The Arabic Union Catalog (AUC) is a collaboratively nonprofit project which mainly aims to establish a collaborative environment for the Arab libraries and to reduce the cost of cataloging Arabic information resources by sharing cataloging. This guarantees standardizing cataloging practices in the Arab libraries and conforming international standards in the bibliographic description. As a result, the level of bibliographic processing in the Arab libraries will be developed, which, consequently, will positively impact on distributing the Arabic book and introducing the Arab-Islamic culture. This project depends on high quality records offered to libraries inside and outside the Arab World, which will enable users to easily access to the specific Arabic information resource.

The initiative of establishing the Arabic Union Catalog:

Due to the utmost importance of this project and the long delay of implementing this project as a part of the collaborative framework between the Arabic libraries, in spite of the entrenched convictions of the importance of this project and the repeated appeals of implementing it, King Abdul Aziz Public Library has initiated this role. King Abdul Aziz Public Library is a leading library in collaborative work and always initiates on works that preserve and disseminate Arabic heritage. The library is always supported by a huge financial and moral aid by its founder, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, God rest his soul, which adds an important contribution to its great services in the world of thought and culture.

Operation and development :

 To guarantee the effectiveness of implementing the project, professionally introducing its services, flexibly executing it, and rapidly managing and reducing its costs, the development, the implementation and the operation of this project has been entrusted to Naseej, the Arab leading company, which is specialized in library and information science and mechanizing hundreds of large Arabic libraries.

Naseej has extensively professional experiences in mechanizing libraries and treating with Arabic cataloging records and changing them into the standard formats. Nassej has also distinguished experiences in marketing and support services for Arabic libraries, as well as good relations with a large number of Arabic libraries. Naseej has participated for a long time in workshops and symposiums which discussed developing unified Arabic standards. The company has also the enthusiasm to implement this project guided by its belief in the great importance of it