NASIG Newsletter

DOING SERIALS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Stephanie Schmitt, Library and Learning Resource Center, Zayed University

In December 2006, I moved my place of work from the Yale Law Library to Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  As soon as I arrived at work (the day that I landed in Dubai), I was told about the ‘Serials Problems’ in my library and everyone seemed excited about the level of serials-related experience I had listed on my resume.  Now only four full months have passed, but I’ve already begun to wonder whether my skills were based on dependencies on the technologies I had become so used to; the assumptions I had made about being able to work with a reputable binder, any binder for that matter, and the presumption of knowledge about the inanities of serials publications.  You think the Germans and Italians have creative enumeration?  You’ve seen nothing compared to the lovely joys of Arabic language journals.  The basics of tackling claims were daunting in my previous jobs, but I have come to long for the slow and painful process of managing claims in the West, given that it takes 3-6 months to receive deliveries of issues that are already long past the publisher claim by dates once we receive them.  Electronic serials are a growing solution, but the bandwidth demands for overseas access can be frustrating and deleterious to the expectations of researchers.  In addition, regionally produced scholarship has not yet been bought up by the large publishing houses.  Electronic versions of local societies and academic publications have thus not yet been exploited.  But somehow it all gets done, inshallah.

In the Middle East, many of the routines of serials maintenance do not exist.  We do make use of international subscription vendors and jobbers, but vendors of locally produced materials are rare.  Government publications are delivered randomly (I guess that is a similar problem everywhere) and local vendors are hesitant to tackle the requested tasks of managing, with regular service, standing subscriptions.  Binders who can manage the scale of print resources from the larger institutions here don’t exist and the skill sets, tools, and machinery have not yet made their way into the regional, much less local, library marketplace.

Like nearly anywhere in the world, funding for serials is not matching the pace of new publications.  As a tome-based society, Arab nations are adjusting to the relatively rapid presentation of ideas in the form of scholarly journals.  Printing is growing at a pace unprecedented as ideas and opinions continue to be spread throughout the region.  The number and variety of available serial titles is growing.  Literacy is increasing.  Colleges are popping up everywhere.  The students are pouring in.  The time is ripe to promote serials librarianship and to create opportunities for training.

The solutions I seek will come by way of networking and collaboration.  By encouraging discussion and ideas about serials, we will build the infrastructure we need to maintain our serially produced resources.  I encourage NASIG to support the work of serials in the developing nations of the world.  Your wisdom and guidance will enable growth and understanding through the shared values of preserving knowledge.  For example, there are few library schools in the Middle East.  Basic knowledge of bibliographic structure and instruction in methods of acquisitions and serials control are desperately needed.  We will seek to rectify this situation through our local networking connections and by bringing teachers and experts to the region.  My hope is that NASIG and the UKSG will find ways to further promote organized instruction on serials issues and then bring these training opportunities to this region.  Just as the UKSG inspired the birth of NASIG, my hope is to foster and support the growth of Middle Eastern serialists.  Does not a “MESIG” sound great?!  I ask you all to help us get started on this good endeavor.

I’ll end this short note about my new life in Dubai with a call to you all to consider working overseas.  Life is full and good and purposeful anywhere, but it is so joyful to see the sparkle in the eyes of a student who has never seen a scholarly journal in her life when she comes to understand the magnificent amount of information hidden within enumeration and chronology, and then discover even more within its table of contents and index.  OK.  Perhaps I’ve been a member of NASIG a little too long, but the enthusiasm remains.  And enough humor as well to realize that like you all, I have the crazy mind of a loyal fan of serials.  Long live NASIG!

I’ll miss you all at conference this year! May it be the best one yet!