Development Information Centre in Almaty

The National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan opened the Development Information Centre (DIC) of five major international organizations operating in Kazakhstan – Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB), Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Organization (UN).

The mission of DIC is to provide public access to the best practices and knowledge of international organizations working for improving lives of people in Kazakhstan. The Centre provides free-of-charge an open access to information on development and invites to use the current and regularly updated resources of the international organizations.

Representatives of nongovernmental organizations and scientific community emphasized the importance of such information centre that gives an opportunity to exchange best experience in the area of development problems among colleagues all over the world. According to Gulissa Balabekova, Deputy Director General of the National Library, the DIC will be valuable for the various public groups, including students, scientists, representatives of nonprofit agencies, government officials, as well as representatives of a private sector.

Located in the country’s main library, the Centre will serve as a one-stop-shop for public access to the resources on all the aspects of social and economic development, information on international organizations’ activities in Kazakhstan and around the world. The DIC is a unique source of information and knowledge that integrates the resources of four international financial institutions and many UN agencies, in order to provide a simplified and unified access. The public will be offered a number of services assisting in formation of the knowledge on development. It provides open access to the extensive data-bases on various development topics, world expertise, and up-to-date statistical and analytical information.

The DIC visitors will enjoy consultations and assistance in information search, and free Internet connection. The DIC collection includes more than 1000 publications, serial publications, multimedia materials on developmental topics, economic overviews, and sector analyses; project documents and reports from multiple international organizations active in Kazakhstan; and international publishers’ books.

It is expected that the DIC will host presentations of new publications, workshops, thematic round-tables on various topics, group tours, and other public events.

DIC is open every day, except Sunday, from 9:00 to 19:00, at the National Library, 3rd floor, (World Literature Department).

Contacts:
Kubat Sydykov, World Bank, +7 (727) 298 0580,
ksydykov@worldbank.org

DIC address

3rd floor, Abay avenue 14, Almaty,

World Literature Department, National Library of the RK

www.nlrk.kz/dic_en

Source: http://go.worldbank.org/NSUKPZ9HY0