One hardly needs to question the purpose and advantage to a web site such as the Encyclopaedia of the Orient. Most librarians love dictionaries and encyclopedias because they offer quick, condensed knowledge for those bizarre, esoteric, or technical ready reference questions. This Web‐based encyclopedia serves the same purpose which is further enhanced for Americans because typically, they lack information on many aspects of the Middle and Far East. The Encyclopaedia of the Orient provides a quick education.
This Encyclopaedia was created by CiAS (Centre d’Information Arabe Scandinave), an independent commercial group whose purpose is to educate Europeans and North Americans about the Muslim world. The Encyclopaedia is only one aspect of the CiAS site which provides other resources for Islamic studies. Its creator and primary maintainer is Tore Kjeilen, a Norwegian journalist and scholar (according to his bio). Most of the articles have been written by him and his colleagues, although outsiders can contribute articles, which some have done.
The site is arranged much like any typical electronic dictionary or encyclopedia might be, with hyperlinks from letters to words and from words to articles. This site covers specifically Islamic countries, particularly those in the Middle East and North Africa (e.g. Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Egypt, etc.). Overall, the site is organized well and is appealing to the eye with soft, contrasting colors, a simple and attractive logo, and legible fonts. The text is completely in English. The site was designed by individuals who obviously have been trained in web design; and this knowledge works to their advantage. The Encyclopaedia is very easy to use.
The layout of the web site is frame‐based. For some with early versions of browsers this has disadvantages; for others, the theory of frames is a problem. However, in this case, the designers largely have made proper use of the frames to interact with one another when using the Encyclopaedia. This is true for three of the four quadrants on the screen. The
lower right is wasted space with nothing there; but at least it is adjustable with the larger section above it, thus increasing the reading area of this section.
The upper left section has a picture of an open book with alternating images on one of the pages. This also has a link to other web sites (discussed below) and the welcome screen, to which one can always return. To the right is a scrollable list of hyperlinked letters which connect to the alphabetical index in the lower left section. Here, the authors have created an index of words with brief abbreviated descriptions. Each word is hyperlinked to an article that appears in the major section in the upper right. It is here that readers find a pronunciation key and their encyclopedic information and can read everything from general knowledge on Islam to illegal political parties in Algeria. Most articles also include a color image with a caption, and in some cases audio or video clips. Other articles are hyperlinked within the text as well.
There is an online tutorial that helps researchers use the site. More of a helpful guide than a tutorial, it is a series of graphic images with large captions explaining each section. Because the parent site goes beyond just the Encyclopaedia of the Orient, there are web site links to other CiAS areas. These include Catapult (a directory of other web sites, specifically search engines and Middle Eastern newspapers and magazines), Miftah Shamali (a virtual tour of a North African city), Babel (online instruction in Arabic), and Suuq (a message board for individuals to share research or just find pen pals). This site also has a link to Front Page, the CiAS information center with news updates about the site and about the Muslim world in general. The tutorial demonstrates that there is a search engine at the end of the lower left section; but this does not exist. Instead, there is a drop‐down menu explaining the abbreviations in the index list above. Since the site is encyclopedic in scope, there is no electronic library per se.
Despite its interesting and helpful material, however, there are some problems with the Encyclopaedia of the Orient. The first is the name. It is perhaps a problem that I simply have; but “Orient” is a misnomer. My history of the word has always associated it with Far East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, etc.), not the Middle East. Furthermore, the word has come under attack for its stereotypical references and is not politically correct. Perhaps a better name could be used. Another problem I have with the information in the Encyclopaedia is that there are no bibliographic references, which leads one to think that the individuals contributing this information (primarily Tore Kjeilen) have made it all up. Every scholar knows that you must always cite your sources, simply to substantiate your own research, in this case the information in the Encyclopaedia. Even in major resources like the Encyclopaedia Britannica, articles are cited.
Another concern is cost. While the site is free for users, the authors seem to expect a lot in response from them, both in financial and personal commitment. For instance, in their copyright section, they explain that they expect a user to send anywhere from $5 to $40 so that the individual has complete permission to download and print the information they use from the site. This seems highly unusual, despite their claim that it is just to maintain the site and not to pay the maintainers. These expectations seem compounded by their apparent disgust that Islamic‐based individuals/companies have not sent more commercial advertisements for the web site (i.e. paying them to advertise on their site). As a result, certain planned advantages to the web site will have to be disbanded, such as other foreign language tutorials. The Encyclopaedia of the Orient, in this light, suddenly becomes a commercial venture and not an academic tool.
Still, one cannot completely disregard this resource because of these faults. The Encyclopaedia of the Orient is useful for ready reference questions and for students who need to do research on a topic related to Islam and Islamic countries. In this light, then, I recommend librarians refer to it only if they cannot afford the expensive book versions of Islamic encyclopedias or other reference sources related to Islam.
