The Digital Assets Repository (DAR) is an eco-system of components developed by the ICT sector at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) to create an institutional repository maintaining the Library’s digital collections. DAR accommodates and archives any media type due to its flexible architecture. Moreover, it provides public access to digitized collections through a web-based search and browsing facility.
DAR has been built mainly to support the creation, use and preservation of a variety of digital resources. It provides management tools which facilitate the process of creating, managing and sharing of the Library’s digital assets. The system is based on evolving standards and can easily be integrated with other systems.
The BA provides access to books whose copyrights have fully expired through the DAR website. As for books that remain under active copyright protection, access to them is limited to on-site use within the Library building. This measure aims to strike a balance between providing access to knowledge and respecting authors’ rights.