The academic library is an integral part of the college or university. It interacts with the educational environment to meet the needs of the academic study programs and support the aims and content of the curriculum.
A well-established library is essential for any academic institution. It provides a gateway for various organized resources and information in print and digital formats. Its goal is to meet the informational, cultural, recreational, and educational and research needs of its clientele; students, faculty, researchers and the other members of the community.
Today, it is been observed that academic libraries are striving to keep their place as the major source of inquiry in the face of emerging digital technology. Libraries now exist in the virtual world. It is allowing resources in various forms and distributed learning to take place; access for external, distance and online, and for more flexible kinds of learning. The role of the library evolved as the priorities of the institutions have evolved. The key library structures, processes, services and staff roles continuously changing with time and technology.
Technology and automation have also changed the way people perceive libraries. It transformed the way information is processed, packed, stored and disseminated. It allows the users to facilitate complex information access and retrieval. Libraries must embrace the challenges in order to stay relevant and maintain its value in the educational environment.
Furthermore, it has been noted, that the library’s responsiveness to students and faculty needs, quality of service and resilience has been the marks of academic libraries. The library services in the higher education will continuously be of great importance to learning, teaching, and research.
About Library
The Gulf University’s library was established along with the university based on the decree of the Ministers Council of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Decree No. 03-1649 issued in 2/ 9/2001 concerning the Gulf University project on 17/9/2001.
The Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of Bahrain issued a license to establish Gulf University and to ensure an excellent education for university students. The library was established as of the university’s concern culturally, educationally and socially. It aims at gathering resources of information, developing and supporting the necessary references and scientific books, periodicals, journals, and presents them in accordance with the library’s capacity and compliance with the quality standards for libraries, as well as training of staff on the library services requirements.
The library holds a central position in the heart of every academic institution. Its collection and services provide a vital support for every student’s learning and quest for knowledge and information. This supports the strong foundation in the processing of students quality research. It also supports the curriculum, instructional and research needs of the faculty as well.
With the advent of technology, the library continuously evolves to support the mission and vision of the entire university as a whole. Its main objective is to provide relevant and updated books, journals, magazines, references and other resources.
The library is centrally located and accessible to all library patrons. It is located on the 3rd floor of the GU main building near the E-Learning Laboratory and the bookstore. It has a total area of 280.2m2 that is composed of the main and digital library.
The library practices the “open access system” wherein the library patrons can access the book collection in the Circulation area directly to the shelves. The library staff is always available for any inquiries or assistance needed by the library patrons.
The GU library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification system. It is a general knowledge organization tool use to organize and provide access to the collections for books, journals, magazines, thesis, and other references. Book shelves have signages on the main classes with the corresponding discipline/subject equivalent. This is also supported by the call number of the book. Moreover, the Advanced Institution Management System (AIMS) supports the bibliographic descriptions of each title of the book to facilitate access and retrieval of resources.
Dewey Decimal Classification System
10 Main Classes (DDC 23)
000
General Works, Computer Science, and Information
100
Philosophy and Psychology
200
Religion
300
Social Sciences
400
Language
500
Pure Science
600
Technology
700
Arts & Recreation
800
Literature
900
History & Geography
Mission
The GU library’s mission is to provide access to information through instruction, acquisition, organization, and preservation of information resources in all formats to support the learning, teaching and research goals of library clients to become information literate, critical thinkers and lifelong learners.
Vision
The GU library’s vision is to be one of the leading information providers with globally competitive resources and to be the knowledge center that serves as an essential component of the academic life of the institution.
Values
We are committed to:
Promote access to resources and information.
Support learning, teaching, critical thinking and scientific research.
We value diversity, quality collection and content.
Openness, transparency, and objectivity in all aspects of work.
Support moral and human values in education and community.
Objectives
To develop and maintain relevant and updated library collection to support the academic and research needs of faculty and students.
To provide an interactive information literacy programs in collaboration with the faculty members for the appreciation and development of knowledge, information and searching skills of the library patrons.
To strengthen collaboration with other libraries locally, regionally and internationally to achieve common goals of sharing and access to various resources to support learning, teaching, and research.
To equip users with a lifelong learning skill of using library resources efficiently and effectively that will produce graduates/ professionals who will contribute to the betterment of the community.
