(Interview by Amna Ashour)
KUWAIT, Sept 26 (KUNA) -- The Center for Research and Studies On Kuwait (CRSK) was created by Amiri decree in 1992 to be a national beacon of knowledge and awareness of Kuwait's history, its heritage and its political, economic and social affairs, affirmed the center's Chief, Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghuniam.
In an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on occasion of CRSK's 30th anniversary, Al-Ghunaim added that the center and its historical archive is a wealth of sources for all who wish to write about Kuwait.
The center houses a two-story library with more than 50,000 books, and has in its possession more than 20 million documents, Al-Ghunaim elucidated adding that it also includes a floor designated for the repair and archiving of such valuable documents.
Speaking on the center's keenness on keeping up with the developments of the time, Al-Ghunaim explained that an entire floor is dedicated to the scanning and digitalizing cultural heritage material be it paper, auditory or visual. The digital copies are saved on special servers and their services are provided to all government bodies.
Furthermore, the center contributed to digitalizing archive of a number of authorities including Public Authority for the South and Arabian Gulf, and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.
CRSK has published more than 450 books some so substantial that they were translated into several languages, Al-Ghunaim highlighted.
The center also issued a number of significant documents including Kuwait's response to Iraqi allegations, and documents revolving around Kuwait's foreign affairs in the 19th and 20th century.
Al-Ghunaim noted that center's periodic magazine, "Kuwait's Letter" which is published every three months, focuses on various topics regarding Kuwait's history.
He added that the center holds up to 1,120,450 documents from the Public Authority for the South and Arabian Gulf's archive, as well as 1,456,034 documents found during the Iraqi invasion.
He also added that the center welcomes senior officials from different Kuwaiti institutions to look into researches published in Kuwait and the Arab states as well as foreign papers about Kuwait's history and culture.
Al-Ghunaim added that the center participates in various events and activities to display their latest issues, adding that it welcomes people to their library daily from 8 am to 1:30 pm and then again from 5 pm to 7:30 pm.
Al-Ghunaim stated that CRSK is considered the official source for Kuwaiti studies as it contains millions of documents and researches about Kuwait's history. (end) asa.aai.ahm