“Iqra’a” Central Library

The Central Library at the University of Kalamoon has been named ‘Iqra’a’ (Read) in order to encourage students and teachers to use the library services and benefit from all available resources.

The Library consists of eight distinct sections with different specializations to meet the needs of all the faculties in the University. Each section contains copies of the Arabic and English textbooks to enable students to study in the reading rooms in addition to the reference books which enable them to enrich their knowledge, write their term papers and graduation projects. Teachers may also benefit from these reference books in preparing their classes.

These sections include:

• Medicine
• Dentistry
• Pharmacy
• Engineering: communications/ IT
• Architecture
• International Relations
• Business and Management
• Health Sciences: Nutrition
• Applied Sciences

In addition, the Library features other sections:

– General sections: social sciences (education, philosophy and psychology, sociology, history and geography)

– Requirements section: This section aims to enable students refine their language skills in Arabic, English and French. The section includes a valuable collection of world-class novels.

– Dictionaries section: this section includes a collection of general and specialized dictionaries such as:

• Le Robert
• Webster’s
• The Metapolis Dictionary of Advanced Architecture
• The Unified Medical Dictionary
• Court Language Dictionary
• Al-Mawrid
• Al-Mahal
• Lisan Al-Arab
• Al-Qamus Al-Muhit

– Encyclopedia section: this section includes a collection of general and specialized encyclopedias such as:

• Encyclopedia Britannica
• Politics World Encyclopedia
• The Story of Civilization
• Arabic Environmental Encyclopedia
• The Arab World Encyclopedia

– Periodicals section: this section includes a collection of general and specialized Arabic and English periodicals including:

• o Academic journals of Syrian public universities:
• Journal for Health Sciences- Damascus University
• Journal of the Basic Sciences- Damascus University
• Research Journal- Aleppo University

The Library is subscribed to a number of specialized scientific journals published by Springer (42 topics) such as:

• Clinical oral investigation
• Cardiovascular drugs and therapy
• Economic Finance
• Electronic Market
• European journal of pediatrics
• Food Digestion
• Medical Oncology
• Mobile Networks and applications
• Pharmaceutical research
• Telecommunication systems

– The Library is further subscribed to a number of general and specialized periodicals such as:

• Al-Arabi Magazine
• Scientific American
• Health World Magazine
• Journal of Atomic Energy
• Info Magazine
• National Geographic
• And a collection of maps and world atlas

Library Systems:

– The Library uses the open-shelf system to enable readers to select and read the books freely.

– Books are classified according to the Dewey Decimal Classification. Colored labels are used on books to enable students and staff to identify the subject of the book easily.

– The data entry and extraction system is open source/ KOHA which is a user-friendly and flexible system facilitating enquiry about books by title, author, publisher or subject.

– The total number of books currently stands at 17,000 books.

– At the beginning of each semester, the supply department purchases the textbooks required by the different faculties as well as the necessary reference books.

– Some teachers and students dedicate some of their books to the central library.

– The Library occupies 7 thousand square meters including the main library hall, the basement and the library cafeteria. The wide glass façade gives the library light, warmth and a great view of the university campus and green gardens.

– The library includes 650 reading seats, 50 computers for students, research room for scholars, reception, 2 meeting rooms and 4 WCs.

– Free internet access is available for all those within the library during working hours.