Makkah, KSA, March 29, 2016
His Excellency Dr. Bakri bin M’atoog Al-Assas, President of Umm Al-Qura University, has launched Sierra Library Services Platform in conjunction with Naseej the leading provider of Knowledge Management Solutions in the Middle East. The launch ceremony was graced by the university’s vice-presidents, faculty deans, support deanships and Eng. Abdullah Al Turifi Naseej V.P.
Sierra provides a powerful, modern foundation on which to build the future of library services. Combining complete functionality with the power and scale of an open services platform, Sierra frees librarians to create the kind of patron experience and management solution they have always wanted. Sierra offers flexible workflow support, including circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, patron management, and accounting management, in a unified staff interface.
Dr. Bakri bin M’atoog stated; “The University leverages the latest technology to serve its community of academics, researchers, as well as students on both male and females campuses. To that effect, UQU has establish the first Academic Digital Library in the Arab world. It has also developed 100 traditional programs into electronic courses.”
H.E. Dr. Adnan Al-Harithy Dean of Library Affairs at Umm Al-Qura University confirmed; “Sierra is the next-generation library system designed to go beyond the traditional tasks of Academic and Research Libraries to support librarians in their strategic mission to provide knowledge services to users; given the university’s 12.000+ dissertations making about 7 million academic pages.”
“More than 5000 libraries across the globe operate on Sierra ” stresses UQU Vice-Dean for Library Technical Affairs – Dr. Nasser bin Rajeh bin Mohammed Al-Shahrani, “Sierra operates in a high-tech environment based on the cutting-edge technology and the internationally recognized standards in the field. With its detailed analytics on information resources usage, library budget and patron trends, the system allows library managers to take informed decisions regarding proper allocation of library budget and title acquisition. In addition, as online information resources form the bulk of library collections, Sierra ensures seamless management via a single integrated platform and a unified interface.”
Eng. Abdullah Al-Tarifi Naseej VP – commented; “We have solid strategic partnership with Umm Al-Qura University. Sierra empowers libraries to reinvent the very nature of their services and deliver value well into the future. Sierra s foundational technology provides automated workflows, integrated resource management, and open access to data. “