Library and Technology Development

AUCA Library is a dynamic partner of the university community.  By leveraging technology and creativity, AUCA Library promotes access to collections, helps students to be responsible consumers of information, and encourages lifelong learning.  The AUCA Library supports faculty and researchers by providing access to a variety of information sources and formats. 

The AUCA Library operates two spaces on the third floor and book storage in the basement. Core Collection holds approximately 25,000 items of textbooks, books, reference and other materials, and provides study space for up to 42 people.  Chadha Family Room holds collection of audiovisual materials, periodicals, four desktop computers, scanning and printing equipment.  The room also provides study space, which is flexible and can be reconfigured according to students’ needs. The space can accommodate up to 60 people when holding programs and events. Textbook Storage holds multiple copies of textbooks. 

AUCA Library is subscribed to 28 electronic databases. The library provides access to over 212,000 e-books through subscription to 3 major databases of electronic books (EBRARY, EBSCO E-book Collection, Oxford Handbooks Online).  Other paid subscriptions include PsycArticles, EBSCO Journals, Taylor&Francis Journals, Lexis Nexis, Columbia International Affairs Online, STOR, Toktom, Central Asia and Caucasus. Library continues subscription to electronic services, such as OCLC EZProxy, EBSCO Discovery Service, Follet Library Management System.  These services allow maintaining library catalog and bibliographic records, providing off-campus access to electronic resources, and accessing all library electronic resources via a single searching interface.

Thanks to the membership with EIFL Consortium, AUCA Library expanded the number and value of discounts of databases and other licensed resources.  The following subscriptions are either free or at discounted rate for AUCA library:  e-Duke Journals, IMF eLibrary, Edward Elgar Development Studies Collection, SAGE Premier, Intellect Journals, IOP Science, Cambridge Journals Online, and Royal Society Journals. AUCA Library benefits over 100,000$ in total discounts and free subscriptions via EIFL Consortium.

AUCA Library continues working with service providers to explore academic resources, and with EIFL Consortium to look for opportunities to strengthen and to improve access to scholarly resources.  Library also works to promote Open Educational Resources (OER) with academic departments, and open access resources among faculty, students and researchers.

Usage of electronic resources continues growing and comprises 77% of all searches for library resources.

Technology Development 

To develop enlightened and impassioned leaders for the transformation of Central Asia, the University needs to provide excellent information and technology access to serve the needs of the students, teachers, programs, and research.

We are aware of the urgency to embrace digital transformation of education, in order to maintain our position of leading HE institution of the Central Asia.

In 2015 we AUCA have moved to a new modern campus. With the support of the Open Society Institute, USAID, Dr. Hersh Chadha, Kumtor Operating Company, Lakhdhir Family, Matthew Nimetz, Erkin Bek we have been able to own our new home.  The new campus has full speed Wi-Fi coverage, modern computer labs, including those with graphical stations for producing professional audio and video content, fully equipped classrooms.

We constantly work on ways to optimize our collection of data, and make it systematic.  In 2015/16 we implemented SAP to operate our financial processes.

We are also in the process of implementation of SAP’s Student LifeCycle Management System which will allow us to connect our existing SAP-based financial and HR systems to the systems for student records, student financials, recruitment, and admission, student advising, academic structure, and class scheduling as well as academic services for teaching and research. 

We are also planning to deploy the internal portal of the university, with the aim of strengthening the internal communications and the awareness of all participants in the educational process, as well as better organization and preservation of the objects of institutional memory.

Additional funding and donations will allow us to grow further and provide educational services comparable to those of other leading universities. These could be experiences with augmented reality / virtual reality, research and development in Artificial Intelligence, increase of number and quality of devices in the classrooms, such as SMARTboards instead of regular whiteboards, the use of other cutting-edge technology for education, and so on.

Supporting Library and Technology development at AUCA will give wider access to internationally recognized databases, which is crucial for academic research as well as lifelong learning.