Corps enseignant

Everyone likes to be part of a winning team. Recent days have been very good to me in that respect. First, at the request of the new director of ESI, my name has been included on the Web page of teachers (the "corps enseignant" page; I'm at the bottom). I'm very pleased.

One of my students in the second year even found my name and sent me an email at my new official ESI email account. She then proceeded to visit me at my office yesterday, and we had a delightful converstation.

Another student also found me recently, to ask that I be one of the readers for her masters thesis. I am, of course, honored to do it and was surprised to see that it's not at all a thin document. It's amusing to be on a committee for a masters student thesis when I myself have never defended a masters thesis -- and my own Rutgers dissertation is still very much a work in progress.

Further, Rutgers's MLIS program has been declared sixth in the nation in 2009, and although I've had nothing to do with the successes that have come this year, I'm still pleased to be able to claim the same academic "home" and am delighted to have taught in their program in the past.

Tomorrow is the European and Moroccan version of Labor Day -- a day off being a fitting way to celebrate new successes in LIS education, after all.

Access to information, access to education

In the very recent past, I've been approached twice via email by a
complete stranger who wanted a copy of a scholarly article I'd
written. I really do respect folks for trying to get free access to an
article by contacting the author; it makes sense to try to access
things as one can.

For example, at LIBRES we get a lot of well-intentioned manuscripts
that just don't seem to have consulted the right literature. When this happens,
the project has no foundation. Developing countries have a lot of
opportuntities to request free access to library databases of articles
and other scholarly content, but the libraries in the countries have
to be willing to take the leap and the patrons have to be willing to
go onsight to do their research.

I'm not convinced, for example, that Moroccan libraries have all
subscribed to the plethora of databases that are free to African
libraries. -- Access to information.

The government's doing its best right now to expand access to higher
education here in Morocco. The efforts are commendable. But today as
Nadia and I were making my bed, she explained to me that the other
girls in her family got to go to college, but that she didn't. And
then she started crying. -- Access to education.

I applaud all the efforts in the right direction on these two issues
in Morocco, but quite simply, more has to be done. I haven't been
able to bring myself to tell Nadia that I worked as a cleaning lady at
one point too. Perhaps, really, the only true difference between her
and me is 10 years and our nationalities.

For a number of reasons, both personal and professional, I find that
thought to be fundamentally disturbing.

Professeur avec chaire, higher ed, and reforms

I'm intent on recording things in this blog that pertain to the current Moroccan educational system, and since it relies heavily on the old French educational system, things pertaining to past-present-future elements of French higher ed. are also of interest, par extension. While at ENSSIB in March, the professors explained to me the notion of "professeur avec chaire" and I admit to having found it fascinating.

The FORMER French UNIVERSITY system (not the ECOLE system, like we have at ESI) involved a hierarchy that was quite complex. Professors did a PhD, then they did a second PhD (doctorat d'état). This second diploma permitted them to join the upper echelons of the teaching faculty at the university. For each area of specializtion in a university department, there was one professor "avec chaire" (meaning, the boss or the "mandarin") and the others under him/her were all "sans chaire". The only way to move up was to wait for a retirement or a change of post of the one professor "avec chaire."

This system is no longer in effect, and Sarkozy is in the middle of making even more dramatic reforms to higher ed in France. Those in universities are striking daily, and the situation doesn't look good. Mr. Sarkozy wants to Americanize education, increasing competition between professors, changing missions and objectives for universities, and doing away with (in the opinion of some) the arts and humanities.

The reforms in Morocco are not as sweeping, but they are also very real. I attend my first meeting about them this week at ESI, and am interested to learn more about the topics that are on the plate in Moroccan Ecoles during this period of higher ed reform.
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The fluid concept of time

Dave Barry is married to a Spanish-speaking woman -- if I remember correctly, she's Cuban-American. She has a concept of time that differs from his according to a very funny and memorable book of his I read years ago. I wish I could remember the title of it.

Although I first learned in France that time moves differently for different peoples (and for different cultures), I'm discovering that Moroccan time can also move at its own pace.

American colleague Ray Schwartz spoke to ESI students last Monday about his ongoing project of library evaluation through data mining. Class was designated to start at 4:00, and we wanted to set up beforehand. The technican couldn't understand why we'd do such a thing since the students wouldn't be there at 4:00 anyway.

And they weren't.

Nadia arrives at 9:45 on Sunday morning instead of 9:00 (but this is her *day off* so I understand completely!) The symposium dinner started last night at 8:45 pm but was listed as beginning at 8:00 in the invitation. And, well, the panels and speakers at the three-day long symposium mostly started a half hour to an hour later than scheduled.

None of this is to suggest that things run on schedule in the United States or that France and Morocco are the ONLY places in the world where time is more fluid than rigid. However, it's something to keep in mind when scheduling Web talks for class with folks in the United States. Not only do I have to calculate the time difference for next week's talks (by Larry Olszewski of OCLC's Library and Caroline Szylowicz of UIUC's Proust Archive), but I have to figure in the Moroccoan time as well. Let's hope I've calculated correctly.

