e-Book store, e-library for Kustar students

ABU DHABI — Students and faculty members at Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (Kustar) will soon have free access to hundreds of book titles, both written and audio, at their fingertips as Etisalat and Huawei Technologies Co. have announced to launch a trial project for an e-book store/e-library in partnership with Etisalat-Huawei Application Innovation Center (AIC) and Etisalat BT Innovation Center (EBTIC).

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Mon 22 Nov 2010, 9:34 PM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 4:05 PM

The move is to keep in line with technological advancements and to transform and improve reading among students, faculty members and consumers alike by making it interactive through personal computers (PC) and mobile devices.

“The new service will play an active role in the sharing and exchange of knowledge in the community. We aim to develop the e-book store/e-library service by integrating the e-reader with multimedia and cloud computing. Amongst other benefits, students will be able to watch movies, photos and listen while reading their textbooks; correlate theory with practice at their fingertips; and assess themselves through the ‘question and answer’ section at the end of each chapter,” said AbdulAziz Al Mutawa, Etisalat’s Group Senior Vice-President of Technology Innovations at Etisalat-Huawei AIC.

The trial will give students access to information such as lecture notes, laboratory notes and other e-resources, as well as the ability to bookmark pages, search for keywords within the e-book they are reading, add and combine notes and change settings as they wish, using their own smart devices. In addition, faculty members can understand their students’ reading habits better and adjust or enhance their own teaching programmes accordingly.

“Khalifa University is delighted to partner with Etisalat in conducting the first trial of the e-book store/e-library service. This is part of our commitment towards enhancing the academic experience of our students and faculty through the use of technology and innovation. The e-book store/e-library service is just one part of the Intelligent Campus (iCampus) initiative that Khalifa University and EBTIC are driving for the education sector in the UAE as well as internationally. This pilot trial would not only help us to understand the behavioral, cultural and other aspects of such technological adoption in the UAE, but will also help us to evaluate and develop the first research case study of e-book store/e-library services for the region,” said Dr Mohammed Al Mualla, Kustar’s Interim Provost and Member, EBTIC Board.

The period will run till December 2010 but may continue through the university’s spring semester.

Etisalat is planning to extend the trial project to other universities in the UAE and publishing houses within and outside the UAE to help them upload their books to the e-book store/e-library service and provide a comprehensive service to the public.

farhana@khaleejtimes.com


More news from