Middle Eastern Librarianship -- Resources, Programs, etc.

Note: This post is part of area studies librarianship. See also: South Asian Studies -- Resources, Programs, etc.

New:
Digital Library of Arabic Manuscripts: a Questionnaire: CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

LIS News: There are Arab books, but most not included in union catalogs

Bottomline: Hence, you will have to digg and digg, not just check the WorldCat, Library of Congress, British Library, etc. The list is long, and includes:

King Fahd National Library Riyadh

KACST Library, Riyadh + online Database

King Saud University Library, Riyadh

SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES London

Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Library Oxford

Copac National, Academic, and Specialist Library Catalogue

bibliotheca alexandrina

biblioislam.net

Microform Academic Publishers, UK

Resources at Amazon.com: A randomly selected list of recent publications

Programs, Resources, etc. @ Middle East Librarians Association's web site, see also: MELA Notes

EThOS: Free Downloads Of UK Dissertations/Theses From The British Library

Info courtesy: Gerry McKiernan @ Reference Notes:

EThOS offers a coherent and consistent interface by implementing a central 'hub' comprising an e-store and a digitisation suite at The British Library site in Boston Spa, Yorkshire. The hub automatically harvests e-theses from Institutional Repositories and digitises paper theses from participating institutions to offer the single point of access. See also: what others say about this new service

The following electronic theses (fulltext, FREE download) are available @ Ethos:

The Wonders of Creation and the singularities of Ilkhanid painting : a study of the Qazwini, British Library Ms. Or. 14140. Carboni, Stefano. 1992 School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)

An investigation of the barriers to information access: A study among university students with special reference to Saudi Arabia Gharieb, Magdah Ezzat A. 2007 University of Strathclyde, Department of Computer and Information Science

Guidelines for the development of library and information services in developing countries with special reference to Iraq. Al-Werdi, Z.H.K. 1983 Loughborough University of Technology

Painting the stars in a century of change : a thirteenth-century copy of Al-Sufi's treatise on the fixed stars (British Library Or.5323). Carey, Moya Catherine. 2001 School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)

National bibliography in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Tunisia : analytical and comparative study with a view to planning a Saudi Arabian national bibliography. Samarkandi, Abdullatif Abdulhakeem. 1990 Loughborough University of Technology

Middle Eastern Library Blogs:

Arab Librarians Blog

Arabic Digital Library

Iran in Translation

Kurdish Women Empowered

A New Plan to Develop Saudi Libraries @ LIS NEWS

Many more.... @ Google blog search and here: Middle Eastern Librarians

PS. More to come, or ask what you want, and did not find here.

Just 44% Class 1 kids know English alphabets

TNN, 16 January 2010, Times of India

NEW DELHI: The scare raised by the Supreme Court on Thursday about China being poised to overtake India in English proficiency is about to come  true. The annual audit by Pratham, a well-known education NGO, reported on Friday that the ability to read and comprehend English varied wildly across India and only 43.8% of class I kids could read the alphabets, even in big capital letters.

It's worse than the average in many states. Gujarat is the worst with barely 25.3% class 1 children able to read capital letters. Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Jharkhand are only marginally better at 33.4%, 34.5%, 36% and 41.8%, respectively. In the south, Karnataka, despite its hi-tech glitter, scores just as bad only 37% of class I kids could pass the simple English test. 

In short, the much-touted advantage that India enjoys over China because of its knowledge of English, could vanish pretty soon unless there is all-round recognition of the looming crisis. Education

experts say that unless English is made compulsory in school, India might be in an irreversible slide.
Continue reading Times of India story

See on the same shelf:

•  ASER Centre's Report - Assessment, Survey, Evaluation and Research
  
• Expressindia » Story
  37.2% of India is in poverty by criterion of consumption
  P. Vaidyanathan Iyer,Priyadarshi Siddhanta
  

Four cultural institutions failed to utilise government grant: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Text of the Speech by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "It gives me great pleasure to be here in Kolkata to dedicate the New Campus of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies and to lay the foundation stone of the 2nd Phase of the Science City of Kolkata."