Fulbright Symposium and Slideshare

Yesterday, today and tomorrow is the annual Maghrebi Studies Symposium for Fulbright Grantees in Morocco. I was scheduled to present about a subject of my choice on the first day. Since comparative librarianship has been a budding interest and since I'd been interested in formalizing my thoughts on the topic, I volunteered to talk about LIS education in Morocco.

My 25-minute presentation was well-received. To be complete about creating a record, I posted the slides to Slideshare last night before going to bed. That was nine hours ago, and the presentation's already gotten 9 views. Slideshare considers itself the YouTube of presentations. Hard to believe there's that much traffic on an LIS education presentation that covers a country in the developing world.

Views of Library and Information Science (LIS) Instruction in Morocco

View more presentations from Heather lea Moulaison.

Just goes to show that the Fulbright follks at MACECE are on the right track in organizing this symposium every year. I'm very grateful to them for the opportunity, and was honored to be able to take part.

Choosing the ESI director, a reprise

Last week, I met with the new director of ESI, Mr. Lemallem. After our meeting, I understand why the students are so excited about his appointment.

Like most of the professors at ESI, Mr. Lemallem is a polyglot. He's also aware of blogs, because he found this one and read it. In response to my blog posting about the difficulty I had following the process of naming a new ESI director, he explained the following :

For those in the system, the selection process was transparent. Each candidate submitted his vision for ESI, and the top eight candidates spoke at the Ministry that sponsors ESI: the Haut Commissariat au Plan. The original call for applications is in Arabic and is still on the ESI website.

The names of the search committee members were known, and the five members were prominent, competent, and came from different but complementary backgrounds. Once the top three finalists were selected by the committee, the names and files were sent to the King who had the final decision.

Since Mr. Lemallem's arrival, he's had a lot of tough tasks to tackle. The educational reform will require ESI to change the structure of the program in the coming year. With the Bologna Accords in Europe and with Sarkozy's sweeping and unpopular “Americanization” reforms in France, the theme of higher ed. reform is definitely in the air. Educational reforms have also been a priority locally since the new King ascended the throne almost a decade ago.

I'm thrilled with the results of my discussion with the new director at ESI and my new insights. Further, two days after the meeting, I had a brand new ESI email address and should be added to the list of professors on the ESI website shortly. I also hope to get the chance to participate in the ongoing ESI meetings about the reform (the invitation to which will surely be sent to my new email account).

The SCI (formerly SCILS) Rabat section, class of 2009.

 Jill Campaiola of my doctoral cohort was here for a visit this March.  I was delighted to put her up for a few days, and enjoyed exploring some of the medina and the tourist attractions with her.  I'm grateful to Jill for sharing her photos, and am really looking forward to her return in July!

Blogué avec le Navigateur Flock

Gen X, social media, and libraries

It's interesting being a Gen-Xer and living abroad in 2009. Although I've been using Facebook for about two and a half years professionally, my friends from 5, 10, and even 15 years ago are starting to create accounts and get online in droves. In the past two days, I've reconnected with two friends from my undergraduate days, a friend from the days of my grad work in French, and a librarian that I know through NMRT committee work (and whom I met in person ONCE at a conference five years ago).

Before my recent travels to France, I connected with friends and acquaintances that I haven't seen in years through Facebook and through TripIt's application in LinkedIn. All of these French contacts found me initially.

None of these new online connections would have been possible a year ago simply because Gen Xers and the French weren't yet using social media for networking this way. If I had been abroad in 2007-2008, there wouldn't be this wealth of opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues, and to establish contact almost instantly with newfound “connections” like one of the librarians at ENSSIB, with whom I am now “friends” on Facebook after my presentation.

The presentation that I gave at ENSSIB on March 25, 2009 was about social networks and the information literacies that university librarians should possess http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~moulaiso/MoulaisonENSSIB2009 .pdf. These Social Networking Literacies (SNL) will allow the creation of new and innovative library services that capitalize on social media. I was delighted that Terry Weech of UIUC's GSLIS made time at the end of his presentation on libraries and networking to allow me to share ideas about these new competencies with ENSSIB students, librarians, and instructors.

If my own overwhelming list of “friends” on Facebook and LinkedIn are any indication, the time really has come for librarians to capitalize on online social networks. Thanks to Joe Murphy (Yale Science Library and Library Journal “Mover and Shaker”) for being first author on our original presentation as presented at ACRL in mid-March 2009 in Seattle.

Social Networking Literacy Competencies for Librarians

View more presentations from Joe Murphy.

I've gotten nothing but great feedback from librarians who attended his very inspired presentation. And somehow, on SlideShare, it's gotten 4 "favorites"!