(MENAFNEditorial) The 3rd edition of the Professional Programme, organized by the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will conclude its activities today (Tuesday).
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, the three-day Professional Programme was attended by more than 300 publishers from all around the world.
Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Publishing Group, participated in the symposium titled 'Education Resources: Changes and Challenges in a Digital World' Sheikha Bodour stressed the importance of keeping pace with the latest technological advancements as well as children's needs when preparing curricula for children and providing innovative projects combining education and entertainment, to attract children to learn.
Sheikha Bodour highlighted the role the Horouf Educational Publishing project plays in effectively integrating technology into the educational process through focusing on introducing fun along with information for children. The project, which offers textbooks in both paper and e-book format in an interactive and interesting manner, revolves around developing children's cognitive senses, such as sight and sound, in receiving and interpreting information.
Sheikha Bodour clarified that the idea to create Horouf Educational Publishing developed after, while visiting a school, she noticed that children did not seem to interact with Arabic lessons because they weren't excited or attracted to the subject matter. The project is designed to improve children's Arabic abilities by providing educational materials that are designed specifically for use in the Arabic language.
In his welcome speech, Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Director of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), reaffirmed the SIBF's determination to continue its outstanding approach to develop the local and Arab publishing movement in a competitive and professional manner, so as to enhance Arabic books' presence in international events, in line with its strategy aimed at emphasizing Sharjah's leading role in supporting authorship and creativity.
The second day of the programme saw two in-depth discussions, the first of which focused on challenges facing the publishing industry after the Arab spring. Three Egyptian publishers, namely Mohammed Hashem from Merritt Publishing House, Sharif Bakr from Al Arabi Publishing House, and Ahmed Rashad from the Egyptian Lebanese Publishing House, highlighted challenges facing print books after the Arab Spring. These challenges include a decline in the cultural activities that promote books and lack of demand for buying books due to deteriorating living standards, as well as other problems related to censorship, freedoms, and distribution.
The second session was dedicated to exploring means of helping publishers and authors build and expand their online presence. The session was given by five experts in the marketing of both print and e-books, who stressed the need for authors to make use of the Internet and social networking sites to strengthen their relationships with readers, as well as for publishers to use these sites in promoting their publications.
On the third and last day, the Programme will see the discussion of three important issues pertaining to publishing, including obstacles facing translation at present time and the impact of electronic translation on the quality of books and on the level of readers' demand for e-translated books.
Speakers at the session will highlight challenges facing the global distribution of books, including censorship, distribution permissions and high shipping cost. Participating publishers will learn about a number of innovative ways to tackle piracy of books in the Arab world, and will listen to three viewpoints in this regard; from the UAE, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
The third edition of the Professional Programme, organized by the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) in collaboration with the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU-SCPS) Center for Publishing, saw the participation of 300 local, Arab and international publishers, compared with 25 publishers in the 2nd edition in 2012.
The Programme focused this year on discussing and highlighting in-depth issues concerning the publishing industry that would contribute to enhancing the efficiency and professionalism of Arab publishers, and to further enable them to expand their presence and outreach on the global stage.
The 32nd edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, at Expo Centre Sharjah, with the participation of 1010 publishers from 53 countries, including 23 Arab countries and 26 non-Arab countries, with publishers from Portugal, New Zealand and Hungary participating for the first time
Participants will exhibit 405,000 titles, which is 20,000 titles more than the number of books showcased last year. Books on display cover a range of different disciplines in the field of science and knowledge
There will also be dictionaries, literary and cultural books as well as children's books in more than 180 languages. The Fair Management also announced a line-up of over 580 activities involving symposiums, workshops poetry evenings and discussion sessions.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.