On Thursday, December 17, 2020, the Library at the German Jordanian University (GJU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Wikimedia Levant (which is a user group working on free knowledge in the Levant area (Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon) in cooperation with Wikimedia foundation). The MoU was signed by the President of GJU Prof. Manar Fayyad, and Board member of Wikimedia Levant Mr. Nidhal Jarrar, with the presence of the Director of the Library, Dr. Aziz Madi.
The MoU comes in line with the Crown Prince Foundation initiative (ض) that aims to unify efforts towards preserving the Arabic Language and empowering youth with more skills to allow them to serve as global ambassadors by using the latest technologies to reinforce its position and beauty.
The agreement that coincided with the World Arabic Language Day aims to increase the Arabic digital content in several fields, besides creating German content about Jordan and its culture by capitalizing on the students' lingual skills.
Prof. Manar Fayyad encouraged the students and the staff to participate in this project, stressing the importance of having reliable and original sources in the Arabic language.
Director of the Library, Dr. Aziz Madi, said that the agreement includes several virtual workshops for interested students to learn creating and editing to Wikipedia platform.
He added that the library would provide all the needed resources the students would need to enrich the Arabic content.
Mr. Jarrar stressed the importance of this agreement as a breakthrough in the educational programs in the Levant universities, as it will infuse writing Wikipedia content as part of the academic curriculum. The special feature of this MoU is that it will also allow German exchange students who come to the university to write German content about Jordan.
It is worth mentioning that GJU’s Library is equipped with the highest technology besides its innovative programs and activities such as the reading groups that would also contribute to the project’s success.