mounir, (1989), "The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Museum: a first in the Arab

world", UNESCO, Museum Architecture: beyond the <<temple>> and ... beyond

(http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000857/085703eo.pdf#85688)

Feingold, Ken. “ERROR 404: File not Found.” Leonardo Special Issue. Fifth Annual New

York Digital Salon. 17 Nov. – 13 Dec. 1997, School of Visual Arts, New York. pp.

449-490.

Goodnow, Katherine J. & Natland, Yngvar. “Storytelling and the Web in South African

Museums,” Archives and Museum Informatics: Museum and the Web 2002 Paper.

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2002/papers/goodnow/goodnow.html

ICOM National Committees (http://icom.museum/nationals.html)

Jawad, Rana. “Libia teme por su patrimonio robado.”BBC Tripoli Mundo, Cultura.“

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_4957000/4957662.stm)

Jelinek, Jan. “Agricultural Galleries Planned for the Libyan National Museum: an interview

with Dr. Jan Jelinek.” Museum, #143, vol. XXXVI, nº 3, 1984. UNESCO.

(http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001273/127342eo.pdf#60790)

Jelinek, Jan; Ruller Ivan and Peter Sewell. “National Republic Museum of Libya.” UNESCO,

1977. (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0002/000248/024894eb.pdf)

Komen, Joris. “Lifevest under your seat - an African museum networking initiative takes

off,” Archives and Museum Informatics: Museum and the Web 1998 Abstract.

http://www.archimuse.com/mw98/abstracts/komen.html

Magara, Elisam. Digitisation of Community Indigenous Knowledge in Developing Countries:

A Strategy for Uganda, in J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds.). Museums and the Web

2005: Proceedings, Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics, published March 31,

2005 at http://www.archimuse.com/mw2005/papers/magara/magara.html

Mayor Zaragoza, Federico. “Inauguration of the National Museum of the Libyan Arab

Jamahiriya Keynote Address.” UNESCO. Tripoli, 10 September, 1988.

(http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000805/080502eo.pdf)

27

Meyer, Renate. “Digitising African Oral Narratives In a Global Arena,” Archives and

Museum Informatics: Museum and the Web 2004 Paper. pp. 1-12.

www.archimuse.com/mw2004/papers/meyer/meyer.html

Monda, Lawrence. “Kenya & the Web: Challenges of Connectivity,” Archives and Museum

Informatics: Museum and the Web 1999 Demonstration.

http://www.archimuse.com/mw99/abstracts/prg_1024.html

Monda, Lawrence. “The Game Prototype of the Kenyan Cultural Database,” Archives and

Museum Informatics: Museum and the Web 2001 Demonstration.

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2001/abstracts/prg_100000602.html

Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa (http://ocpa.irmo.hr/index-en.htm)

Pennington, Scott & Plichta, Bartek. “Bringing Less Commonly Spoken Language Resources

Online: Galleries of West African Culture and Languages,” Archives and Museum

Informatics: Museum and the Web 2003 Demonstration.

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2003/abstracts/prg_200000733.html

Rellie J., 10 Years On: Hopes, Fears, Predictions and Gambles for UK Museums On-line, in

J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds.). Museums and the Web 2006: Proceedings, Toronto:

Archives & Museum Informatics, published March 1, 2006 at

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/papers/rellie/rellie.1.html

Samis P. and Pau S., „Artcasting‟ at SFMOMA: First-Year Lessons, Future Challenges for

Museum Podcasters broad audience of use, in J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds.).

Museums and the Web 2006: Proceedings, Toronto: Archives & Museum

Informatics, published March 1, 2006 at

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/papers/samis.html

Von Appen K., Kennedy B. and Spadaccini J., Community Sites & Emerging Sociable

Technologies, in J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds.). Museums and the Web 2006:

Proceedings, Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics, published March 1, 2006 at

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/papers/vonappen.html

Printed references

Annabi, Chédia; Betu Kumetsu, Marcel; Chieze, Valérie [et al.]. Handbook of Standards:

Documenting African Collections. Paris: ICOM, 1996. Web Version

(http://icom.museum/afridoc)

Chieze, Valérie. “Computerized inventorying of museum collections in Africa.” Museum

International, UNESCO, Paris, n° 181 (vol. 46, n°1), 1994, pp.30-33.

Cubitt, Sean. “Orbis Tertius,” Third Text n. 47, Summer 1999. pp. 3-10.

Feingold, Ken. “Error 404: File not found,” Leonardo Special Issue. Fifth Annual New York

Digital Salon. 17 Nov. – 13 Dec. pp. 449-450.

28

Mubiana Luhila, Lydia and A. Koranteng, Alain Godounou. “New direction in Africa.”

Museum International, UNESCO, Paris, n° 188 (vol. 47, n°4), 1995, pp.28-34.

Négri, Vincent. Autonomy of Museums in Africa. Paris: ICOM, 1995.

Nnakenyi Arinze, Emmanuel. “African museums: the challenge of change.” Museum

International, UNESCO, Paris, n° 197 (vol. 50, n°1), 1998, pp. 31-37.

Oguibe, Olu. “The digital other. The Virtual Third World,” Flash Art, May-June 1999. p. 63.