President of Umm Al Qura University (UQU) Dr. Bakri Bin M'atoog Bin Bakri Assas has reiterated the importance of databases provided by the Saudi Digital Library (SDL) from various sources as part of its efforts to unify standards and mechanisms for building digital groups. He added that King Abdullah University's Library has taken important steps in serving students and researchers.

The president made the remarks during a meeting on Sunday, Rabi' Al Awwal 5, 1438H with General Supervisor of the SDL Dr. Abdel Hamid Al Sulleiman.

The meeting was attended by Vice-President Dr. Yasser bin Sulleiman Shosho, Vice President for Academic Development and Community Services Dr. Hany bin Othman bin Yassin Ghazi, Dean of Institute of Scientific Research and Revival of Islamic Heritage Dr. Adnan Mohamed Fayez Al Harethy Al Sharif, Dean of Library Affairs of Dr. Adel Dr. Banaemah, Dean of Community College Dr. Khaled Barqawi and Dean of Information Technology Dr. Majed Al Gethami.

The meeting took up means of cooperation between the SDL and the university. Al Sulleiman highlighted UQU's role as a pillar of national project.

In the same meeting, Dr. Al Sulleiman gave a presentation on the library, noting the SDL has recorded up to 12 million downloads in 2015 and more than 1.5 million beneficiaries in addition to 50 universities along with 200 million book references.

The presentation said Saudi Arabia leads the Arab World in publishing researches in the international scientific journals in 2016 and the 30th country world wide.

The figures show also that the UQU represents up to 4.68 percent of the SDL transcribers in addition to the Saudi universities which benefit from the digital library.

In the same context, Dr. Banaemah added that King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Library at UQU is keen on taking more steps to bolster progress achieved by its ex-dean Prof. Adnan Al Harethy. The meeting is part of a plan to prepare for its future programs.