​Dr. Rasha Al-Khatib presented a lecture entitled "Collections of Oriental Manuscripts in Leiden and Oxford Libraries: History and personal experience", at the Center for Documents, Manuscripts and Bilad al-Sham Studies- The University of Jordan.

Dr. Al-Khatib talked about the collections of Eastern manuscripts, including Arabic ones, and how they were formed over the centuries since the 17th century AD, in the library of Leiden University in the Netherlands and the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford.

Orientalists collected Arabic manuscripts from our countries and enriched their university libraries, including Leiden and Oxford. They were chosen because of my personal experience in visiting them and looking at some of their Arabic manuscript contents. Because they contain important collections of Arabic manuscripts that were collected over centuries, through purchase, gifting, and other means.