Library Service

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology Libraries

The AAiT Library Development History

The AAiT (Formerly the College of Engineering) was established in 1953 by the Ministry of Education of Ethiopia, and was housed in a set of building in the compound of Technical School of Addis Ababa. Initially, only a two year program of Intermediate Engineering studies was offered and students were subsequently sent abroad for the completion of the student leading to a Bachelor of Science degree (B.Sc). At this time, the Library was holding about 9,000 volumes and over 300 titles in Periodicals.  And now the library possesses about 30, 000 volumes of books.  

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT) Library system which is a leading engineering Information Center in the country which has large number of users has been providing services to the Institute Community, Scholars and Professionals in engineering and related fields of studies.

The AAiT Library plays an important role in supporting the Institute Mission of excellence through teaching and research by making information resources easily, timely and efficiently accessible to all its potential users. For such purposes, building strong libraries for teaching and research is necessary for any academic institution.

The AAiT library provides the vital core services by facilitating and improving the teaching and learning process of the Institute. As the "heart of the Institute", the AAiT library dutifully supports all students to tap the resources when searching for new knowledge and to clarify or to strengthen the knowledge they already possess.  

The dynamic and complex library and information services require up-to-date and uninterrupted attention to ensure services of the highest quality with abundant access to relevant literature in both print and electronic formats with a qualified staff because libraries must be the core of university teaching, learning and research.

Student’s enrolment has increased dramatically considering the 70/30 enrolment ratio and the budget and Human Resources allocations have not much proportional. The library have many challenges, Automation and basic technological adaptation are by far needs more attentions. Longer steps and duplication of works are series bottle necks for the efficient service addressing of the library. Shortage of proper number of employee including professional librarians in regarding the size of the services and the library contain in balance approach and clear dissatisfaction and complaints of the end users.

The basic activities done in the library and which directly related with the service center. These are

• .Technical Processing  function 

• .Circulation service 

• .Stack management 

• .Clearance handling 

• .Electronic Resources & Services  

• .Periodicals services 

• .Reference services 

The Institute Library shall be headed by a Head, Librarian. The Institute Librarian shall have an overall responsibility for the well functioning and development of the Library system. The AAiT library has structured by both academic and administrative support staff.

The AAiT Library shall have two divisions:  Technical and Public Services Division.  

The technical and public service divisions have different sections.

1. A.Technical Service 

Such as Acquisitions (Books Selection, Ordering and Receiving based on the list sent) and receiving cataloged materials and send books to Central Cataloging Department to be cataloged.

1. B.Digital Library service 

• .Manages the Institutes/Department digital repositories; 

• .Collects electronic theses and dissertations in CDs from departments/graduate offices; 

• .Review and prioritize a range of e-resources for subscription and acquisition  

• .Identifies and selects library materials/collections to be digitized. 

• .Evaluate and recommend on the planning and implementation of an electronic resource  management (ERM) module to enable effective day to day operations  

• .Ensure the access to electronic resources availability for users 

• .Organize e-journals from different sources 

• .Provide electronic journals service to users 

1. C.Public service division 

  This Division has an overall responsibility for development and implementation of information services to users of the Library in co-operation with concerned Work Units and Services. It has also a general responsibility for coordinating users’ instructions and identifying training needs of the staff and for arranging the same when approved. The Division also handles external relation and publicity of the Library system.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1.Circulation  Section 

  The circulation section is the main transaction area of the library. It is the libraries’ main service section which has direct contact with users. Patron registration and issuing borrowing cards; The Circulation Service will have the following units:

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. A.Loan/borrowing Unit 

• .Provide short (for 2 hours) and long loan (for 15 days) service to eligible library users; 

• .Check files to clearance; 

• .Reserve books; 

• .Maintain collection and building security; 

• .Checkout and check in books and other library materials; 

• .Shelve materials; 

• .Deliver materials to faculty members upon request; 

• .Assist patrons with finding materials in the building and  

• .Work with each school members to place materials on reserve. 

• .Taking inventory; 

1. D.Stack Management 

• .Provide service to staffs, Graduate and under graduate students; 

• .Arrange books in their appropriate shelf; 

• .Conduct shelf reading; 

• .Take Care for items in the collection; 

1. E.Check point 

• .Check patron ID cards at entrance to control un authorized user from entrance;  

• .Conduct body search when patrons exit the library 

• .Check materials  

1. 2.  Reference Service 

 The reference service of the library is responsible for user orientation; inter library loan management, answering users’ library material requests, and current awareness service. It has the following units

1. 1. 2.1Inquiry and interlibrary loan desk 

• .Answer reference questions; 

• .Give access to the reference collection that includes books, audiovisual materials and electronic accesses; 

• .Develop lifelong skills among students, faculty and staff leading to independence by using library instruction, face-to-face tutorials in the use of library resources and equipment; 

• .Handle the inter library loan activities of the University library 

1. 1. 1. 1. 1.Periodical and documentation section 

Periodical Service is responsible for handling a variety of serial materials in the library including document delivery, request photocopying, serial repairs and binding service. The Service is also responsible for keeping periodical files up to date and managing serial collection in the library. It also coordinates serial selection, subscription and renewal activities.

The major activities in this section are:

• .Provide short loan service; 

• .Assist users in locating periodical materials and different organizations’ documents   

• .Arranges periodicals in order 

Information Technology Investments in AAiT library

Academic and research libraries have been investing in information technology (IT) for more than twenty-five years, beginning with the automation of repetitive processes such as cataloging and circulation. The initial goals of automating these functions were to reduce the rate of cost inflation, if not the absolute costs, of these operations and to improve the timeliness and accuracy of information. Over time, automation also enhanced direct services to users. The online catalog, with its twenty-four-hour-per-day availability, sophisticated search-and-retrieval capabilities, and ability to provide information not included in card catalogs, is the prime example of the corollary benefits that our library users experienced. Today, library automation is mature, and the rapidly growing availability of digital information -- including indexing and abstracting services, scholarly journals, popular publications, quantitative data, and digital copies of materials originally issued in print -- promises to transform library services and the experience of library users.

• .Libraries are being transformed not only by external pressures and opportunities but also by internal developments and demands, specifically the creation of digital information and services. As the twenty-first century dawns, campuses face limitless opportunities to invest in IT but have finite budgets. Moreover, competition for institutional resources is intense. Thus, the choices to be made are crucial. How can the campus ensure that scarce resources are invested wisely? How can it demonstrate the value that library IT investments add to teaching and research? How might planning for future IT investments in libraries build on the assessment of past successes and failures, and how can rigorous outcome measurements for future investments be developed?  

   

The current status of Electronic Resource Usage in AAiT Library

• .1, By its  initiative the Library have digitized previously 10,000 e-books at AAiT Library and they are available for the user. http://10.5.25.9:8282/greenstone/cgi-bin/library.cgi 

• .In addition to that we are uploading new books at the central digital library. We have already uploaded 2532 e-books and it is available for the users. We are uploading 100 books every month. http://dlib.aau.edu.et/greenstone/cgi-bin/library.cgi 

• .2, The library have uploaded More than 800 Thesis and dissertation on the Library website and make it available for the users 

• .3,   The Library have downloaded more than 300 Journal Articles, we will give it to the users on request and send through e-mail the downloading process will continue. 

• .4, The library is download Different Lecture Videos from different Universities  and give to the students on request we have more than 300 Lecture videos on different stream 

• .5. The Library Subscribed journal for all users in the central university http://www.aau.edu.et/library/subscribed-journals/ 

Please enjoy with the vast amount of electronic resources of the library.