Introducing e-Resource Portal and Information Search Skills to Masses: Series of Information Literacy Campaigns at UD

In this information era, the use of e-resources in the academic world has become fashion of the day. Keeping the importance of scholarly e-resources in view, the Deanship of Library Affairs, University of Dammam has subscribed to a wide range of e-resources. The resources cover most of the domains of science & technology, social sciences and humanities. However, it is noticed that these resources are not extensively used by the faculty and students. Keeping this gap in view, the Deanship of Library Affairs decided to launch series of information literacy campaigns entitled E-resource Campaign-2013" at different campuses of University of Dammam (UD). The basic areas covered in the campaign were introducing the students and faculty to the E-resource Portal and information search skills. The use of mobile solutions for easy and 24/7 access to e-resources was also taught during the campaign. Besides reporting the observation notes of these campaigns, the interview based feedback of the users about the campaigns is also reported in this paper. The target audiences of these campaigns were the students, faculty and other administrative staff of University of Dammam. The campaigns were hosted at different places in the university. The basic objectives of these campaigns were to:1. promote the effective use of e-resources among the students and faculty of UD, 2. teach them smart searching techniques, 3. introduce most relevant resources in different subjects/disciplines, 4. train some of the students from different disciplines and colleges as master trainers, who would promote the use of e-resources among their peers during and after the campaign."