MUSCAT: The Fourth Information Forum, organised by the Department of Information Studies at the College of Arts and Social Sciences and the Library and Documentation Society, commenced at Sultan Qaboos University on Monday.
The forum targets administrators and librarians at the libraries and information centres in the Sultanate, information specialists, officials of the documentation departments of various ministries and government institutions, and all members of the community.
The forum is being held under the title “Future responsibility of information studies in enriching the smart society”.
The forum, which will continue for three days, aims to raise the awareness of the Omani society and the private and public sector employees about the future responsibility for the specialisation of information studies and the role of the information specialists in enriching the intelligent society and its specialisation.
It seeks to introduce them to the most important modern terms in the world of technology and information to deal with the specialisation of information studies for national development.
The opening of the forum was attended by Prof Dr Amer bin Ali al Rawas, SQU Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Community Service.
The exhibition featured 17 stations; the first being an introductory section, which provides an overview of the specialisation of information studies, the nature of the forum, its idea and its components, explaining the task of the information specialists that is not confined to a book, library, document and store only.
Other stations disseminate information on topics such as the Internet of Things, Information Security and Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, programming, and three-dimensional printing in the design of digital libraries and their use in facilitating the provision of information services.
The ‘big data’ centre highlights the role and responsibility of the information specialists in the context of big data emergence. Corners were earmarked for spreading awareness on Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, Smart Governance and e-governance, Information Awareness, Social Engineering, and Media. Separate stations were provided to publicise the Information Society’s publications and the activities of the Omani Society for Libraries and Information, the sponsor of the event.
The forum included the launch of the collection of libraries and documents (booklet, pouch and index magazine), in addition to a workshop on cybersecurity. The forum features a seminar on information studies and related topics.
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