American University of Sharjah Library: a collection development project

Abstract

The American University of Sharjah (AUS) in the United Arab Emirates was established in 1997. The university’s international curriculum and the library holdings have changed with the growth of the student enrollment. Assessment of the library collection was, therefore, necessary to maintain the quality of the materials. The objectives of the assessment were to support the international mission and curriculum of the university and to identify the unique materials to the region and gaps in the collection. Collection development policies were created that were unique to the Gulf region. In addition, the international faculty responded to a collection development survey and participated in a serials evaluation project. As a result of the assessment, an intensive collection development program was undertaken, the approval plan extended, and thousands of new monographs ordered. The project became a model for other newly developed libraries in the Gulf region.

Libraries across Land and Sea: Academic Library Services on International Branch Campuses

“…35 Gyeszly and Matthew Ismail analyzed the collection development policies at the American University of Sharjah, including how the collection was carefully built to serve the needs of the students at the American University of Sharjah. 36 Charles Gilreath also examined the collection development of the university library at Texas A&M at Qatar, in which he explored how the Texas A&M at Qatar Library built a collection of digital and print resources with a relatively low physical footprint. 37 Yet there are limited studies on the comprehensive services offered at branch campuses, and how library services for U.S. research libraries are provided when immersed within an international location and its wholly different cultural operations.…”

Library development for Texas A&M at Qatar: maximum access/minimum holdings

“…While there has been substantial literature published describing libraries and library services in the Middle East over the last two decades (Meho and Nsouli, 1999), virtually all of it predates the current web-intensive environment. Among the more recent literature, emphasis in most cases has been on libraries in indigenous institutions of higher education (Boumarafi, 1996;Zehery, 1997) or autonomous institutions managed by foreign universities such as the various institutions managed by American University (Gyeszly and Ismail, 2003). The beginning of the TAMU program at Qatar's Education City presented the opportunity to explore a branch library model that leverages existing licenses and resources to provide library services consonant with the university's goal to create a curriculum and academic environment for students in Qatar as close as possible to that experienced by students in Texas.…”