News

We are delighted to share with you that the Library of Congress and the Program in Islamic Law have initiated a collaborative effort to “identify, select and assess the copyright status of materials focusing on national legal gazettes.”

Initially set for three years, the collaboration will focus on the legal analysis of Library of Congress’ collections related to Islamic law.  As part of the joint effort, following copyright clearance, the Library of Congress will make the selected materials accessible for online use, with the Program in Islamic Law being able to repost the same content, rendering them accessible to the Harvard community and beyond.

The Program in Islamic Law is also working on developing an AI-powered search tool, “SEARCHstrata,” to assist researchers in generating more effective search results that will include bibliographic metadata (e.g. peoples, titles, places) related to users’ searches.  The Law Library at the Library of Congress has agreed to serve in an advisory capacity to help develop this search tool.

Commenting on the joint collaboration, PIL Faculty Director, Professor Intisar Rabb stated: “This collaborative effort with the Library of Congress will expand access to and insights from the extensive and growing collection of primary sources at the Library, which provide the essential grist for the transformative work of any researcher, historian, and lawyer.”