Bright Lights Shine at Area Studies Symposium
| Published date | 01 September 2006 |
| Date | 01 September 2006 |
| Pages | 18-21 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050610713673 |
| Author | John Walsh |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Bright Lights Shine at Area Studies
Symposium
John Walsh
18 LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 8 2006, pp. 18-21, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050610713673
A Symposium on Area Studies
Librarianship was held July 14-16 at the
University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.
This seminar was a true declaration of
the diversity in this field. The first night
the keynote speaker, Atifa Rawan,
opened the symposium with a moving
presentation of the work she has done in
re-building the academic libraries of
Afghanistan. Three multicultural panels
presented on a broad range of topics
over the next two days. The content was
as diverse as the panelists'. As the
presentations unfolded two common
threads could be heard in the voices of
the presenters. First, it was apparent
there are a number of commonalities
shared by all areas of field. The most
significant were repeated by almost
every participant; diverse skills sets
required, restrictive politics and laws,
shortages of specialists, and most
importantly, the necessity for
promotion of technology in the field.
The other obvious variable came as a
pleasant surprise. Recently, trends of
``multi-skilling'' of area librarians and a
de-emphasis on specialization have cast
a gloomy outlook over area studies
librarianship. There were even
comments like ``the dieing of
discussion in area librarianship'' heard
at the symposium. These derogatory
views held little weight against the
reports of the many inspirational
projects taking place in area studies
librarianship. With each speaker
another bright light was revealed in this
growing and vibrant field.
The symposium
The keynote speaker was Atifa
Rawan. Rawan is currently the subject
librarian for Political Science and
Public Administration at the University
of Arizona. She spoke at the opening
ceremony on Global Librarianship and
the work she has done in re-building the
academic libraries of Afghanistan.
There were three multicultural panels of
speakers. The first panel of lectures was
delivered by Olivia Olivares, Midhat
Abraham, and Sara Heitshu. Olivia is a
subject specialist at the University of
Arizona (UA) and her subjects include
Latin American Studies (LAS) and
Mexican American Studies (MAS). She
spoke of collection development in
ethnic studies, specifically Mexican and
Latin American Studies. Midhat
Abraham is the Middle Eastern Studies
Librarian at the UA. He discussed his
personal experiences in the field and
related some of the difficulties area
librarians face in the Middle East. Sara
Heitshu is also a subject specialist at the
UA and her specialties include
American Indian Studies. She talked
about instruction and reference in
Cultural Studies, with emphasis on
Native American Studies.
The second panel of speakers was
John Munoz, Michael Brewer and Ping
Situ. John Munoz is a public librarian
from Tucson, AZ and also a member of
REFORMA. He gave a presentation on
REFORMA, which is an organization
that advocates diversity in libraries and
collections in languages other than
English. Michael Brewer is the Russian/
Slavic librarian at the UA, and his
subject specialties include German
Studies, Media Arts, and Film. He
presented his paper on how to become a
Slavic librarian, calling attention to the
need for librarians in his field. Ping Situ
is the Chinese Studies librarian at the
UA. Her presentation covered
opportunities and challenges facing
area librarians who have multiple
language responsibilities.
The final panel was made up of two
speakers, Simon Samoeil and Christine
Dykgraaf. Simon is the Middle Eastern
Librarian and Curator of the Near East
Collection at Yale University. He is
also the project manager of Online
Access to Consolidated Information on
Serials (OACIS). OACIS is an online
database of serials and journals from
and about the Middle East. Christine
Dykgraaf is a Philosophy doctorial
student at the UA. She is also an
instructor in Near East Studies.
Christine's presentation introduced the
status of e-books in non-English
collections. Her efforts as sole
organizer and coordinator of this
symposium are commendable and
appreciated, for it produced a
successful and meaningful event.
Though attendance was primarily local,
this did not diminish the importance of
the symposium's content or the far
reaching impact of the work being done
in area librarianship. There were two
significant accomplishments of the
symposium. One was the establishment
of common trends affecting the field of
area studies librarianship. The other
was the exposure of the great work
being done in this culturally diverse
field of study.
Themes and trends
The themes of the lectures were as
diverse and multi-cultured as the
panelists'. Collection management,
copyright restrictions, publishing
requirements, advances in electronic
resources, and many more topics were
discussed. As the symposium
progressed four common threads
became apparent across the wide range
of subjects and geographic areas. First,
an area librarian needs a broad
knowledge base and a variety of skills
to be successful in the field. Another
common theme among many of the
panelists' was the severe shortages of
area librarians in almost every field.
Almost every contributor mentioned
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