In support of the role played by the IPA in the field of administrative development in the Kingdom, and in recognition of the importance of acquiring and documenting intellectual production relating to the IPA administrative activities in the field of training, research, consultation and administrative development in the Kingdom; the General Department of Libraries and Documentation and the affiliated departments are currently seeking to achieve this through taking care of three major activities, namely:

• Providing and organizing sources of information related to IPA various activities (Libraries).

• Collecting and classifying administrative documents in the King-dom (Administrative Records).

• Documenting the IPA activities (IPA reservoir).

When the general department of IPA was established in 1381H., the IPA established a specialized library in the head office in Riyadh. The library is  concerned with collecting and organizing information sources in addition to providing services to the beneficiaries. Since the establishment of Dammam branch (1393H.), Jeddah branch (1394H.) and women’s section in Riyadh (1403H.), the IPA established secondary libraries in these branches, and worked on the development of these libraries to keep pace with significant expansion in its activities and programs. Therefore, the IPA established appropriate headquarters for these libraries, providing them with furniture, equipment and means of advanced technology. These libraries were supported by specialists in the field of libraries and information, who were qualified by sending them for study abroad or in the Kingdom or who graduated from the IPA library and information programs. Currently, the IPA libraries have become the most important specialized information centers in the Kingdom.

 

 Organization of Information:

All contents of the IPA libraries are classified and indexed in accordance with the regulations and rules in this field. Until the mid 1400sH., IPA libraries were implementing traditional manual systems to organize their contents by using card indexes for retrieval purposes while maintaining the paper forms of information resources. When computer technology and automated systems were available in the field of saving, organizing and retrieving information, the IPA was pioneering in introducing these new technologies.