9:30 a.m. We had a meeting yesterday here at AUK with two of my in-
country colleagues regarding interlibrary borrowing. Dr. Yaser is
from PAAET and Shobhita is from GUST. We have talked a bit about
this before, but now we are all able to cross-search each other?s
catalogs (we are all on Horizon), so getting the borrowing/lending
part organized has new meaning? We also plan to invite other
libraries to join us, but in this part of the world cooperation is
not always relished ? we are optimistic but not na?ve about this.
Anyway, this is off to a good start and we will implement borrowing/
lending in the Fall.
In the ?what the heck? category: we learned that Virgin Megastore
in the Marina Mall was shut down by the authorities. Apparently they
had two problems: some ?interesting DVDs? and a number of banned
books, mostly about Wahhabism (ultra-conservative Islam) and other
religious-related areas. Why not just confiscate the offending
materials, you ask? Hmm, then you would be having a ?rational
moment? ? way too logical. And, shutting them down sends a pretty
strong message to everyone ? big brother IS watching! The red-
banded message plastered on the doors and windows states: ?this
shop is closed by the authorities for disobeying the rules and guides
of the Ministry of Information and will not be open until it obeys
and complies with the law.? (a loose translation) It is never dull
here – crazy ? oh, yeah, but dull ? never!!