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Dispatch from Amman (July 6, 2005)

Filed under GSLIS Administrative
Posted by GSLIS, July 06, 2005
View all posts for July 2005

Hello GSLIS students, staff, faculty, and alums,

As many of you know Dean Michele Cloonan is in Jordan right now, thanks to the grant GSLIS received last year with the purpose of training Iraqi librarians. Harvey Varnet, an adjunct professor at GSLIS, traveled there with her and has written this dispatch from Amman. Over the course of their trip, they hope to write more to us about their experiences, so consider this installment one. This, as well as other letters from abroad that we receive, is archived at: http://my.simmons.edu/gslis/resources/publications/

Although technical issues keep us from posting this to a blog, if you have any comments or questions you’d like me to pass along to them, please email me at jennifer.doyle@simmons.edu and we’ll do our best to make this as bloggish as possible.

Happy reading!

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July 6, 2005: Dispatch from Amman — from Harvey Varnet Assistant to the V.P. for Academic Administration, Providence College Adjunct Professor, Simmons GSLIS

Travel to Amman, Jordan, is long and somewhat tedious, what with the flight (for Michele and me) from Boston to London overnight, then an 8 hour wait before another 5 hour flight to Amman. We arrived in Amman at 11pm (late, of course), paid for an “instant visa” at the airport and got to ACOR at midnight or so. No problem sleeping, but getting back ‘on the clock’ still going on.

Michele and Carla’s good preparatory work has paid off, as things here are very organized. ACOR staff are used to people to-ing and fro-ing, so they are pretty laid back regarding the changes that need to be made on the fly. ACOR rooms are very nice - sort of like a very good dormitory set up. The weather here is relatively cool - thank god, as the rooms are not air conditioned. Some of the training team will stay at the Hillside Hotel, about 1/2 mile away (and up and down 2 hills - good for the muscles).

As happens, the group of Iraqis that were to come got here before we did, as opposed to a day later. Their trips long and dangerous. In particular, the group from Mosul drove in via Syria - a 24 hour trip. Getting across borders is challenging at best - can take several hours, even with all the proper and appropriate documents.

The librarians from Iraq vary in age, education and experience. The group is comprised of both men and women. What they have in common is a strong character and a commitment to improving their skills. At our “introductions” session, to a person they indicated that they wanted to be updated on the latest ideas and techniques so that they could share the same with their colleagues and students. Very personable and purposeful people, and it’s a delight to be in their company.

One of the “teaching team,” Basima Bezirgan, came down (on her 2nd day here) with a case of bronchitis. Basima is an American citizen, born in Iraq, and is a superb translator (she’s a retired librarian from the University of Chicago). Our adventure to the local Palestine Hospital turned out to be quite pleasant, as far as getting in, getting seen by a doctor quickly (also originally from Iraq), getting a prescription for her bronchitis, and paying a fee that would surprise most Americans with how reasonable it was.

As I write this 1st note, John Dean, assisted by Michele, is doing his presentation (the 1st official teaching session) on “Preservation of Library & Archival Materials.” He’s using powerpoint presentations to cover his topics, and Shayee Khanaka (of U-Cal - Berkeley) is doing yeoman’s work at translating. The morning session is now 4 hours on with one more hour to go before lunch. The afternoon session following lunch will be another 2 hours - we are working here and committed to long and full days.

There is a healthy dialogue going on during this 1st session - evidence that the Iraqis are definitely interested and ‘engaged’ in this training.

That’s it for the moment. Hope this note is indicative of the ‘flavor’ of things. The “air of optimism” is tangible, and we are off to a good start.

Inshallah, things will keep moving along as well. tbc, as we say :-)