between 2002 and 2006 by a remarkable 126.5%.”2 In the UK, Ph.D. theses reflect the increase in enrollment and attention paid to Middle Eastern studies. In 1997, 55 theses were accepted; the average per year by 2006 was 86. Birmingham, SOAS, and Oxford are the top three institutions granting Ph.Ds. in Middle Eastern topics since 1997. 3
Concurrent to this visible growth, specific interest has been focused on the research needs of a scholarly community that was established centuries ago. In 2007, responding to an initiative in the United Kingdom regarding the importance of supporting Islamic Studies in higher education, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) issued a call for an investigation into user needs within the field. The University of Exeter won the bid to complete the study, and in June of 2008 the project team published the results-based data extracted from online questionnaires, focus groups, and telephone interviews. In addition, the study’s authors reviewed reading lists from UK institutions, doctoral theses, and existing online gateways to Islamic Studies materials. The recommendation ranked first by the authors was the creation of a gatewabetween 2002 and 2006 by a remarkable 126.5%.”2 In the UK, Ph.D. theses reflect the increase in enrollment and attention paid to Middle Eastern studies. In 1997, 55 theses were accepted; the average per year by 2006 was 86. Birmingham, SOAS, and Oxford are the top three institutions granting Ph.Ds. in Middle Eastern topics since 1997. 3
Concurrent to this visible growth, specific interest has been focused on the research needs of a scholarly community that was established centuries ago. In 2007, responding to an initiative in the United Kingdom regarding the importance of supporting Islamic Studies in higher education, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) issued a call for an investigation into user needs within the field. The University of Exeter won the bid to complete the study, and in June of 2008 the project team published the results-based data extracted from online questionnaires, focus groups, and telephone interviews. In addition, the study’s authors reviewed reading lists from UK institutions, doctoral theses, and existing online gateways to Islamic Studies materials. The recommendation ranked first by the authors was the creation of a gatewabetween 2002 and 2006 by a remarkable 126.5%.”2 In the UK, Ph.D. theses reflect the increase in enrollment and attention paid to Middle Eastern studies. In 1997, 55 theses were accepted; the average per year by 2006 was 86. Birmingham, SOAS, and Oxford are the top three institutions granting Ph.Ds. in Middle Eastern topics since 1997. 3
Concurrent to this visible growth, specific interest has been focused on the research needs of a scholarly community that was established centuries ago. In 2007, responding to an initiative in the United Kingdom regarding the importance of supporting Islamic Studies in higher education, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) issued a call for an