oa Islamic Medical and Scientific Ethics Research Project

Background: In 2009 the proposal to establish an international information resource on Islamic bioethics submitted to Qatar National Research Fund was accepted and awarded a three-year grant. The project was conceived and proposed by two of Georgetown University's research libraries: the Bioethics Research Library (BRL) at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics in Washington D.C. and the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar Library (SFSQL) with the vision to become the world's most comprehensive resource on Islamic bioethics. Building on the valuable experience of these two institutions, the project promises to serve the needs of the local and international community of researchers in the area of bioethics. The project utilizes the best practices gained from work on similar projects on bioethics scholarship in collaboration with renowned institutions in the field such as the National Library of Medicine of the National Institute of Health in the US. Currently the project is in the third year of the grant and the research team believes that the project is on schedule to achieve its vision.

Objectives: This presentation aims to demonstrate the efforts to achieve the targeted goals of the project. It also seeks to share the lessons gained from work on the different components of this project. In addition to highlighting the challenges encountered, the presentation will also illustrate the innovative solutions that were undertaken to fulfill the objectives of each of the project's components.

Methods: The presentation will address each of these components:

- The collection development: the proactive acquisition plan

- Database Development: innovative solutions

- Local Impact: partnerships and networking

- Global Impact: the world's premiere resource on Islamic bioethics

- Future Plans: further expansion and growth

Results and Conclusions: The presentation will share the policies and strategies that were implemented in order to fulfill the targeted goals of each of the components listed above. It will also demonstrate and showcase the results of the project.