By Ghadeer Magdy

Recent political developments in my country of Egypt have opened up opportunities to build a new democratic system based on freedom of speech and circulation of information. In the 1950s, Egypt was the first Arab nation to introduce the study of librarianship in universities. I am a student at the Alexandria University Librarianship and Information Science Department, which attempts to help Egyptian librarians and library students to tackle these new opportunities. Unfortunately, Egyptian library students face many obstacles as they struggle to shape the future of their profession and country.

Education: Theory Versus Practice

Egyptian library and information science programs are traditionally theoretical in focus; rarely do departments offer courses that cover administration, marketing, computer skills, digital libraries or internet use. As a result, many graduates enter their field only to find that they cannot cope with job demands related to application of automated systems which are now applied in most Egyptian libraries.

Furthermore, many colleges require students to take highly theoretical classes that lie outside their field of study. In most cases these classes are useless for library and information science students, and constitute an additional burden on students.

Education: Lack of Resources and Instructors

Many departments lack crucial resources like up-to-date textbooks. Other colleges, especially those with more recently established LIS departments, struggle to locate and hire qualified instructors.

The Role of Librarians

Egyptian librarians and library departments are fighting to redefine the image of librarians: many Egyptians believe that the role of the library begins and ends with services like reading inside the library, external borrowing and arranging books on shelves.

One reason many Egyptians dismiss the value of library workers is that many library workers dismiss themselves. Many librarians are unwilling to discuss their work with others outside the field, fearing that library work is held in low esteem culturally. However, the librarian’s role is as important as other jobs. In developed countries librarians aid and support a society’s decision makers.

Also contributing to the low status of library employees is an erosion of professional standards. Many who work as librarians are not trained in the field, and – as a result – trained librarians can’t find jobs within their specialization. Therefore, they work in other careers.

Lack of Professional Development Opportunities

There is a direct correlation between improving professional performance of employees and professional development opportunities provided by employers. The more training workers have, the more competent they can become. Training programs help them stay abreast of new developments in their field and enable them to gain experience that can’t be gained through academic study. Unfortunately, professional development opportunities are rarely available outside of large libraries in some governorates.

Facing the Challenges: Alexandria University Librarianship and Information Science Department

How is the Department of Librarianship and Information Science at Alexandria approaching these challenges?

Raising Student Morale

Our department teaches students about the importance of the library profession across different eras; the social position of librarians during those times; the importance of information, books and reading, especially in information era; professional requirements for a librarian; the ethics of librarianship; and the future of library profession. This social and historical context helps them become advocates for themselves and for their profession. Furthermore, our courses emphasize that information is an indispensable resource for society welfare and progress, especially in the Arab world.

Improved Training

We have tailored our program to prepare students for the practical demands of their field. We train our third-year students in computer skills; classes take place in the faculty lab, because our department lacks its own. Third-year students also learn internet skills at the American Cultural Center in Alexandria. We also keep students informed about new developments in the field; we organize seminars and scientific meetings to discuss new attitudes in the field of library and information science. We have held seminars on the following topics: digital libraries; future systems for managing faculty libraries; modern technical processing of information sources; and managing digital libraries using the Greenstone program.

Improved Field Work/Networking Opportunities

We encourage faculty members to stay in touch with alumni to help new grads improve their professional performance wherever they are. We encourage current students to network with library professionals by joining the Egyptian Library Association; we post Egyptian Library Association conference information on our department notice boards.

We also ask third- and fourth-year students to participate in field work. The students work in local libraries in Alexandria, gaining practical experience in a number of departments: electronic development of library collections; customer service; reference interviews; cataloging; and reading stories to children. The relationship with local libraries is mutually beneficial: students learn on-the-job skills, and the librarians learn from the students’ academic exposure to new trends in library and information science.

We also organize free training courses for students of the third and the fourth year during summer holiday to train them on various library tasks. After passing the course, students are given certificates. In this case, students gain practical experience and actual practice for what they study and are prepared and qualified for work after graduation.

In 2008-2009, the school created another opportunity for students to collaborate with library professionals. Students indexed the university library’s periodicals and uploaded them to the library website as part of an academic project on indexing. In exchange for their work, students received certificates to help them find jobs after graduation; furthermore, they received bonus year degrees, and their work was credited on the official library website.

Accommodating Non-Traditional, Less-Advantaged Learners

Working around our low faculty/student ratio, we have worked with the Higher Council of Egyptian Universities to offer two courses online. We also instruct students to take advantage of free training courses offered by Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s free courses in reference service, bibliography, database searching, internet searching and MARC 21. And due to the high prices of language courses – especially English courses – and computer courses, department professors direct students toward free and reduced prices courses in order to improve their skills.

Recruitment

In October 2009 we established “The Library of Creativity in Teaching and Learning” in the department library to develop the capacity of teachers and students of the department and to guide students to the appropriate selection of jobs after graduation, helping them define and achieve their objectives before and after graduation.

Providing Models of Academic Excellence

Since 2009 the department has provided the library community with models of outstanding student works: indexes, bibliographical lists, thesauri and distinguished researches. The projects stand as examples for other students, and encourage these outstanding students to continue to excel after graduation.

Utilizing Technology

The department has created a website that features the program’s mission, objectives, activities, department faculty members and their assistants, school regulations and theses approved and registered by the department.

Utilizing Social Networking

The department now communicates with students via the official web site of the library and information science department group through our Facebook group. We use this page as a virtual community board, keeping them informed of the new available activities in department and activities related to libraries outside the department.

We have also established a department blog to encourage the exchange of Library science news from all over the world and to give faculty and students a chance to write about the profession.

Professional Development

Our department reaches outside our university and holds training courses for librarians working at school, academic and public libraries in Alexandria, Matrouh and Behirah.

Contributing to the Discussion

Many faculty members in the department have published papers on the professional development of Egypt’s librarians: librarians and information era; librarians’ training; developing and recruiting educators; studies of patrons; problems of librarianship and information science department students (suggested solutions); field studies for Alexandria libraries; and the importance of the library profession.

After all these efforts, this department is now one of the most distinguished Library Science departments in Egypt.