The Specialised Information Service (FID)

The Specialised Information Service (FID) Middle East-, North Africa- and Islamic Studies provides highly specialised research materials from the countries of the MENA region for German researchers. It is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and has been maintained by the University and State Library Saxony-Anhalt since 2016.

Acquisitions

We acquire literature from the countries of the Near East and North Africa that is difficult to access mainly in the original language and make this highly specialised sources permanently available.

This is done on the one hand traditionally via the interlibrary loan of the ULB Saxony-Anhalt for printed materials. However, increasingly, we deliver documents digitally as Open Access or as licenses for the scientific FID community.

The Virtual Library MENALIB provides central access to our holdings, offers and services.

Range of Subjects

The FID Middle East-, North Africa- and Islamic Studies sees itself as a partner for a number of smaller, philologically, religiously and regionally oriented disciplines that belong to the Oriental Studies. These include

Regional Orientation

Map of the MENA region

Regionally, our collection covers the following countries:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan (Republic of Sudan), Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, West Sahara, Yemen

Orientation of Content

In terms of content, our focus is on the areas of religious studies, history, political and social sciences as well as linguistics and literature in the above-mentioned regions.

Community

In order to align our service to the needs of research, the FID team is in close contact with the scientific community, regularly organizes road shows, and is in contact with experts via social media.

Due to current events…

We kindly ask for your understanding that the Specialist Information Service (FID) will not make any comments or statements on current political affairs.

The FID provides German Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies with research-relevant literature from the MENA region as well as with academic services.

The MENALIB website and the Twitter channel serve to promote the FID’s own services and to communicate with the academic community. They are not a platform for the personal opinions of FID team members.