Following the success of the EIFL eLibrary Myanmar project at Yangon University and Mandalay University, EIFL is delighted to welcome three new partner institutions - Dagon University and Yadanabon University (two of the largest undergraduate universities in Myanmar) and the Yangon University of Economics.
The eLibrary Myanmar project was created to support educational change at an expanding range of universities by enabling access to knowledge, and building the skills and capacities of librarians, faculty and students.
Good news travels fast
After more than 25 years of isolation, and hungry for up-to-date resources, Yangon University and Mandalay University (formerly two of the most prestigious universities in Asia) have made a huge leap into the 21st century in less than 12 months with the help of the EIFL eLibrary Myanmar project.
Good news travels fast, and other universities quickly expressed interest in participating. But, before they could do so, they had to upgrade their technological infrastructure and bandwidth very significantly in order to support access to an eLibrary.
The prospect of access to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of e-resources proved to be a powerful catalyst for change. In just a few months, and following high levels of determination as well as investment, the Yangon University of Economics, Dagon University and Yadanabon University now have the technology in place to join the eLibrary Myanmar project.
Over 60,000 students now benefitting
The original aim of the 18-month EIFL eLibrary Myanmar project (which was launched in December 2013) was to enable libraries at just two institutions - Yangon University and Mandalay University - to develop into electronic resource information centres which could provide effective support for teaching, research and learning across all faculties.
However, with the addition of new universities, we are delighted that over 60,000 students plus faculty members at five institutions can now reap the benefits of participation in this landmark and highly successful project.
What’s more, further universities are also working hard to improve their infrastructure in order to be able to join the project soon.
Access to a world-class e-Library
We have licensed an impressive range of high quality international journals, databases and e-books for the eLibrary Myanmar project, plus the EBSCO Discovery Service which provides a single point of access to e-resources from multiple publishers.
Access to all e-resources (which include 10,000+ full text journals, 130,000+ full text e-books plus a vast range of other materials) is already available at Yangon University and Mandalay University. Access is currently being set up for Dagon University, Yadanabon University and the Yangon University of Economics.
TRAINING, TRAINING, TRAINING
Making e-resources available was just the start. In order to maximise awareness and usage, our highly experienced and dedicated local Coordinators have implemented an intensive and extensive programme of training for librarians, faculty and students at Yangon University and Mandalay University – everything from basic IT skills to advanced online search skills and information literacy.
To support the expanded number of institutions, we have appointed a third Coordinator to the eLibrary Myanmar project team. Tin Win Yee will provide training and support to Dagon University. Our existing Coordinator for Yangon University, Myat Sann Nyein, will also support the Yangon University of Economics, and our Coordinator for Mandalay University, Aung Kyaw Soe, will take on responsibility for training at Yadanabon University.
Training for the new institutions has already begun:
- Over 350 librarians and faculty members attended workshops delivered by EBSCO in November 2014 which provided an introduction to online search techniques and the EBSCO Discovery Service.
- A programme of in-depth hands-on training for librarians by our Coordinators is now underway, and training for faculty and students from individual departments will start early in 2015.
KEEP UP TO DATE WITH PROJECT ACTIVITIES
View our project Flickr album and visit the Facebook pages of libraries at our partner universities (which were set up as part of eLibrary Myanmar project) to get a great insight into activities on a day-to-day basis:
- Yangon University Library (over 2,900 friends since May 2014!)
- Mandalay University Library (over 3,000 friends since May 2014!)
- Dagon University Library (page set up November 2014)
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