Qualified Library Users
Enrolled students for the current semester;
Faculty members and staff;
Alumni may use the library upon presentation of a valid ID;
Visitors /Researchers may use the library upon presentation of a valid ID
and referral letter from the school, college/university or institution
Policies & Procedures
In order to avail of the borrowing of books, references, and other materials, the students and faculty members and staff should apply for a library card. The following requirements should be presented to the library staff for processing of the card:
Student:
Certificate of Registration
University ID Card
1 piece Photo (Passport size)
Faculty Member/Staff:
Employee ID Card
1 piece Photo (Passport Size)
The student, faculty member is required to fill out the application form for a library card. Library card form should be filled out completely and signed for validation and profile entry to the Advanced Institute Management System (AIMS) by the Librarian.
The student, faculty member, and staff can immediately borrow books from the collection.
The holder of the library card is not allowed to have his/her card use by another person for making transaction in the circulation area.
Library card is renewable every semester; it should be validated in the AIMS upon presentation of required documents to the library staff.
Library card is to be kept in the circulation area for easy reference and monitoring.
Borrowing & Returning of Books and Other Materials:
Books and other collection of the library can be accessed through the AIMS as this serves as the online public access catalog (OPAC). Students, faculty members, and staff can access the workstations at the Receiving area. There are three (3) designated computer terminal for quick searching and for the OPAC. Library patrons can access the OPAC with the use of the assigned username and password provided by the I.T. department. The OPAC is searchable through the title of the book, author, subject and classification number. The status of book availability and its description will be displayed. OPAC facilitates the searching and borrowing of books.
Circulation book collection can be assessed immediately by the library users with the use of the “open shelf system”. The library patrons are guided with the signage under the Dewey decimal classification system. Each shelf has subject coding for systematic organization of the collection. The book titles can be borrowed under certain categories below:
The students can borrow maximum of three (3) books for fourteen (14) days per transaction. It is renewable for another period if there is no demand for such book/s and there are copies available for use by other students.
Full-time faculty member can borrow ten (10) books per transaction for 112 days;
Part-time faculty members can borrow five (5) books for 112 days;
Staff and other employees can borrow five (5) books for 14 days.
Category
Number of books to borrow
No. of days
Allowed
Faculty Member
10
112
Full-Time
Part Time
5
112
Administrative Staff & Other GU Employees
3
14
Students
3
14
Reserve books can be borrowed for overnight or one (1) day only.
General reference books are for room use only, selected pages can be photocopied. These books are to be consulted; it contains authoritative information and is not meant to read from cover to cover. It is in the special section of the library as “Reference Stacks” and has location label of “R” or “Ref”. An example of these books are almanacs, atlases, bibliographies, biographical sources, catalogs, concordances, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, glossaries, handbooks, indexes, manuals, research guides, union lists, yearbooks, etc.
Journals /magazines and periodicals are for room use only, selected pages can be photocopy.
Theses are strictly for room use only and cannot be photocopied.
Audiovisual materials can be borrowed for one (1) day only. CD/VCD book accompaniment can be borrowed together with the book for a period assigned to a student, faculty member, and staff.
Books borrowed must be taken care of, borrowers are responsible for all the books borrowed under his/her card.
Borrowers should check the book/s being borrowed for any damage or missing pages before going out of the library. If there are similar cases like this please, report immediately to the librarian/staff.
Books for renewals should be brought in the Circulation Area for updating in the library system and for proper stamping of date returned and renewal.
One week before the end of the each semester and/or one week before the final examinations, books should be returned to the library to facilitate the signing of examination permit and clearance of students. The book is no longer allowed to be taken out of the library; it is for room use only.
The faculty member should return the book borrowed and pay the corresponding fine if any, to facilitate the signing of clearance.
Lost Books & Fines:
Borrowers who failed to return the book/s on time will be charged with the corresponding overdue .100 fills per day for circulation and reserve books.
The library staff issues the payment slip for the overdue fine to be presented to the cashier for payment.
Upon payment, borrowers should submit the official receipt of payment to the library staff for recording in the library card and updating in the library system.
Library staff should file the receipts of payments in the filing folder for future references.
Lost/Missing Books and Other Library Materials:
The borrower should immediately inform the library staff if there is a book lost under his/her possession.
The librarian should write notification on the book lost reported in order to stop the automatic computation of overdue fines with the library system. This is immediately reported to the I.T. personnel as well.
The book lost book must be replaced with the same title, related title or the latest edition of the same title. In case the book is not available, the borrower must pay to the Cashier the currently existing amount of the book.
Fines relating to any overdue material that is lost by the borrower shall accrue until such time as the loss is reported to the library staff. If the accrued fine is equivalent to the price of the book, the borrower shall pay for the book (computation should consider current price of the material and other related charges on the processing of book) or replace it.
