A committee of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research visited The American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) Libraries, where it met the Dean of AUIB Libraries, Dr. Imad Bachir, who briefed the committee on the electronic management system of the Libraries and their databases, as well as their various print and electronic resources, and the services that the Libraries provide for students and researchers, whether in person, in its study halls, or online.
The MoHESR committee, headed by Prof. Mu’ayyad Yehya Khadeer, and among whose members were Asst. Prof. Thunaa’ Shakir Hammoudi and Asst. Lecturer. Marwan Abdel-Razzaq Matar, toured AUIB Libraries’ sections, which currently have around 12 thousand books in print, more than 200 thousand digital books, and more than 40 digital databases, specialized in various topics. AUIB Libraries’ resources draw on around 25 thousand digital refereed periodicals, and they also provide access to more than two million Master’s thesis and PhD dissertation, in addition to a digital video library, which currently has more that 60 thousand academic videos. All of these resources are managed by the Libraries’ electronic management system, and the loans management system, as far as the print books available to AUIB students, faculty, and staff are concerned. Moreover, AUIB Libraries’ membership in the Inter-library Loan System expands its pool of resources.
Dr. Bachir explained to the members of the committee, tasked to make field visits to university libraries in Baghdad, the objectives of AUIB Libraries’ development plan, where it is expected that the University will have, in four- or five-years’ time, four libraries: a medical library, an engineering library, and a law library, in addition to the main library. “All that AUIB Libraries have is available to Iraqi students and researchers, who are welcome to visit,” said Dr. Bachir, pointing out the import role of AUIB Libraries as a model that would serve to advance Iraqi libraries, as the former present “a modern model that satisfies the highest of global technical standards in the indexation of books and the management of libraries, as well as in the use of advanced search engines.”