UAE’s
education sector is taking its new role as an emerging knowledge economy
seriously.
A consortium
of library directors has been formed in the UAE to head a project called eFada,
with the aid of Ankabut, the
UAE’s advanced national research and education network. The idea behind the
formation of this group is to create a shared national knowledge base to
support learning and research in the UAE.
As per Ankabut’s website, this goal will be
achieved through several initiatives, which includes establishing a shared
union catalog, engaging in cooperative collection development and developing a
national digital institutional repository. The outcome will lead to savings in
the cost of e-resources, expansion of resources available and sharing expertise
to promote cost effective, customer driven services.
In an
interview with Gulf News, eFada project manager Dr Ahmad Dabbagh said, “Students
will no longer suffer from spending hours on researching. Through eFada, any
member related to the academic and education field will be able to view several
options including how many researchers have worked on a certain topic or how
many research papers have been done by others within the UAE or outside.”
The project,
started last year, has a long way to go with continued participation from 9 universities
currently but Dr Dabbagh has called on more universities to come forward and be
part of what is surely to be big step in aiding the country in its goal as a
knowledge economy.
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