Simmons GSLIS: Dispatches from the Field

The week is nearing an end and I am preparing to leave Ifrane for Boston. I've written a report clarifying what I have done here at the library, and what I have learned myself. I feel that for me the experience has been extremely rewarding. I've absorbed cultural, linguistic, and intellectual facts and feelings from many different people I've met during the past 6 weeks. These people include those I've spent time with talking to on train rides; those who have extended friendship to me in a wonderfully generous fashion; those in the library who have shared with me their felings about their work; those faculty here at Al Akhawayn who have likewise shared with me their knowledge; and others. I take back with me many memories and much experience from living in another culture other than my own. I return with a much fuller idea as to what exactly is "the Arab world".
I hope I've left some impression here at the library. If I have not touched every person, I know that I have shared some positive communication with a few staff members. The student and faculty survey will have to be posted without my presence here, as the software is still not available. The library will most likely post a blog of its own, as it has already started to do this. And most important, I hope I've opened up communication between Al Akhawayn and Boston University -- as I've shared many emails of my colleagues in Boston, with colleagues here.

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please post
Originally uploaded by Simmons College GSLIS.

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please post
Originally uploaded by Simmons College GSLIS.

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After 3 full weeks here I feel some things have been accomplished at the library. I've given 3 workshops to librarians, and the ones on databases seem to be particularly interesting to them. Their familiarity with the 22 databases is an area that they are interested in strengthening. I am fine-tuning a student library survey, and have been surprised and pleased with the enthusiastic input from my colleagues here. They are outspoken about issues they want to see covered in the survey. Professor Lotfi, the Director, is also directly involved in this survey. I continue to work on a bibliography of Portuguese Studies works, seeking input from colleagues in Portugal (who I know personally). I am also investigating library catalogues of universities known to have good Portuguese study programs.
Over the past weekend I had the pleasure of contacting 2 former GSLIS Moroccan students! They were both amazingly cordial, warm, and welcoming to me. Samira (Mme Samira KHALLOUK) arranged for me to be taken around the city of Rabat one evening. She was extremely helpful and was truly a friend to me in Rabat. I travelled the next day to Casablanca, to a Book Fair (Salon de Livre) and there met and had lunch with Fatima TAIBANE who is a charming Moroccan woman. Because her brother had recently married, I had lunch with her extended family. We sat around a large plate of couscous, and the aged and ancient Berber grandmother dressed colorfully in her Berber costume was the highlight. I feel extremely lucky to be here, and to have met so many wonderful people. My weekend continued at the home of a new friend (met on the plane over) -- a Moroccan woman, with whom I spent 2 days walking around Rabat.

Posted by Diane D'Almeida at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Those who followed the postings on this blog late last year regarding SImmons' training program for Iraqi librarians may be interested in a recent posting on the website of the Society of Archivists in the United Kingdom. Saad Eskander, Director of the Iraqi National Archives and Library, has published his diary online. It makes for chilling reading:

My secretary, Um Haitham, was a little horrified, as the two bombs landed 70 meters away from her car. Like other people, she talked about the incident for two minutes and then resumed her daily tasks.
I heard another explosion 50 minutes later. The exchange of fire continued for one hour and thirty minutes.
Nadia, a librarian who works at the Computer Department, did not show up. I was told that her father was injured yesterday. He had a bullet removed from his leg.
I met the head of the Bibliography Department, Nadhal, and her supervisor, Jamal, to talk about their works.

Posted by David Dwiggins at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)