Etisalat and Huawei Technologies have launched the trial project of e-Books Store/e-Library at Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (Kustar).

The trial project is in partnership with Etisalat-Huawei Application Innovation Center (AIC) and Etisalat BT Innovation Center (Ebtic). The e-Books Store/e-Library trial will continue until December, with the option to extend it through the university’s spring semester.

During the trial, students and faculty members of Khalifa University will have the opportunity to access, experience and enjoy hundreds of titles free-of-charge. These include both written and audio books.

Students will also be able to access their lecture notes, laboratory notes and other e-resources from their smart devises like PC and mobile clients. In addition, users will be able to bookmark pages, search for keywords within e-Book that they are reading, add and combine notes and change settings as per their preference, using these clients.

Etisalat has waived off data traffic charges for this trial when it is accessed from the mobile client, thereby giving students and faculty members the ability to browse and download books via their mobile devices for free. Etisalat will also provide those students and faculty members with access to Etisalat's network, in order to facilitate accessibility of the trial.

The e-Books Store/e-Library trial aims to be in line with technological advancements and improve the accessibility of e-Books, both educational and commercial books, via personal computers (PC) as well as mobile devices. It seeks to transform learning and leisure-reading experiences of the students, faculty and consumers, to be more interesting and interactive. It will also give faculty members the ability to collate and understand the students’ reading habits in order to adjust and enhance their own teaching program to benefit these students.

In order to encourage students and faculties to participate in the trial, Etisalat will offer incentives such as iPhone and other high-end devices, to active participants who contribute valuable suggestions to help improve users’ experience and so on.

“We aim to develop the e-Books Store/e-Library service by integrating the e-reader with multimedia and cloud computing. Amongst other benefits, students will be able to watch movies, photos and listen while reading their textbooks; correlate theory with practice at their fingertips; and assess themselves through the ‘question and answer’ section at the end of each chapter,” said AbdulAziz Al Mutawa, Etisalat's group SVP of Technology Innovations at Etisalat-Huawei AIC.

“The e-Book Store/e-Library service is just one part of the Intelligent Campus (iCampus) initiative that Khalifa University and Ebtic are driving for the education sector,” added Dr Mohammed Al Mualla, Kustar’s interim provost and member of Ebtic’s board.

Etisalat will extend the trial project to other universities in the UAE and publishing houses located within and outside the UAE, aiding them to upload their books to the e-Books Store/e-Library service.-TradeArabia News Service