ISLAMABAD - To keep pace with the growing demand for research books, the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (NIHCR) has launched its Resource Centre to ensure needs of academia, scholars, researchers and students.
The Resource Centre was inaugurated by Dr Aitzaz, vice chancellor Quaid-e-Azam University, at the NIHCR premises. A large number of university teachers, students and staff members attended the event.
The inauguration ceremony was coincided with the flag hoisting ceremony in connection with the Independence Day and the Eid Milan party arranged by the NIHCR staff.
Delivering his welcome address, Syed Umar, Senior Research Fellow, stressed the fellow researchers for conducting meaningful research on history of Pakistan in order to positively respond to the Indian propagandist research against Pakistan.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Dr Aitzaz said that libraries were vital to empower their communities and meeting the information needs of the country. “Information is power and it enhances the chance for people to enjoy fulfilling lives and contribute to society,” he observed.
"Knowledge management in libraries", he remarked, "should be focused on effective research and development of knowledge, creation of knowledge bases, exchange and sharing of knowledge between library staff, training library staff and speeding up explicit processing of the implicit knowledge."
Appreciating the venture of the NIHCR, Dr Aitzaz hoped that the centre would prove to be helpful to the users as well as the professionals being the first stop for accurate and up-to-date information about political, economic, cultural, educational and social trends around the world in general and Pakistan in particular.
He also disclosed that the NIHCR Resource Centre would soon have The Balochistan Corner, courtesy Balochistan Governor Mohammad Khan Achakzai, who had pledged an amount of Rs1million for this purpose. The resources at the corner will include books, magazines, CDs with current and full text articles, videotapes and DVDs.
Talking on the Independence Day, Dr Aitzaz threw light on the Pakistan Movement and stressed the need for becoming true Pakistanis by all merits. In his address, Dr Sajid Mehmood Awan, Officer Incharge of the NIHCR, said that to set up modern and state of the art Resource Centre in NIHCR was visionary idea of Dr Aitzaz Ahmad.
“The Resource Centre will have a digital library and modern equipment will be made available to the users. The services include open access to materials, photocopying and supervised Internet access,” he said.
However, he was of the view that there was so much to do, to learn and study. Education is also for acquiring knowledge, creating and sharpening skills and not for getting jobs alone, he added.
Giving a brief resume of the NIHCR, he said that the NIHCR has been mandated to conduct research on history and culture. Being a publishing house, it has so far published over 100 books besides bringing out two quarterly journals on history and culture, he said. The NIHCR Resource Centre has over 29000 books besides journals and periodicals on every subject.
Earlier, the QAU vice chancellor hoisted the flag amid the National Anthem sung in chorus by the guests and unveiled the plaque of the NIHCR Resource Centre by cutting a ribbon of flowers.