NEWS
University of Bahrain Library Prepares for 2026/2027 with AI-Powered Tools and Expanded Digital Collections
As the University of Bahrain (UOB) prepares for the Academic Year 2026/2027, its library continues to advance its role as an integrated knowledge environment. Through expanded electronic resources, AI-powered research, and digital textbook integration, the library empowers students, faculty, and researchers to achieve excellence.
The library’s physical spaces recorded over 400,000 visits in the past year, while electronic resource usage has grown steadily over the past five years. The library currently houses more than 270,731 printed books and over 400,000 eBooks across various academic disciplines.
The distribution of usage across disciplines reflects the diversity of academic and research interests across the University, with notable engagement in Engineering and Technology, Information Technology, and the Sciences, alongside a broad range of other disciplines. The annual growth also demonstrates increasing reliance on specialised digital resources, supporting teaching, learning, and research across multiple academic fields, with increased use of platforms such as Bloomsbury Digital Collections, Emerald Insight Case Studies, and JoVE.
In preparation for the new academic year, UOB Library has expanded its digital resource ecosystem to include more than 39 specialized global databases, most notably ScienceDirect and IEEE Xplore, along with the addition of JoVE and HeinOnline resources to support students and researchers in the sciences and legal research. Resource discovery has been enhanced through the AI-enabled EDS platform, contributing to a more seamless and effective research experience for users.
As part of its strategic projects, the library’s institutional digital repository continues to grow, now housing more than 2,300 digital theses and dissertations and over 700 research papers, enhancing the accessibility of the university’s intellectual output locally and globally.
More than 2,000 students benefited from information literacy programs and training sessions organized by the library during the 2025/2026 academic year. Recorded workshops and training sessions are now accessible through a dedicated Library Playlist on the UOB YouTube Channel
