Parallel to achieving a total of 700 nominations to date for its 7th session

Abu Dhabi, July 29, 2012 – Parallel to the increasing nominations collected to date for its 7th session of 2012/2013 - hitting the 700 landmark – the Sheikh Zayed Book Award announced the re-launch of its website, in a totally revamped version. The website update has come in line with the Award’s commitment to interact with its audiences of all segments through multiple platforms.   Speaking of the new website, Mr. Abdullah Majed, the Award’s Manager, explained that the Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s new website is a bi-lingual [Arabic and English] cultural interactive interface, with a completely revamped design and format. In addition to the fixed sections on the Award’s categories and processes, the new website is now upgraded to support social networking platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook for a real-time interaction with the Award’s audience and a richer experience for the website users.   Coinciding with the start of its 7th session of 2012/2013, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award had introduced a number of modifications to some of its categories, including the introduction of a new category for the “Arabic Culture in Other Languages”, and the merge of two categories; “Best Technology in the Field of Culture” and “Publishing and Distribution” to form a new category entitled “Publishing and Cultural Technologies”, in addition to redefining “Fine Arts” and “Literature”.   Commenting on the progress, Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s Secretary General said: “ We are now standing at a total of 700 nominations collected since 22nd of April. We hope this momentum carries on until the closing date on the 30th of September”. Earlier on June 6th, Dr. Ali Bin Tamim,  Award Secretary General announced reaching 500 nominations, reflecting an addition of more than 200 nominations within less than two months.