For the price of the book lost, library staff shall refer from the files on book purchase summary list, invoice, delivery receipts etc. If there is no library record for on such price, the library staff should go to the Accounting department verification of the price.
Notification of Overdue Fines and Signing of Clearance:
Ten (10) days before the examination period and at the end of every term, the library staff prepares the list of students, faculty members and staff with library accountabilities (overdue books and fines).
The library staff informs the library patrons with accountability through a phone call and email for the recall of book/s and/or other material/s due. Also, for the payment of the fines before the final examination.
The library staff sends notice to the borrower for the recall of the book or any library material borrowed. Once the preliminary call or email was ignored by the borrower.
Returning of overdue book and payment of the fine will be processed immediately on the library card and in the library system for closure of such accountability.
The final list of accountabilities will be sent to the accounting department for book recall by the library staff and/or collection of fine by the cashier.
For a faculty member, a list of accountabilities for book and fine will be sent to the dean through email and phone call as a follow up for the recall and/or payment of dues. This is done to maintain and keep secure the library resources for the periodic library inventory.
In the case of unexpected resignation/termination of the faculty member and staff, such issue will be dealt with the head of the library, program head/dean, head accounting, and library committee.
Conduct in the Library:
Silence should be observed at all time inside the library.
Students, faculty members, staff, and visitors should register to the assigned log sheets for monitoring and record purposes.
Orderliness, calmness, and cleanliness should be maintained for a conducive learning environment for the library patrons.
A library is a place for reading, studying and research, any form of recreation, playing manipulative games are not allowed inside the library.
Food and drinks are not allowed in the library; they can attract insects and damage library materials.
Library user should inform the library staff on the books under his/her possession upon entering the library.
Bags and other personal belongings should be deposited/ kept in the baggage counter. Mobile phones and other valuable items should not be left inside the bags. The library staff is/are not responsible for any missing or lost items.
Books and other materials should not be taken out from the library without permission from the library staff.
Book used or taken from the shelves should not be returned back to the shelves. Borrowers should put/return books on the area or shelf assigned by the librarian with signage’s “Put used books here for re-shelving by the library staff”. This will avoid misfiling/wrong shelving of the book. This is also for monitoring and recording in the preparation of utilization reports.
Desktop computers are for encoding, study, searching and related academic activities only.
The mobile phones and another gadget should be put in silent mode or turned off when inside the library to avoid disturbance with the other library users.
The books and other resources should be taken care of. The student should not commit such acts as hiding or steal books and other material, writing in books, tearing out pages of books or periodicals or any form of defacement.
Library staff has the right to request university student ID card when necessary.
Group visit and/or use of the library and its resources should be coordinated first with the Librarian/staff.
Violation of the library rules and regulation will be dealt with accordingly; this may result in the suspension of the library privileges.
Lost and Found items will inside the library will be kept by the library staff in the “Lost & Found” box for safe keeping. Items will be recorded in the “Lost & Found” log sheet for future reference. Claims of the “lost & found” can be claimed upon giving the correct description of the lost item. ID/CPR of the owner/claimant should be presented to the library staff. The claimant should sign and reflect the date in the received/claim column of the log sheet.
Services & Activities
Reader’s Services
Library Induction
Library Instruction (Information Literacy)
Information Services
Technical /Cataloging Services
Selective Dissemination of Information
Computer/ Internet/ Wifi Service
Research Assistance
Referral Services
Library Guided Tour
Printing & Copying Services
ILL (GU & Kingdom University)
Services for Individuals with Disabilities
Citing References/ Sources
Resources & Facilities
Print Books, Magazines, Journals, Newspapers
Theses and Dissertations
Online Databases
OPAC
Library Management System
Computer area
Printing & Copying Section
Internet/ Wifi Services
Mini group study/discussion room
Big group study/discussion rooms
Faculty/student interaction room
Varied reading areas
Open reading and learning spaces
Facilities for disabled users
Leisure Reading Collection
Reference Collection
Library Hours
The library and staff are always available for services to the students, faculty members, and the rest of the members of the university. The library is open on regular days with the schedule below, there is “no library service” during Friday and holidays. In the exigency of the library services, library staff will be upon request as approved by the VP for Academic Affairs/President.
Library Service Hours
Sunday to Thursday
8:00 am. to 9:00 pm.
Saturday
8:00 am. to 6:00 pm.
