Supporting The Conference Demonstrates Qatar Foundation's Mission Of Driving A Culture Of Research 

QScience.com, the online publishing platform of Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals' (BQFJ) - a collaboration between Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) and Bloomsbury Publishing - took  an active part in the Special Libraries Association’s (SLA) annual Gulf Conference in Abu Dhabi last  week with sponsorship of various activities at the leading event.

QScience sponsored the key Publisher Information Professionals Relationship session, a comprehensive panel that explored current best practices and case studies for managing publisher, vendor, and library relations in a rapidly evolving environment. 

The Arabian Gulf Chapter (SLA-AGC) of the Special Libraries Association was held under the theme, 'The Internet and Positive Change for Librarians and Information Professionals: Creating Real Future Impact', and brought together librarians, researchers, educators from around the world.  

By participating in the SLA-AGC, QScience is supporting the mission of Qatar Foundation in its quest to enhance transfer knowledge. And through the collaboration between Qatar Foundation and Bloomsbury Publishing, BQFJ fosters scholarly and research communication, with QScience.com being one such unique research environment further supporting the building and promotion of the country’s research culture in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.

QScience has  also published the proceedings from the SLA-AGC's 21st Annual Conference in English and Arabic. Topics include ‘The Application of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) In Measuring Library Services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Public Libraries’, 'Linking Library Profession and the Market Place', and 'The Role of the Modern Library in Research Evaluation'.

The content, which is searchable by subject, publication title, topic, author or keywords on QScience.com, is easily available, effectively demonstrating QScience’s commitment to the transparency of research. By sponsoring a SLA-AGC session, and publishing the content online, QScience is helping to fulfil Qatar Foundation’s goal of fostering a research culture in Qatar.

Arend Küster, Managing Director of QScience, commented on the sponsorship, saying: 'We are very proud to be supporting the Gulf SLA and its conference, which has developed into the most significant meetings for library and information professionals in the Gulf.  Libraries and Librarians play an important part in providing essential services for academics, researchers and the public, and we will continue supporting their mission.'

QScience.com already boasts 15 scholarly journals covering diverse subject areas, including education, medicine and bioscience, Middle Eastern healthcare, law, design and emergency medicine.  Many other journals are scheduled to be added in 2015.

About Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals (BQFJ)
Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals (BQFJ), founded in 2009 as a unique collaboration between Qatar Foundation and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, focuses on fostering scholarly and research communication. BQFJ publishes a range of peer reviewed, high-quality, open access journals, databases and repositories which adhere to the highest scholarly publishing standards.

About QScience.com
Launched in September 2011, QScience.com is a peer-reviewed online publishing platform that offers a unique and collaborative research environment for scientists in Qatar and the rest of the world. This new platform publishes a range of peer reviewed, high quality, open access journals, databases and repositories which adhere to international publishing standards.

Qatar Foundation – Unlocking Human Potential
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development (QF) is a private, non-profit organisation that is supporting Qatar on its journey from carbon economy to knowledge economy by unlocking human potential, for the benefit of not only Qatar, but the world.  QF was co-founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Amir, and Chairperson Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.  
QF’s work encompasses education, research and community development.  World-class universities are brought to Qatar to help create an education sector in which young people can develop the attitudes and skills required for a knowledge economy. At the same time, QF builds Qatar's innovation and technology capacity by developing and commercialising solutions through key sciences.  The Foundation also works to foster a progressive society while enhancing cultural life, protecting Qatar’s heritage and addressing immediate social needs in the community.