Librarians and Library Weblogs

Links to librarians and library weblogs were added to LIS Cafe.
Check them, they are interesting and full of information.

Library Lovers' Month

Have you ever asked yourself if you really love libraries?! ( regardless of being a librarian, information specialist, LIS student, or teacher..etc). Do you regard our libraries as great places of knowledge? Have your perceptions about libraries changed after joining LIS program?!

These questions came to my mind after reading about an interesting news online. It says that the Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) has designated February 2005 as "Library Lovers' Month" in an attempt to create a celebration in honor of libraries of all types and also to assure that libraries will continue to serve.

The site offers free downloadable bookmarks, online postcards, banners & buttons for your website, all related to library lovers' month. It also provides tips on how to love your library and make others love it. For more details, follow the link given at the top.

Finally, I'd like to end this post with a poem written by Varda One ( a young library lover). The poem is taken from the same source.

MY LIBRARY

by Varda One

It's only a room with shelves and books,

but it's far more magical than it looks

It's a jet on which I soar

to lands that exist no more.

Or a key with which I find

answers to questions crowding my mind.

Building my habit of learning and growing,

asking and researching till I reach knowing.

Here, I've been a mermaid and an elf

I've even learned to be more myself.

I think that I shall never see

a place that's been more useful to me.

With encouraging kind friends with wit

Who tell me to dream big and never quit.

It's only a room with shelves and books,

but it's far more magical than it looks

Public Lecture

Yesterday a public lecture was held in Al-Yarmouk Public Library.
It discussed the role of public library in society. Dr.Adela Al-Turkait discussed the issue with us.

Public Lecture

Dear members

A public lecture is going 2 b held in Al-Yarmouk Public Library @ 9 o'clock, 15 of Ramadan.
If you would like 2 attend you r welcome.

My Transcript

Last semester, despite health problems I was fortunate to take "541 Knowledge Management" course. It's an interesting and promising area. However, I got disappointed when I got my transcript after graduation in which I didnt see any KM course title. Instead, I found "541 Online Information Retrieval"!! How come the wrong title was left unchanged for more than 4 months?! Is it that noboday updates the system in Khaldiya? Me and my ex-classmates are dissatisfied. We were the first group to take this course and we want to have it in our transcripts as soon as possible. If you guys have any good news about this please inform us

DLIS or DIS ? which one is better?

Hello all,,,

Since I've joined the MLIS program, I've been learning a lot about information in areas as storage, retrieval, technology, management, classification, use, and many other things which I am sure all of you have experienced...
and I believe that such knowledge is not limited to the profession related to libraries. I think that in today's working environment, such knowledge and skills are required in all kind of organizations.

This is why I think it would be better if the name of the program and the department is changed by removing the word library, not that I have anything against libraries or librarians, but I think that such word limits our profession to a building or a place, and unfortunately it doesn't serve well to promote our selves as information specialists… The sad reality is that the general idea people have about librarians does not represent who we are and the things we can do… every time I tell someone about the program, I have to clarify and explain more for them to understand that what we study is not necessarily related to libraries. And I know that many library schools and departments all around the world did change their names because they realized that what they teach is not limited to libraries.

So, let's hear what you think about this issue?

LIS Cafe

باسمي وباسم زملائي وزميلاتي في قسم علوم المكتبات المعلومات أتقدم بأحر التعازي الى الزميله دلال وذلك لوفاة جدها
انالله وانا اليه راجعون
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World Summit on the Information Society - Tunis 2005

Comming in 16-18 November 2005 ( after Ramadan month )

* World Summit on the Information Society - Tunis 2005
* القمة العالمية لمجتمع المعلومات - تونس 2005

- Kuwait's Paper in WSIS - Geneva 2003 - Arabic, .pdf

السجل العربي للمكتبات والمعلومات

Libraries @ the heart of Arab Information Society

المكتبات في قلب مجتمع المعلومات العربي

يعتبر السجل العربي للمكتبات والمعلومات الثمرة النهائية التي سوف تخرج من المشروع البحثي الضخم " الطريق إلى قمة تونس 2005"

والسجل العربي للمكتبات والمعلومات هو عبارة عن سجل يتضمن أرقاما وحقائق واقعية حديثة تعكس الوضع الراهن للمكتبات والمعلومات في كل دولة عربية ، ويتطرق السجل الى جوانب متعددة في التخصص، مثل : تعليم المكتبات والمعلومات والبحث العلمي, والمكتبات ومرافق المعلومات، الخبرات البشرية، الجمعيات العلمية والمهنية، وغيرها من الجوانب

