WebJunction

Hi I used to be until I came here in 2001. I was at Lincoln University Library in New Zealand and now I am in the Pacific Northwest. I will email my NZ friends and persuade them to join WJ. Cheers Lan , Blanchard Library, West Bonner Library District.

Hi
I used to be an Assistant Professor in one of the Library schools in Nigeria and currently a graduate student at School of Library and Information Management,(SLIM) Emporia State University. I must say that most libraries in Nigeria are still in the developmental stage particularly with the provision on on-line services. It will surprise a lot of people that till date there is no library that is fully automated. The two main reasons for this are due to the high cost of automation and lack of necessary computer skills. Only some few schools have actual review their curriculum to reflect the current trend in the digital age. Particularly worthy of mentioning is the efforts of SLIM through the Nigerian Project http://nigeriaproject.emporia.edu/ directed by Prof. John Agada. The project has helped in the review of three Library schools curricula, training of Library school professors and establishment of an Information and Communication Technology Labs to help train future librarian that will be relevant in the digital age. Foundations like MacArthur Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation are helping in the provision of fund to academic libraries for automation. The situation in the public libraries is worse than the academic libraries in terms of facilities and funding.

Lizk, you are right the University where I used to work is benefiting from the Carnegie Corporation foundation project http://www.abuzaria.org/library/index.htm.
The CD_ROM versions of WebJunction will be very helpful for the libraries, computer skills is one of the great needs we have. Some time more emphasis is placed in equipments and staff training in computer skills are neglected.
Sure, WebJunction has been very helpful in my professional development by keeping up to date in the library profession

Hello international librarians,
We'd like to revive this discussion area with folks who are involved in other international library networks, including ALA's IRRT, any Ning or Facebook groups your on, other library organizations, etc.

Let me introduce myself. I work on the Community Services team here at WebJunction though I formerly worked on the [url http://webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=10555]Spanish Language Outreach program[/url]. Before I came to WebJunction, I spent 6 months in Guatemala working with libraries. I've worked in public, school, academic, and special libraries, as well as used and new bookstores for a length of time. I try to think about international library issues, particularly around issues of international development and disaster preparedness/relief on my blog, [url http://devlibrarian.wordpress.com/]dev.librarian[/url].

I look forward to hearing more from everybody.

~Emily

Hello!
I am so glad that we have a new discussion forum for international public libraries. Look forward to further discussion.

Mollie Fein
Co-Chair-IRRT-Public Library Interest Group

Thanks for activating this station at WebJunction. I'm glad to see we are on board! Thanks, ALL!!

Karen D. Jessee, Co-Chair, ALA, IRRT
International Sustainable Library Development Interest Group (ISLD)

I'm working in a small library in Iowa -- about as middle-America as you can get! -- and am curious to hear about the experiences of those who have worked in different countries. Are there any major differences that stand out between libraries in the USA and elsewhere?