UJ holds e-publishing conference to facilitate easier research

AMMAN — The University of Jordan’s (UJ) library on Tuesday opened its second annual conference on e-publishing through cloud and mobile computing technologies.

The conference aims to promote the use of technology in scientific research and the use of information technology in research papers for students and authors, according to organisers.

Libraries and educational institutions use cloud storage technology to make information available to users on mobile devices and other computers connected to the service.

Khawla Zaghlawan, the vice president of the UJ’s library, said the conference highlights cloud computing technologies in the field of research, in addition to the impact of sharing information among students around the world.

“It promotes sharing information among individuals, organisations, researchers and beneficiaries in the field of e-publishing. From UJ’s experience in cloud computing and e-publishing, we started using the system via social media networks and mobile computing,” she said.

The two-day conference, Zaghlawan added, seeks to support the use of cloud computing and develop scientific research in Jordanian and regional campuses.

“We aim to spread awareness on the importance of mobile learning methods and cloud computing, in addition to finding methods to start using the system in a broader area and teaching librarians how to provide information online,” she said.

Researchers from 10 Arab countries are attending the conference, according to the organisers.

Researcher Rizk Sayed said as technology becomes more widespread in the Arab world, it is vital to involve students and researchers in modern methods to document their work and to find published books and papers.

“Everyone can access the Internet, which made the process of acquiring information easier,” he told The Jordan Times.

Cloud computing allows users to view unlimited resources published online by other international libraries, he said, with a monthly or weekly subscription.

From Tech Knowledge Company, Marketing Manager Leen Samara noted that researchers are now able to access databases via various technological devices.

“Publishers always have websites that contain their own databases, universities or educational institutions can subscribe to their databases and sign up for a username and a password. After that, students can have access to all the scientific resources available,” she told The Jordan Times.

Instead of searching manually for the information, she said, students and researchers could enter a keyword to the database and the available sources would appear on screen, including abstracts from research papers submitted.

“Books will be available around-the-clock without a restricted time limit, so the researcher can go back to the documents and refer to them any time,” Samara added.

She said the system guarantees the safety of information submitted to the database and protects the publishers against plagiarism.