User Services Division
It is concerned with providing library and information services that achieve the best use of information sources and meet the information needs of the beneficiaries. It includes the following units:
A- Lending unit.
B - Theses unit.
C - The patrol unit.
D- Unit of references
E - Special Collections
(1 - The International Corner. 2- Manuscripts and Anecdotes. 3- United Nations Publications.
4-The Indian Corner 5-Bibliography.
Lending Unit
This unit lends books to beneficiaries and retrieves them from them within certain controls, and in the case of borrowing a book, the beneficiary must review the cards of the general index, which is in three forms: the index of titles, authors and subjects, as well as reviewing the computer index (computer) also to extract the required number (classification number, assignment number and address the book and its author) as there are three programs available for the lending of publications and cultural materials, including the automatic index of books and dissertations, the index of periodicals and the index of university theses in Iraq, and this case of services applies to the other units of the division.
Theses Unit
It includes more than (9600) dissertations and theses in the Arabic language and (5482) in the English language, and the reader or beneficiary can view these theses through the automatic index or card index in the library.
:As for the unit's services, they are as follows
1. Directing and guiding the reader, producing the thesis and the thesis, and the reading is internal, and the beneficiary has the right to reproduce papers from the thesis. Some of the letters and theses have been transferred onto CDs, which the user can borrow the disc or buy from the library for a symbolic amount.
2. Requiring all postgraduate students whose dissertations and theses are discussed at the university to submit a paper thesis with (6) copies in CD format.
3. Completing the automated index project for Arab theses
4. Making a compendium of Arab dissertations at the University of Basra.
The entire unit was documented and a copy of it was sent to the ministry, and the bulk of the dissertations and theses were entered on the ministry's website.
In addition to that, there is an index of my cards and a printed index of dissertations to serve the beneficiaries.
Periodical Unit
The number of Arab and foreign magazines in various sciences and knowledge reached more than (11905) number of magazines. The periodicals include (magazines, newspapers, newspapers, yearbooks, reports, a group of statistics business or a record of it and calendars).
Either the services provided by the periodicals unit are as follows:
1.The researcher may borrow the journal for a limited period for the purpose of reproduction when absolutely necessary. Periodicals are not borrowed outside the library building due to the difficulty of obtaining them when they are lost or damaged.
2. The periodicals unit organizes statistics for the number of periodicals and the number of available magazines, and arranges them according to their topics and arranges alphabetical order within the topic according to the magazine title.
The numbers of the volume or the year of the periodical remain in the cupboards of the university periodicals within the issuance of the last issue of the volume or the year, where they are packed and sent to the binding unit and placed in special cupboards in a special corner of the periodicals room. The volume or new year numbers come in place, where they are presented to readers and researchers.
References Unit
Often times the reputation of the library depends on the level of the reference service it provides and on its success in answering the questions of the beneficiaries. It must be ensured that the reference service is not limited only to answering the reference questions submitted by the beneficiaries, but rather includes the tasks, functions and all the necessary steps that it requires. The process of answering inquiries and questions of beneficiaries. This step often includes selecting the reference group, preparing it, and organizing it in a way that facilitates the process of benefiting from it, and training and qualifying the staff to provide the reference service. The number of Arab references for various subjects reached (10,000) references, either references in the foreign language, it reached (5207) references. The reference unit in the library includes all the books that are reviewed by researchers and scholars in search of information relevant to their studies or research. The reading is only internal. To facilitate the reference service, the reference service has been launched. Two versions of the electronic reference book, and work is underway to complete the index.
Types of references
Reference books include the following:
Annual books, dictionaries, biographies and biographies books, encyclopedias and knowledge circles, lists of literature, directories of international and governmental bodies, societies and organizations, conference proceedings and recommendations, geographical sources, including: atlases, maps, geographical dictionaries, travel and tourism guides, country books and dictionaries, interpretation books for the Holy Qur’an and hadith books, dictionaries Linguistic.
Reference service:
The reference service includes many activities carried out by the auditor's trustees in order to facilitate the task of the beneficiary's access to information and benefit from it, and it can be summarized as follows:
A- Selection of office materials: This service includes the participation of the auditor’s secretary in selecting office materials that enhance the reference service.
The reference secretary prepares lists of the names of the required reference books in both Arabic and foreign languages and in various humanitarian specializations and sciences.
B- Arrangement of reference materials: This process means arranging the management of the office group on the shelves on a daily and continuous basis and making sure who put it in the right place according to the desk classification.
C- Training and qualifying the reference cadre to enable it to provide the best service to the beneficiary.
D- Division of References Department Services: This includes the auditor’s secretary studying and reviewing the services that the department provides to the beneficiaries And the level of performance and things that improve work in the department.
E - Supervising the reference hall and ensuring that the appropriate atmosphere is created for the beneficiary from the reading tables and the necessary calm and providing services photography.
F- Preparing weekly statistics on the number of beneficiaries of undergraduate and graduate students, professors, and other beneficiaries, and submitting reports on other department activities.
Manuscripts and Anecdotes Unit
The Manuscripts Anecdotes Unit contains a valuable collection of books that the library maintains, takes great care and attention, has a record of it and a card disk, and was entered in the automatic index and is arranged on the Dewey Decimal Addition, as its number in the section reached (638) rare books. These private collections are only externally loaned. With the written approval of the Secretary General of the Library. The unit contains a group of (270) illustrated manuscripts registered in a special register. The library has prepared a printed catalog of these manuscripts.
The services provided by the unit are:
1. Receiving researchers from postgraduate students and professors to benefit from this unit, including its valuable and historical information.
2. Preparing printed and printed card indexes of the unit's assets, to serve the researchers.
3. Every year, the unit withdraws old (rare) books from the stores due to the department's need for them.
Bibliography Unit
This unit works on receiving, indexing, preserving, arranging and recording bibliographies and printed indexes for use by researchers and scholars, teachers and students, and there is a special record for these publications, which are arranged on the shelves according to the Dewey Decimal System, and they are not lended outside the library except with the approval of the Secretary General of the Library for a period of one day. The unit contains approximately 1239 books.
United Nations Publications Unit
What is in the United Nations unit is donations from the organizations of the United Nations, and the number of books in the unit is (630) Arabic books and (1020) foreign books. It is possible to withdraw a list of a specific topic or the publications of a specific organization from the United Nations organizations such as FAO, UNICEF, or others, as requested by the researcher.
Indian Corner Unit
The unit was opened on 11/1/2019 with the approval of the Presidency of Basra University / Department of Cultural Relations, which is concerned with everything related to the former Indian subcontinent and India now, and the unit contains various publications and publications related to India.