القسم الأول: تعليم المكتبات وعلم المعلومات, ويتضمن الأقسام الفرعية الآتية

أقسام وكليات المكتبات وعلم المعلومات
البرامج الدراسية للمكتبات وعلم المعلومات

الدورات التدريبية في المكتبات وعلم المعلومات على مستوى الدولة ككل

القسم الثاني: اتجاهات البحث العلمي والنشر الأكاديمي, ويتضمن الأقسام الفرعية الآتية

الدوريات العلمية المتخصصة - المطبوعة والإلكترونية

الرسائل الجامعية

أبحاث المؤتمرات والندوات العلمية
القسم الثالث: مرافق المعلومات, ويتضمن الأقسام الفرعية الآتية
المكتبات العامة

المكتبات الأكاديمية
المكتبات الوطنية
المكتبات المدرسية
المكتبات المتخصصة
مكتبات الأطفال
مراكز المعلومات
مراكز الوثائق ودور الأرشيف
المتاحف الفنية والأثرية والحربية والثقافية وغيرها

القسم الرابع: الجمعيات المهنية
القسم الخامس: الاتحاد العربي للمكتبات والمعلومات
القسم السادس: إدارة التوثيق والمعلومات - المنظمة العربية للتربية والثقافة والعلوم
القسم السابع: الخبرات البشرية المتخصصة
القسم الثامن: القطاع الخاص في مجال تقنيات المعلومات في المكتبات
القسم التاسع: مشروعات وخطط وطنية في مجال تطبيقات تقنية المعلومات في مرافق المعلومات

Suggestion

Hi every one, I would like 2 suggest 2 ideas
1- why don't we share information about job apportunities? we will help each other.
2- why don't we establish an MLIS magazine? so that we could produce something special and share our knowledge, needs and fears. we will share it with every person that has an interest in LIS, we will spread the word in LIS society :)
I'll be happy 2 hear your answers

What changed in your career after MLIS?

I would like everyone to share with us in this topic, what is changed in your career or job after getting MLIS degree. I will start from myself.

After working in Libraries Department at MOE for 12 years, I left the department and I'm working now in "Information Center" – a technical department – why? The following is what happened to me.

After getting my MLIS degree it suppose by legislation I get a (25 KD) increase on salary as a bonus (علاوة) for anyone hold a master degree, but in our ministry they didn't accept my degree or the effort I did. They told me since your bachelor is not in education field, therefore it is like you did nothing with your master degree. Then they put in front of me a list of statutes and laws from the Civil Service Committees, anyway I didn't want to argue much about it, since it is only 25 KD.

Then after a while of accepting the new situation , we had a vacancy in our work for a position of "The cataloging head division". I have all the needed requirement for this position, so I put up my name, and no one at work else has a chance like me, as a master degree and the years of experience. So I was the one who will get this position.

In the middle of processing my papers , I stopped and cancelled everything at one point. The ministry told me: " if you accept the new position your job title (Programmer Developer) will changed, and that means you will lose all your computer bounces!!"

Now what does that mean? Well, if I add all the bounces I will receive from the new position plus the master, all that will not reach the bounce I receive from my bachelor in computer!! Odd, right!!

Master degree bonus = 25 KD
Librarian's bonus = 60 KD
Supervision's bonus = 10 KD

Well after hearing that I took back my papers, and told my boss, I don't want the new position, Thank you.

Now imagine with me what will be my situation after 5 or 10 years, any new employee who graduate with a bachelor degree in library can be a candidate to be in supervision position as (رئيس قسم ) , (مراقب) , (مدير) and he had less degree than me and less years of experience of work. It is like I'm burying myself if I stay more in that place. It was very clear to me that there is no future there, so I left.

Anyway, I'm working now in "Information Center", and by the way the Counsel of Ministers (مجلس الوزراء) agreed lately – in September - to give more bounce for employees who hold a degree in Computer.

Now lets hear from you, what happened to you?

Are you disappointed?

My dear friends, did you feel disappointed after graduation? Why?
I would like 2 hear from u.

How much is enough for MLIS?

I finished my MLIS in 2 and half year (graduated in 2005). In the normal situation the program for a "part time" student takes 3 years to finish. A "full time" student should do it in less than 3 years for sure, since they don't have anything to do except studying.

From my experience after finishing the MLIS program, I think a "part time" student can finish the degree in 2 years, if they take 3 classes in each semester. I did this at the last year of my degree, I found that the stress with 3 classes was the same as 2 classes, so why delaying yourself if you are in front of stress all the time and in all situation.

What you think do you agree or no? How much is enough to finish MLIS degree?

Ramadan Kareem

Dear all,
Happy Ramadan!
Thank you Asma for creating this weblog which keeps all of us in touch.
Anahita

الاخوه والاخوات الكرام

مبارك عليكم الشهر

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