QUIP is a collaborative project that unifies the documentation of primary source materials related to Qatar and provides descriptive information about the institutions and/or private collectors that house those materials through an Encoded Archival Descriptive (EAD) finding aid that will be freely available through VCUQatar’s website.
The principle investigators have identified site lists in Qatar, the UK, India and Denmark with the following entry points:

  • National Integration and Popular Culture

  • Language and Ethnicity

  • History and Mythology

  • Tradition and Hierarchy

  • Theater, Outdoor Events, and Holidays

  • Film and Photography

  • Televisions and Video

  • Radio, Phonograph, Audio.

  • Lifestyles – Food Habits, Clothes, etc.

  • Music

  • Popular Literature (oral and written)

  • Sports and Recreation

  • Painting, Design, and Sculpture

  • Architecture, Public and Private

  • Religion and Pilgrimages

  • Advertising and Propaganda

  • Gender and Race

  • Cultural Geography and Geopolitics

  • Oral Folklore Tales

  • Rituals and Rites of Passage

QUIP conducted field research throughout Qatar's institutions and with many families and private collectors to gain unique items not present in any other collections or available for research.

The resulting digital objects will be available to the public through a web-accessible repository. QUIP utilizes open standards for object records and storage formats ensuring high data portability, digital longevity and persistence. QUIP digital assets are hosted and delivered remotely through Luna Imaging, Inc.; QUIP is a National resource. Consortium partners include the Qatar Museums Authority, Qatar Heritage Identity Center, and the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage.

The outcome is centralized descriptive index on Qatari primary source materials.The metadata ia harvested by research institutions around the world through the Open Archives protocol giving significant narrative objects about Qatar wider access. Qatar’s displaced primary source materials are brought together digitally to stimulate awareness of primary source materials and their potential use in K-12 education. We hope to stimulate awareness of Qatari history, heritage, and culture.