17 November 2007- Saturday
It is early Saturday morning here in bright, sunny and cool Amman. I am at ACOR, the American Center for Oriental Research which is where we?ll hold the training sessions for our Iraqi LIS professor colleagues. ACOR is a very good place to hold such sessions, as it is self-contained ? rooms for sleeping (dorm-like), a kitchen, dining room, library, conference room and a neat location overlooking the University of Jordan. Amman is very hilly, so if you are up on a hill, you get nice views. I am up early, as usual, with very few folks awake here. I arrived last night at 7pm, got settled and walked over to the Amman International Hotel for a bite to eat.
The Iraqis are supposed to arrive early this afternoon. However, I have already heard from the two men from the U. of Basrah that their flight has been cancelled. ?Stuff happens? in this part of the world, and flights are regularly cancelled in and out of Iraq. Hmmmm, wonder why? They may make it Monday?
We?ve got a busy but not frenetic week planned for the Iraqis. We?ll hold two sessions daily ? morning and afternoon. Our overall goal is to make them aware of where they need to go with their curriculums. I?ve received from each of the five programs what they teach, and for sure each of the programs needs a major update. They will have challenges, as they don?t have much in the way of technology, and their own professional expertise is lacking in this area. Libraries are now technologically-driven, and these folks need to tool up their offerings so future practicing librarians of Iraq have a skill-set which is useful and relevant.
Michele and Meaghan arrive late tonight via London, so they?ll likely be tired. We kick off tomorrow at 10am.
BTW, the money for all this is not yet here ? aarrgghh!! What, me anxious ? oh, yeah!! The funds sent initially to AUK are ?in transit? and hopefully get here tomorrow ? ?bukra, inshallah!? The funds sent here from the US Embassy in Baghdad have arrived (actually, ACOR banks in Boston). I am fond of saying ?things will sort themselves out? and I certainly hope this is true!
Well, I believe you?ll be hearing from Meaghan and Michele this week, so you?ll get at least three impressions of what is happening. If I can get them to, I?ll ask the Iraqis if they?d like to blog with us ? hopefully, one or more will say yes, and that will give you a flavor for the challenges in their own words. To be continued?
18 November 2007 – Sunday
Our first session has just completed ? successful, if participation is any indication. Michele led off , talking about LIS issues that are relevant for the Iraqis and relating them to USA practices. We also began a discussion about the curriculums of the Iraqi programs. The Iraqis have been very forthcoming about their challenges. Also raised were accreditation issues as they relate to improvement ? a western concept that might be of eventual use for the Iraqis.
All this, of course, and I should have started by saying that 8 of the 10 Iraqis are here ? arrived early afternoon (4 of them from Mosul ? they drove via Syria) and 4 others late afternoon via air from Baghdad. M & M arrived after midnight last night, so we plan to keep the pace ?civilized? today. Meaghan has been immensely helpful already, getting stuff copied, printed, searched, etc. ? a real ?do-er? in the best sense of that word.
Social side (of course): I went into town with the 4 from Baghdad ? we ate at a nice, inexpensive place and walked about the city. Amman bustling these days ? nice, and the energy level seemed high. I am hopeful that there?ll be several trips into town ? food, shopping, fun.
I will do a piece this afternoon, after lunch, on strategic planning.
To be continued?