ANNUAL REPORT - The Petroleum Institute

A year of transformation, growth and success
III. Highlights for the
Academic Year 2011-2012
Our primary goal this year was to enhance
collections and information resources to
support quality education and research
programs at the PI. The acquisitions team was
responsible for spending 100% of the allocated
budget for books, journals, ebooks and
ejournal databases. Over 11,000 physical items
and over 30,000 ejournals were added to our
research resources. The PI Library provided
access to more online scholarly scientific
publications and added the Science Direct
Freedom ejournals database and Scopus to
support research. As a result, our faculty reach
is steadily increasing. Over 300,000 searches
and over 100,000 articles were downloaded
from our collection of ejournal databases
during the academic year. Our staff provided
training workshops to ensure students, faculty
and researchers effectively utilize the scholarly
resources. The Library was well prepared for
the ABET Accreditation visit and the Masters
of Applied Chemistry and HSE CAA review
which confirmed that our collection and
services meet international standards.
Structural Changes
After a thorough career analysis, it was decided
that Library Assistants should be reclassified
as Library Officers based on the range and
scope of their duties. Several members of
staff were awarded merit increases as a result
of their hard work and contributions to the
departments. Two valued contributors to the
Library’s development since its opening in
2004, John Rogan and Mohammed Boufarss,
departed and we welcomed two new additions
to the library’s staff: Therese D’Souza and
Mohammed Ismail. Currently, we are engaged
in an extensive search for two additional
professional librarians.
Staff Development
Staff Development is important for the
retention and professional growth of staff.
Team building and leadership training were
provided for the entire Library and ILC staff
and individuals took advantage of professional
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