Educating Iraqi Librarians ? Phase Two 9 July 2006
Hello colleagues ? this is Harvey Varnet writing from Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.
As many of you will recall, several of us blogged from Amman, Jordan last summer, where we were part of the teaching team that worked with 42 Iraqi librarians. In those sessions, we tried to bring our Iraqi colleagues up-to-date on what has been happening in the library and information science world while their country was closed off from the rest of the planet. We like to think we made a good start last summer, and getting a 2nd NEH grant to continue this project was a real coup for Simmons and its partner institutions UCLA and Harvard. We know last summer?s sessions were well-received and we all felt like we had made a positive contribution to international librarianship and cross-cultural understanding.
As I write this, most of the teaching team is on site. Our host is the UAE University Library (Dr. Husam is their Director). David Hirsch of UCLA has been close friends with these folks since the 1980s, and he has been the lead person in getting all of the arrangements set up. As some of you will recall from last summer?s blogs, David is the kind of person for whom there are no strangers ? just new friends he has yet to meet. David is multilingual, and he?s a joy to be with. Lucky for Pat Oyler in that David will be her translator (we are hopeful we?ll have 3 other good translators for English-to-Arabic communication). David is also a fun-loving person, playful and has an excellent sense of humor.
Our team leader, Michele Cloonan (Dean of GSLIS at Simmons) arrived yesterday with her husband, Sid. Michael Leach of Harvard also arrived yesterday ? he?ll teach the beginning of Digital Libraries, to be followed by Cynthia Correia who will conclude that class (Cynthia arrives this Wednesday). Will Wakeling of Northeastern U. will be teaching Collection Management, Pat Oyler of Simmons? GSLIS will be teaching Cataloging and Michele will be teaching Preservation. Carla Magenheimer and I are here to provide technical support (to do whatever is asked) ? Carla leaves this Thursday and I?ll be here for the duration until the 19th. Meeting both Will and Michael is a first for me ? I knew ?of? them but am now glad I can call them friends!
As often is the case in this part of the world, things don?t work out exactly as originally planned or hoped. The UAE government was extremely cautious in granting visas to the Iraqis, and they were actually just issued yesterday, 8 July ? yesterday was to have been the original first day of classes. David worked with the UAEU Library staff to get the visas scanned and e-mailed off to the Iraqis ? “no copy of visa, no plane ticket.” We have heard from about half of the 33 Iraqis and hope to hear from them all asap ? we know some will arrive tomorrow and some Tuesday and we hope to begin classes Monday, ?inshallah.? All of the classes will be held in the Zayed Library at UAEU ? a nice, modern facility which should work out well for teaching and gathering.
A brief aside: When I worked in Oman in the mid 1980s, I came through Al Ain and stayed one evening. At that time, this was a sleepy place ? two hotels and not much else to see. Al Ain has grown tremendously and seems very much like a mature small city now. This is not Dubai, to be sure, but then again no place else is quite like Dubai with its frenetic pace and ever-upward building boom. However, Al Ain has 2 malls, shopping areas, plenty of restaurants ? 4 hotels with more on the way, and what looks like a robust economy. It also has a very cool camel market, a nice reminder of its cultural heritage. UAEU now has over 10,000 students. Al Ain is a bit inland and upland, so it is not quite as hot as other Gulf areas nor quite as humid as Dubai. This is all relative, to be sure, as it feels like temps hitting around 100 ? 100 F during the day ? cool by Kuwait standards, but then again everything is cool by Kuwait standards!
I am sure others will blog as we get rolling. I will, of course, offer up observations regularly. If any of what is said (or left unsaid) intrigues you, please feel free to ask questions or offer your insights.
One thing I can tell, from a very personal point-of-view, is that it makes me proud to be associated with people like those who are here. The work is good work and the people doing it are excellent in ways that matter ? professionally competent, decent and caring human beings. It is my good fortune to see this a fair amount in my overseas work ? lots of Americans can and should be proud of their fellow countrymen. These folks not only do their jobs well ? they make friends for a country very much in need of good vibrations from the rest of the world!
More anon….