The Institute of Ethiopian Studies Library of the Addis Ababa University launched a new online public access catalogue on August 11, 2016 in a ceremony held at Mekonnen Hall.

The rapid diversification and growth in use of emerging technologies has changed the traditional library into an automated, electronic, virtual and digital resource center, especially in an academic setup. Towards offering effective and efficient service to library users and to modernize its data management, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) Library, one of the Addis Ababa University’s research libraries, has automated over 43,500 collections of the foreign language library.

Appreciating all the personnel behind the success of the work during the launching ceremony Ahmed Hassen (Ph.D.), director of the IES, stated that automation of the library has multiple effects to maximize effectiveness and efficiency helping users easily access materials they need using key words like author or subject. He further explained that automation of the library facilitates resource sharing with other institutions, increases durability and heralds a better level of library management.

According to Ahmed’s (Ph.D.) statement, the institute has been under expansion since 2007 E.C. with plans to move the library to a new building under construction the upcoming year. To make the library a center of information and documentation about the country and enrich it with necessary resources for research, the library has planned to collect relevant document from various public Universities in Ethiopia.

The IES Library collects and maintains various books, manuscripts and periodicals written in any language, concerning Ethiopia and Ethiopian studies of all kinds. It envisions the preservation of Ethiopian literary heritage rare publications and manuscripts.

The ceremony featured a visit to the museum and the expansion progress made in the last couple of years.