Ricerc@Sapienza

The DREAM project (Data Recording Entry Alternative Multi-script) aims to create a system for cataloguing and researching bibliographic resources in non-Latin scripts (Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Russian and Sanskrit). It stems from the need to bring Italy in line with what has already been happening in other European countries for decades, in order to allow Italian and foreign researchers to carry out their research more effectively and increase the international visibility of an inestimable heritage that can only be glimpsed from transliterations not always regulated by uniform criteria.
The project envisions the creation of a research tool (meta-opac) for non-Latin scripts to which, over time, several national institutions could adhere. This new cataloguing system, in fact, will be able to manage, thanks to its compliance with international standards, the descriptions of any national or international institution sharing similar requirements and needs. Another major goal of the project will also be to update Sapienza¿s online catalogue.
The project, proposed by the "Italian Institute of Oriental Studies" Department, has a strong multidisciplinary and interdepartmental approach, envisaging, in fact, the collaboration amongst a number of different academic units of Sapienza (i.e. Sapienza Library System and Departments) and the synergy, in terms of academic and technical skills, between the teaching and technical staff of the University. The project has a remarkable potential since it aspires to the eventual migration of these data in their original script into the national SBN (National Bibliographic System) collective catalogue. The results of the project will be shared as open-access data and through a conference on the subject. The project plan stages over a 36-month time frame, that is the intended overall duration of the project.