Friday and Holiday
Closed
Library Spaces
Study Room General Guidelines:
Study rooms are located in GU Academic Building.
It is for academic discussion purposes and exclusively for GU students only.
There are four (4) rooms available and they are as follows:
3 study rooms that can accommodate 2 – 4 students.
1 study room that can accommodate 5 -12 students.
Priority is given to groups composed of three or more students. For groups smaller than the minimum occupancy, you may be asked to vacate the room to cater the larger groups.
Study rooms should be booked before using it.
The students who will use the study rooms are responsible for the furniture, equipment and the overall condition of the room.
White board markers and computer peripherals are available at the Information Desk.
Please maintain the cleanliness and work quietly inside the study rooms.
Eating and sleeping inside the study rooms are not allowed.
Please push back the chairs and turn off the TV monitor before leaving and nobody must be left inside the room.
The person-in-charge has the right to tell the students to vacate the rooms if they are misbehaving.
Study Room Booking Procedures:
Students who would like to use the study rooms need to book it through the library webpage ahead of time for reservation purposes.
One representative from the group should fill out the form when booking online.
This form is sent to the person-in-charge who will do the reservation of the study rooms.
The following data should be supplied in the form:
Name of Student
Student ID Number
Mobile Number
Program
Date of Use
Starting Time
Ending Time
Number of Students
E-mail Address
Walk-in students are also accommodated only if there are no prior reservations on their preferred date and time.
One representative from the group should fill out the reservation form located at the Information Desk.
The representative must provide an ID to the person-in-charge and to be returned after using the study room.
The following data should be supplied in the reservation form:
Student’s Name
Student’s ID Number
Program
Date of Use
Time of Use
Number of students
The representative should be physically present while using the study rooms.
A maximum of one (1) hour is given for each group to use the study rooms; this is to cater the other students who would also want to use the study rooms.
In cases where the group wishes to extend the use of the study rooms, the representative must inform the person-in-charge immediately. For renewal of reservation, the request will only be granted if there are no prior bookings.
The students, faculty, staff and researcher can access the subscribed and open access databases, and other academic related links through the GU website. This is available on and off campus.
Library patrons who opted to access the online resources in the Digital Library should follow rules and regulation under this area.
Library users should register on the specified log sheet for student, faculty/staff, and visitor located at the circulation desk of the library staff.
Username (student/faculty/staff ID) and password are required in accessing the desktop computers for monitoring/utilization purposes.
CERN Document Server – CERN offers full-text preprints, articles, books, journals, and other documents of interest to persons working in particle physics and its related areas.
EUR-Lex – a service providing legal texts of the European Union on its official website europa.eu. Replacing the earlier service CELEX, EUR-Lex provides direct free access to European Union law. The system makes it possible to consult the Official Journal of the European Union and it includes inter alia the treaties, legislation, case-law and legislative proposals. It offers extensive search facilities.
EUROPA – the official website of the European Union. The EU is one of the largest publishers of online information in the world. Access the register of documents of the EU institutions for all official EU documents.
Guide to Open Access Journals – looks at some of the most reputable open-access journal websites, as well as paid subscription databases that are still widely used by traditional college students.
Highwire Press – Major source of free access to high impact, peer-reviewed life sciences journals on the internet sponsored by Stanford University Libraries.
Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest – Published by the Johns Hopkins University – Applied Physics Laboratory, the journal focuses on “missile, radar, sonar, sensor, chemical biological, and information technologies; space science and engineering, microelectronics; communications; navigations; modeling and simulation; advanced research and technology development.”
Labordoc – contains references to a wide range of print and electronic publications, including journal articles, from countries around the world, on all aspects of work and sustainable livelihoods, and the work-related aspects of economic and social development and human rights.
Labordoc – contains references to a wide range of print and electronic publications, including journal articles, from countries around the world, on all aspects of work and sustainable livelihoods, and the work-related aspects of economic and social development and human rights.
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) – a leading nonprofit economic research organization. The Bureau concentrate on four types of empirical research: developing new statistical measurements, estimating quantitative models of economic behavior, assessing the economic effects of public policies, and projecting the effects of alternative policy proposals.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – The NIST Data Gateway allows access to NIST scientific and technical data, encompassing a wide range of information pertaining to varied scientific disciplines and links to some free online NIST database and articles published in the journal of Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data (JPCRD).
OpenThesis – is a free repository of theses, dissertations, and other academic documents, coupled with powerful search, organization, and collaboration tools.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) – the official journal of the US National Academy of Sciences, which is an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans the biological, physical, and social sciences.
