Another terrific day with the UAEU Library staff

Today was the second day of a three day workshop that I'm giving here for the staff of the UAEU Libraries.  On the first day, I had a comprehensive plan and a timetable in very small increments of time (thank you Barbara Sherlock for the example).  After the first day, I asked the participants what they would like me to talk about the second day so last night I went back to the hotel and worked for about 7 hours to prepare for today.  On the first day we talked all about collections assessment and my goal is for the staff here to be able to create an assessment plan by themselves so that they have great data with which to make their budget proposal to the campus.  I was asked to be very specific so last night I worked on what data to gather in order to tell the story they want to tell and where exactly to get that data.  One of the ladies also asked me if I could talk about weeding the collection so we talked about that today.  We also discussed how to get the best books possible with a very small book budget.

Before we broke for lunch, the Acquisitions staff asked me if I could talk about my experience working in Acquistions.  I hadn't thought about it for awhile, but I worked in Acquisitions for twenty-one years in three universities in positions as diverse as a serials check in assistant to head of the department.  I loved most every day in the acquisitions department and they asked me what my biggest challenge was and they shared theirs.  It wasn't very different.

At the end of the day, I spent some time sitting with their eresources librarian while he showed me their Summon implementation.  I talked to Moza at the end of the day.  She's very pleased that it is going well because of course, it's not just a reflection on me, but on her too for bringing me here from halfway across the world.  I should have considered that before but I didn't.  I'm very pleased that it is going well too. I've learned a couple of things.  First, the most important thing is for participants in a workshop to feel comfortable with you and you with them.  If they don't, it's not going to flow nicely.  Also, you have to be flexible.  Listen to their questions and adapt your schedule to theirs.  That's working well too though you have to be prepared to do a lot of work in the evenings between sessions.  Finally, give them your very best work.  Wherever you go, you're an ambassador not just for yourself, but for your university and in this case, for your country.  We joked that it was like a UN at breaktime today.  People work here who were born in the UAE but also in Egypt, Somalia, Jordan, and other places that I don't know.  Getting to meet individuals makes you realize how similar people can be.

Tomorrow is my last official "work day" and then on Thursday, I'm going to the National Museum and then heading to Dubai to come home.  This has been a wonderful experience and I'm grateful to the young woman who gave me this opportunity.  How she found me, I don't know, but I'm glad that she did.