Abu Dhabi, 30 September 2003, in a move to modernize and upgrade the services of its library, the Center for Documentation and Research (CDR) (www.cdr.gov.ae) at the Presidential Court in Abu Dhabi (UAE) chose Horizon, the world's leading library automation system, to manage their entire library collections.

The contract was awarded to Arabian Advanced Systems, the leading library and information solutions provider in the region, and the developer of the Arabized version of Horizon library automation system, in association with Dynix, the world leader in library services and the pioneering information management company.

"This part of the World has always been a point of contact between different cultures, a fact that enhances the wealth of historical data and creates an invaluable historical source of materials pertaining to the Arabian Gulf region. The Center for Documentation and Research, collects, documents, translates, publishes and preserves these data and makes it accessible to researchers worldwide" said Dr. Abdulla Mohammed El-Rayes - Director General of CDR; he also added "guided by H. H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahayan, the President and the Founder of the United Arab Emirates, and with direct supervision of H.H Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan- the Chairman of the Office of H.H the President and the President of CDR- we have decided to utilize every effort to preserve and academically utilize the great history of this region".

The CDR library is undergoing a total upgrade process of its services and systems, hence a key figure in the library field in the Arab Countries, Dr. Jassim Mohammed Jirjees has been appointed as the CDR library Director. His expertise and skills ensure that the library operates efficiently utilizing its huge resources to meet its strategic goals. "The library service upgrade is aimed to ensure that the library will help the Center achieve its strategic goals by providing researchers from different parts of the world with seamless access to our collection in a multilingual environment" Dr. El-Rayes commented.

The implementation of Horizon followed a technical processing project whereby Arabian Advanced Systems (AAS) catalogued the whole library collection. A team of 9 librarians most of whom were working on site, completed the project and met the deadline. AAS used services from OCLC retrospective cataloging for all the English titles. AAS also utilized the power ofZ39.50 cataloging in Horizon to access records hosted from different sources including the Library of Congress.

Mr. A. Al-Abduljabbar - President of Arabian Advanced Systems- commented on signing the deal with CDR by saying " We are very pleased that CDR library chose Horizon. This is just another evidence that Horizon is indeed leading the automation software industry in the library and information field. It fits perfectly well with what CDR is trying to achieve". Mr. Al-Abduljabbar also added, "The experience gained over the years serving the region's largest libraries has definitely enabled us to deliver world class solutions and support services to CDR".

-Ends-

ABOUT CDR
Center for Documentation and Research (CDR) was established in Abu Dhabi in 1968 under the directives of H.H Sheikh Zayed, the President of UAE -for the purpose of documenting the history of the UAE and Gulf region. The Center for Documentation and Research takes the lead in collecting, documenting, translating and preserving invaluable historical source materials pertaining to the Arabian Gulf region, and particularly in UAE.

The Center conducts and publishes specialized research studies and also participates in and convenes national, regional and international seminars and conferences, as well as organizing internal and external exhibition related to the UAE.

ABOUT AAS
Arabian Advanced Systems is the Arab world's leading Knowledge and information solutions provider with more than 14 years of experience serving the Arabic information community, providing state-of-the-art information services and solutions. Arabian Advanced Systems combines integrated tools and applications, with best-of-breed solutions, to provide a comprehensive set of services covering all aspects of the information cycle, from acquisition and management, to publishing and dissemination. Arabian Advanced Systems equipped the region's most prominent libraries with 'Horizon', the world's leading library automation system. Arabian Advanced Systems also developed, through its "Naseej" division, enterprise and public Portal solutions and applications for key sectors and organizations. Arabian Advanced Systems is the regional partner for some of the world's leading information providers such as Dialog, EBSCO, OVID, Proquest, OCLC, ZAD, among others, meeting the needs of information centers around the Arab world.

Media Contact:
Mr. Mohammed Al-Kofide
Marketing Manager, AAS
pr@aas.com.sa
Tel: +9661 4770477
Fax: +9661 4783512

Media Contacts:
Center for Documentation and Research
Tel: +971 2 4445400
Fax: + 971 2 4444306

© Press Release 2005