Islamic Medical and Scientific Ethics

The Qatar National Research Fund awarded a three-year, $1,050,000 grant to the Bioethics Research Library (BRL) and the School of Foreign Service Qatar Library (SFS-Q) to develop information services on Islamic Medical and Scientific Ethics (IMSE). Since October 2009, the project staff (working in Georgetown libraries in Qatar and Washington) have identified more than 1,500 writings on Islamic perspectives on abortion, death and dying, genetics, health care delivery, human experimentation, organ transplantation, and reproductive technologies, primarily in English and Arabic. Books, journal and newspaper articles, and web documents are some of the many formats collected. Bibliographic citations in the IMSE catalog are usually accompanied by abstracts, extensive subject headings, and/or links to online sources for full text.

We are in the process of moving the online catalog to a new platform, which provides improved display of Arabic-language entries. Please note that all bibliographic records added since September 2011 are only accessible at the new platform. You may search it directly at no charge.

The holding library for print materials is noted in the new online catalog. We are striving to create a digital resource, and more than 40% of the items provide details about online availability. At present, most of the English-language books are in the BRL print collection in Washington, and the Arabic are being held temporarily in the SFS-Q Library in Doha, Qatar. A print collection will eventually be established in Qatar's Central Library, now under construction.

For further information about the project and its resources, please consult the IMSE Research Guide. Please email the BRL with any questions or to make donations to the collection.