Participants thanked the UAE and its leadership for supporting and sponsoring the conference
The National Library and Archives and the Arab Federation for Libraries and Information Conclude the 33rd Federation’s Conference hosted by Abu Dhabi
The conference reviewed the experiences of the National library and Archives and major institutions in Oman, Libya, Sudan, Palestine... and others, in managing knowledge, contributing to knowledge economy and sustainable development.
The National Library and Archives and the Arab Federation for Libraries and Information concluded the 33rd Conference of the federation, which was hosted by the National Library and Archives in Abu Dhabi for 3 days under the theme: “Integration of National Information and Knowledge Institutions in the UAE: Libraries, Archives and Museums” The participants presented their thanks and appreciation to the United Arab Emirates and its leadership, the UAE National Library and Archives for the sponsorship and support of the conference and to all those who have contributed to its proceedings.
The recommendations of the conference focused on the importance of spreading informational awareness and culture among the Arab societies to ensure their transformation to information societies and the need to adopt effective programs in order to achieve this objective. The recommendations highlighted the need for the national libraries in the Arab countries and the public ones in particular to play their leading role in developing library practices, training their working staff members, laying down the necessary legislation, laws and standards for the Arab libraries, archives and museums and to follow-up their application and development; in order to keep abreast with the requirements of the digital age and enhance the ability of the Arab libraries, archives and museums to deal with the various crises they face by providing the necessary official and community support for their various programs and activities.
The recommendations also focused on the need to develop an Arab strategy to ensure the establishment of cooperation among the Arab libraries in general and the national libraries, archives centers and museums in particular. The recommendation stressed the importance of the role of libraries, archives and museums in achieving social responsibility and the goals of sustainable development in the Arab countries. Moreover there is a need to work on digitizing the Arab intellectual heritage published in various forms in order to make it available to researchers, and that attention must be given to the integration issue of the information and knowledge institutions in the Arab countries, the development of legislation, appropriate systems and tools in this field.
Recommendations also stressed the importance of information security in the Arab libraries, archives and museums to preserve their holdings and transfer them to future generations, in addition to the need to teach the integration of the information and knowledge institutions in syllabus  programs of the library and information science and the specialized training courses in the field.
It is noteworthy that the conference held in the last two days 12 scientific sessions, which dealt with important topics and issues, such as: the inevitability of digital convergence for knowledge integration in order to build the collective memory for the future, knowledge integration and strategic alliances with emerging Arab information systems, and the museums of Kuwait and their integrative role as a modern education tool in addition to its role in preserving and documenting the history of the country, the foreseeing role of the national libraries in the era of information and communication technology. The Libyan National Library and its role in collecting and preserving the national heritage, the role of the National Library and Archives in the UAE in supporting scientific research among university students, and the role of national libraries, archives and museums in the smart cities, and the integration of the roles and tasks among the national libraries, archives and museums.
Some of the conference sessions were focused in measuring the level of awareness of library staff in the Egyptian academic libraries, the role of intellectual capital in supporting the integration of knowledge organizations, the role of the National Electronic Medical Library in the Sultanate of Oman in facing the information epidemic to create an information impenetrable society, and the role of the Sudanese libraries in supporting the Sudanese national development plans and visions.
The conference also shed lights on the role of building knowledge maps in supporting the sustainability of knowledge institutions, the role of modern technologies and artificial intelligence techniques in facilitating information services in cultural centers and the role of Non-fungible token technology (NFT) in preserving and disseminating documentary heritage and open data in King Fahd National Library.
Among the research papers the conference discussed were: comprehensive knowledge platforms and their role in supporting the UAE strategy in applying  NFT technology in preparing museum manuscript directories, managing and investing digital assets in international and local museums, archive policies and legislation in banking institutions in Sudan, and the role of repositories in supporting the integration of information systems and tools, cooperation between national information institutions and their role in preserving heritage and the role of the National Library of Kuwait in preserving, documenting and protecting national heritage, government archive, the reality and hopes and the impact of the activities of national libraries in the Arab Gulf states in enhancing information awareness of beneficiaries.
On the third day of the conference, the sessions also focused on presenting the new publications of the Arab Federation for Libraries and Information, including standards and directories, and their importance.
The participants welcomed the announcement by the CEO of the Libraries Commission in Saudi Arabia that the 34th Conference of the Federation would be held next year in Saudi Arabia.