Archive for January, 2007
Second Week in Ifrane
Mugar in Morocco – A librarian on ILL for 6 weeks, circulating at the Univ. Al Akhawayn
On January 20 I travelled to Ifrane, Morocco which is a small University town just south of Fez. I will be spending 6 weeks in the Mohammad VI Library, at the University Al Akhawayn. on a Fulbright scholarship Hopefully it will be a mutually beneficial experience: for me, so I can expand my [...]
Library Visit: Ministerio de Transporte e Infraestructura
On Thursday, after a well-timed dose of antibiotics improved my health situation a bit, I took the opportunity to visit Rosa Aguilar, the current president of the Nicaraguan national library association, at her office in Managua. I was interested both in seeing her library and in interviewing her for the video project.
Rosa is the head [...]
The Ortega inauguration, as seen from Managua
Jane left earlier today to meet some friends in Matagalpa. Since I’m on intestinally-imposed house arrest, I’m staying in the house of Susan Bursey. She is a Texan by birth who has lived and worked in Central America for decades, and she and her son John have just sold Nicaragua’s largest Internet provider (which they [...]
Tuesday – A Managua, pero con enfermidad
On Tuesday, I went out with the Movil in the morning, filming some more video, including an interview with one of the parents. School was out, so the teacher wasn’t there. But after I mentioned to Julio wanting to interview her for the video, we stopped by her house.
She was very articulate, and a strong [...]
Monday – La Playa, Por Fin, dinner and a movie
After the long day working on the website on Sunday, I took Monday morning off, rented a bike, and headed for Playa Marsella. The trip was somewhat less adventurous that my last attempt with Victoria in August, but still memorable. I managed to find my way to the pretty easily (perhaps my Spanish has improved [...]
The library as an information conduit
Sunday was a full day of work on the new web sites for the library and HJH program — after a trip to church, that is. Shortly after I got up in the morning, I heard the warning bell for the mass at the Catholic church across the street from the library. I hadn’t actually [...]
Bridging the Nicaraguan Digital Divide
In the beginning, Jane Mirandette’s Biblioteca Movil was decidedly low tech. Indeed, this has been part of the reason for its success. As previously discussed on this blog, relying on a computerized checkout system is difficult in this land of erratic (or no) electricity. The simplicity of the Library in a Box protocol has allowed [...]
30 kings, three goats, and Spongebob Squarepants
After spending the morning wrestling with CMSimple, a basic open-source content management system I’m deploying for Jane’s website, I took the afternoon off and headed for the beach here in town. I spent a couple hours bobbing amidst the waves and relaxing on the beach. While swimming I struck up a short conversation with a [...]
Promoting the library to visitors
Promoting the library to visitors
Originally uploaded by D-.
One of the ways Jane spreads the word about the Biblioteca Movil and the “Library in a Box” protocol is by featuring information about the programs in her hotel lobby. She has a large banner from an ALA poster session describing the library, and also has a small [...]