Scirus – a science-specific search engine – A comprehensive scientific research tool on the web, SCRIRUS provides search links to over 370 million scientific resources. These links enable researchers to access the journal content including scientists’ homepages, courseware, pre-print server materials, patents and institutional repositories and website information.
Social Science Research Network – The SSRN e-Library contains abstracts of over 359,800 scholarly working papers and forthcoming papers and over 293,500 downloadable full-text documents in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Composing of a number of specialized research networks in each of the social sciences, the e-Library also includes research papers of a number of Fee-Based Partner Publications.
World dataBank: World Bank’s Open Data Initiative – Offers open and free access to over 2,000 financial, business, health, economic and human development data for more than 200 countries, with the data going back to 50 years. Access to at least 20 World Bank Group databases, including World Development Indicators, Global Development Finance, Global Economic Monitor, Actionable Governance Indicators, Doing Business Database, Health, Nutrition and Population Statistics.
Free Access e-Books:
Bartleby.com (http://www.bartleby.com/)Offers free full-text online access to “top quality books”, “thought provoking verses”, “romantic poems”, “famous quotes” or “new words to enrich your vocabulary”.
EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/home/)An online bookshop and archive of publications from the European institutions. It is managed by the Publications Office of the European Union in Luxembourg.
Free Computer Books (http://freecomputerbooks.com/)Powered by Google, here you will find some good free full-text online collection of computer, programming, mathematics, engineering, technical books, as well as lecture notes and tutorials.
Free Tech Books (http://www.freetechbooks.com/)Quit recently published, it lists “free online computer science, engineering and programming books, textbooks and lecture notes, all of which are legally and freely available over the Internet”.
Library of Economics and Liberty (http://www.econlib.org/index.html)A website dedicated to “advancing the study of economics, markets, and liberty”. It offers a “unique combination of resources for students, teachers, researchers, and aficionados of economic thought”.
Read Print (http://www.readprint.com/)Here you can read online for free over 5000 classics books and 10,000 quotes written by best known authors from across the world.
Directory of Open Access Databases Thesis and Dissertations:
Top Documentary Films (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/)This offers full watchable documentaries and information on documentaries by quoting reviews from trusted sources.
E-journals:
AccessMyLibrary (a service of Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, provides free access to over 30 million articles from top publications)
D-Lib Magazine (focuses on digital library research and development
Gateway for Free E-journals (700 Free E-journals covering Subjects like Business & Management, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, General Works, Health Sciences, Information Technology, Library Science,Life Sciences, Material Science, Mathematics, Media and Communication, Physics & Social Sciences)
Fulltext Sources Online (a directory of publications accessible online in full text, listing 44,335 periodicals, newspapers, newsletters, newswires, and TV or radio transcripts)
World Digital Library (makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world)
Free E-Books:
Google eBookstore Look here for bestsellers, favorite classics, and more. Books are available in several formats, and you can also check out ratings and reviews from other users.
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to create and share e-books online. No registration or fee is required, and books are available in ePub, Kindle, HTML, and simple text formats.
Open Library This library catalog is an open online project of Internet Archive, and allows users to contribute books.
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is a great go-to if you want access to historical and academic books.
BookBoon The site offers more than 1,000 free e-books, it’s easy to navigate and best of all, you don’t have to register to download them.
ManyBooks.net You have the option to browse by most popular titles, recent reviews, authors, titles, genres, languages, and more.
Free eBooks From romance to mystery to drama, this website is a good source for all sorts of free e-books.
LibriVox LibriVox is home to thousands of free audiobooks, including classics and out-of-print books.
PDF Books World Literature, plays, poetry, and non-fiction texts are all available for you to download at your leisure.
Feedbooks Feedbooks allows those that sign up for an account to download a multitude of free e-books that have become accessible via public domain, and therefore cost you nothing to access.
International Digital Children’s Library You can find award-winning books that range in length and reading levels. There’s also a wide selection of languages available, with everything from English to Farsi.
This is in support of our students and faculty members conducting research and to enhance the level of their academic performance. The university library enriches with most recent and updated scientific journals in different fields of knowledge, GU library compiled a list of links which comprise a large number of international free download journals in different fields. Please follow the instructions to have access to the journal volumes or articles.
Instructions:
Click on the journal link
Click on the journal Archives.
Download the journal volume or articles you selected.
Note: The file selected will be opened using PDF reader. If you don’t have the PDF reader, go to the website http://get.adobe.com/reader/
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