Four cultural institutions failed to utilise government grant News January 16th, 2010 - 8:05 pm ICT by IANS

Kolkata, Jan 16 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday termed as ‘unfortunate’ the failure of four premier cultural institutions in Kolkata, including the Victoria Memorial and National Library, to fully utilise a special allocation of Rs.90 crore given for modernisation.

The ministry of culture had made the allocation to Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum, the Victoria Memorial and the National Library.

“Each of these institutions is a cultural icon in the country. Unfortunately, these institutions have not been able to fully utilise this grant in the first year,” the prime minister said at the Science City here.

“I do hope that these four institutions will work harder to use the allocated funds to introduce state-of-the-art systems of preservation, display and storage of their priceless antiquities, paintings and manuscripts,” he said.

Describing the modernisation of the National Library as a priority task, the prime minister expressed his happiness that its catalogue of 24 lakh books would be available in digital format online, in around six months. More here

Manmohan moots functional autonomy to national institutes
KOLKATA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Centre was considering granting functional autonomy and flexibility for effective running of national-level institutions and favoured liberalised rules for recruiting executive heads of such bodies.

PM says culture must become people's movement

PM inaugurates new campus of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Speech.

Centre working hard to revive cultural scene in Bengal: PM
On the same shelf:

Publications of the National Library of India: Catalogues

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's Multifaith Perspective A Bio-bibliographical note

Libraries in India - National Developmental Perspectives: A saga of Fifty years since independence, by Mohamed Taher. New Delhi , Concept Publishing, 2001.

 8 reasons why India can't be a superpower -- Power, Woman Power, Governance, Black Money, Infrastructure, Roti, kapda, makaan aur bandwidth, Work-life balance, Sports

19th New Delhi World Book Fair 2010

RSVPs @ Linkedin

Detiled Information for participating in World Book Fair

For Indian Participants

             Information, Terms Condition and Application Form (in Hindi)
             Information, Terms Condition and Application Form (in English)

For Foreign Participants

             Information, Terms Condition and Application Form

For more details visit the conference site:

See also on the same shelf: information about

34th International Kolkata Book Fair 2010, 27 January to 7 February 2010

Exchange programs for Librarians

The team of Priscilla K. Shontz, Richard A. Murray and Tiffany Allen is doing an excellent job by posting all LIS career resources that are useful for librarians. Congrats to the team.

And from the same site is an excellent source for exchange programs. I have updated the links in this article: International Librarianship: Getting There from Here by Robin Kear

 Some places to look for short-term positions:

• IFLA LIBJOBS listserv
This listserv lists international jobs, some permanent and others short-term. This is where I found the posting for my internship in Kenya.
• World Library Partnership [link not updated since 2005]
  
• CILIP LIBEX international job exchange scheme
  
• ALA's IRRT INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES COMMITTEE
  The first URL is a librarian exchange program facilitated by the British group, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, and the second URL is the exchange committee of ALA-IRRT. Both sites have useful links and ways to look for funding. 
  
• University of Pittsburgh’s Semester at Sea
  The University of Pittsburgh’s worldwide cruising program hires an assistant librarian each semester but you must have professional experience. (The librarian comes from the University.)

Things to Keep in Mind "Living in a foreign country is not all wonderful experiences and friendly people. The choice to work internationally leaves you without a country. Everything familiar disappears, and you miss it terribly at first, but eventually your new surroundings become your home. It is hard to sustain a marriage and family unless your partner has the same type of job or is willing to wait for you to finish your crazy adventures. There is much poverty and suffering in the world and as a resident, not a tourist, you are more likely to see and be affected by these. There are many dangerous places in the world...
Continue reading for jobs, opportunities in other fields, etc. International Librarianship: Getting There from Here

See also books by Priscilla K. Shontz and Richard A. Murray:
See also on the same shelf:

International Librarianship [Fulbright and other exchange programs]

"what are good websites for libriarian international exchange programs?" @ askville.amazon.com/

Google for more