Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2012
Naseej, the regions leading knowledge solutions and services provider, has released AcKnowledge 3.0 (the third version of its Academic Knowledge Service), which became available for libraries in April 2012. The launch is part of the Naseej s strategy to develop and improve knowledge management systems and services in all academic institutions and university libraries in the Arab world.
The Vice President of Naseej, Eng. Abdullah Al-Turaifi, stated: AcKnowledge is an advanced, integrated service provided by Naseej to academic and research institutions whose level of investment in electronic information resources is intended to ensure ongoing benefits to employees and other beneficiaries within the educational sector and the research community. AcKnowledge provides access to global information through an annual subscription aimed at employees of research or academic institutions. It is hosted locally, which can reduce delays when logging on to global sites.
The service has been designed to suit the requirements and needs of research and academic institutes, with a focus on subspecialties. AcKnowledge is provided through a unified portal that includes content customization services, and access to relevant information and comprehensive research through databases and e-journals. In addition, the service offers capabilities in the areas of control and management of the beneficiaries community without further investment of financial, human, and other resources.
Eng. Al-Turaifi further elaborated on the new release by saying Version 3.0 provides services and solutions that enable beneficiaries and libraries to access information quickly, easily, and efficiently. This third version of AcKnowledge has a new interface in Arabic, English, and French, and the capability of choosing between the Exploration and Discussion System (EDS) or the federated search. It also offers specialized search tools that categorize information resources by topic, collects and filters results according to type, subtopic, or the resource, displays results according to type of item, provides dozens of open source information resources and establishes a personal library for beneficiaries based on their favored information resources.
The latest revision has the further advantage that the alphabetical lists have been arranged more effectively to include all e-resources, such as e-books, journals, and databases. This change has enhanced users research capabilities by enabling easier access to a broader range of information resources, both on- and off-campus, and by facilitating the integration of those resources in the library index. Moreover, the latest AcKnowledge system enhances the potential of libraries to manage beneficiaries communities, form user groups, and generate usage reports of information resources. Libraries news publishing systems, and systems for managing electronic subscriptions are improved through an integrated knowledge base that assists the library in selecting resources relevant to selected topics.