The Joanina Digital Library
On October 3 2025, the University of Coimbra (UC) launched the Joanina Digital webpage on the UC Digitalis platform, making the holdings of this emblematic library available online, namely the pilot project results – focused on the digital collection dedicated to the Middle East (a valuable resource for research on the Portuguese presence in the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula).
The overall project, initiated in February 2024, aims to digitize and make available online, by 2030, around 30,000 volumes from the Main Floor of the Joanina Library, comprising a new archive of nearly 20 million images.
Testimonies
«This project to digitize around 30,000 volumes from the Noble Floor of the Joanina Library goes far beyond the simple transfer of books from paper to digital format. It represents a programmatic effort to enhance a unique collection, including the recovery of volumes in need of conservation and restoration. Joanina Digital is also an opportunity to project, into the digital realm, one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, while fostering innovative technical solutions and cutting-edge research, as befits a prestigious University.
Preserving the legacy of the past, responding to present challenges, and preparing for the future are central to our mission. That the University of Coimbra develops this project in partnership with the Sharjah Book Authority is a clear expression of the value of international cooperation in promoting culture, science, and shared knowledge.»
Amílcar Falcão, Rector of the University of Coimbra
«The Joanina Library carries the memory of centuries. Its walls and books speak of human effort, of minds that sought knowledge and wisdom. Preserving these works is not merely a task of keeping the past… it is a duty to the future. Knowledge must travel beyond the library to reach those who will build, guide, and renew nations. When the mind is nourished by learning, societies grow strong, and civilisations endure.
Sharjah’s support for this project reflects a belief I have long held: human development precedes all institutions, and culture is the foundation upon which nations and civilisations rise. Joanina Digital opens a bridge between Europe and the Arab world, connecting generations of scholars, researchers, and students to rare knowledge that informs the present and builds the future. Through collaboration, foresight, and the careful stewardship of heritage, we ensure that the legacy of learning continues to guide our global civilisation.»
His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah
«What does it mean to digitise a library of old books such as the Joanina Library? The act of digitisation should be seen as a challenge that offers opportunities for innovation at the level of the digital infrastructure to be developed, at the level of the bibliographic description of the collection, and at the level of communication with readers and with society at large. The digitisation of a book is a critical operation that allows us to see a book at a second degree, that is, to see it as a device for the production and organisation of a worldview. If we move from the microscale of a single book to the macroscale of a library, we can say that the digitisation of an entire collection enables us to observe the library itself as an information system, with its own history and particular structure.
Joanina Digital will enable us to critically analyse the content of the books (their texts and their images), but also their self-organising structures and the very process that, over three centuries, resulted in the constitution of the collection. Digitisation makes it possible to look at the bibliographic heritage as an object of reading and re-reading, rather than an object of veneration and worship. Old books and the library become witnesses of themselves: they self-document representations and discourses about the world. Beyond new possibilities for the analysis of individual works, the aggregated digitisation of a collection allows us to imagine countless new questions supported by computational methodologies.»
Manuel Portela, Director of BGUC
Context
- Project: Digitization and open access availability of the Joanina Library’s Noble Floor collection (15th–18th centuries), with integration into the Europeana network, adopting principles of open science and interoperability.
- Objectives: preservation, global access, new methodologies of reading, research, and textual analysis.
- Partnership: University of Coimbra and Sharjah Book Authority (high patronage of H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi).
Highlights
- Scale and access: digitization of the Noble Floor (≈ 30,000 volumes) in open access (facsimile images and text).
- Pilot: ~160,000 pages; 307 works processed; 3,343 volumes catalogued.
- Heritage archive: estimated ~20 million pages when completed.
- Interoperability: integration into Europeana; open science principles.
- Conservation: reduced handling; restoration, conservation, and preservation interventions.
- New readings: large-scale research, including AI and data mining, collaborative reading and editing.
- Calendar: started in 2024; pilot results online in 2025; conclusion in 2030.
FAQ
- How to access? Through the UC Digitalis platform (accessible via the Joanina Digital page) and, progressively, via Europeana.
- When will more works be available? Continuous publication restarting in 2026, as soon as they are validated.
- Are there any costs? No. Access is open and free.
- Can I reproduce images? Check licenses; editorial use requires mandatory credit.
- What is the 'Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi Collection'? A featured collection dedicated to the Middle East.
- How does digitization protect the books? It reduces physical handling and enables restoration and conservation actions.
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«Joanina Digital – Beyond the Screen»
«Joanina Digital – Beyond the Screen» (@Joanina Library, Middle Floor), showcases representative works undergoing digitization and addresses key themes for the technical treatment and study of this collection, such as provenance or the unique materiality of each copy.
Updates
