Library and Information Center : |
||
|
The officials of the library from the very onset, through consultation with the experts and bibliographers tried to procure the authentic rare sources and books from the private libraries. As a result, in a short period of time the library of foundation turned into one of the specialized libraries of Iran. From the early days of the establishment of the library, the procured books have been prepared on the basis of specific criteria and the main thrust in their preparation has been their relevance to Islam and Iran. Hence, the library enjoys an acceptable qualitative and quantitative (150,000 volumes) credibility. The employment of young experts as well as consultation with the experts of different scientific departments of the foundation and consultation with the libraries and research centers not only have increased the ability of the experts of the library in selection, tracing and listing of the sources, but also have turned the library into a credible center for offering specialized information in the field of encyclopaedia writing. Although the library’s services are open to the users, the firm rules and regulations defined for lending the sources to the members have turned it into a strong data center for them.
Structural Organization of the Library:
1 – Council of the Library The library is run by a council, which is the highest body for policymaking, planning and continuous supervision over all activities of the library and the information center. The decisions of the council come into effect after they are found compatible with other regulations related to scientific-research activities of the foundation and their official notification after the endorsement of the director of the foundation (Statute of the Council, Article 2). The combination of the council is as follows: - Chairman: The Deputy for Scientific Affairs - Secretary: The Librarian and head of the Information Center - Two senior scientific board members of the foundation, or the heads of the departments elected by all scientific board members. - The chairman and secretary of the council are the permanent members of the council while the other four members are elected for a period of two years.
Some of the functions of the council are as follows: - Policymaking and adjusting the librarianship and information policies with other enacted policies of the foundation. - Setting the outlines of the plans as well as enacting the short- and long-term plans of the library. - Continuous supervision over proper implementation of the enacted plans. - Paying continuous attention to the problems of the library and information center and making attempts to remove them. - Criticism of the performances and rectification of the methods. - Establishing relations with the Iranian and non-Iranian libraries and information centers that are somehow related to the objectives of the Encyclopedia of the World of Islam.
2 – The Librarian The main duties and prerogatives of the librarian are as follows: - Preparation of the plans for running all the affairs of the library. - Implementation of the enacted plans of the council of Library. - Attending to the problems of the library. - Supervising the needs of the scientific departments and those of the faculty members. - Preparing the grounds for participation of the officials in charge of procuring of the necessary books in the domestic and foreign book fairs.
3 – Department of Information dissemination and procurement The main duties of this section of the library include identification, selection, ordering, and procurement of the required data sources. This task is carried out through the supervision and consultation of the librarian with his advisors and faculty members as well as experts and researchers, The orders may be for an individual item or a group of items. Balk orders are carried out through reviewing the domestic or foreign lists, participation in the book fairs, book of the week, and book lists of the publishers. Moreover, this section also identifies the domestic and foreign publishers active in the field of Islam and Iran to procure their lists. The section also provides the Foundation with the latest information about the latest CDs purchased and surfs the Internet to garner new information.
4 – Department of Bibliography and Technical Services One of the main duties of this department is to organize and classify the data of the library to facilitate their marketing. The classification of the data is carried out on the basis of the US Congress Library. The subjects of the classification are chosen on the basis of the Persian and English topics after consultation with the experts of the related themes and a group of the faculty members of the Foundation. Following are the main tasks of this department: - Preparing the bibliographical lists and classification of the Persian, Arabic and English books. - Uploading the temporary and permanent information of the procured sources into the database and site of the library to be accessed by the members. - Creation and organization of the Persian and English catalogues. - Preparation and distribution of a newsletter about the latest purchased books and uploading it into the section of Scientific and Cultural News of the site.
5 – Periodicals Section The main functions of this section include the selection, ordering, collection, preparation and lending of the journals required by the scientific board members. Hence this section carries out the following tasks: - Makes the necessary communications for subscription to new periodicals. - Removes the shortcomings of the existing periodicals by purchasing the missing issues. - Prepares the catalogue of the new periodicals and prepares them to fit into the shelves for an easy access. - Supervises the lending system of the periodicals.
6 – Reference Section and Library Services According to rules and regulations mentioned in the statute, the reference and non-reference sources are only lent to the members of the library. In addition to supervising the books of the main hall, this section looks after the reference section, which has been named after the late Dr. Ahmad Taheri Araqi as well as the personal library of late Professor Abbas Zaryab Khoei.
* To contact the officials of the library, please contact the Scientific Units. |
||
