“Fracking the Ecosystem“. Source: Library Journal
This would have an impact on libraries’ budget. Prices are rising while budget remains flat or even reduced. Periodicals prices for Science, Technology and Medical (STM) field remain one of the highest. Worthwhile to read especially for those involved in Collection Development and Management (Electronic Resources).
Source: https://flic.kr/p/dJkr5N
Source: Library Journal
Top Skills needed:
Source: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2016/03/featured/top-skills-for-tomorrows-librarians-careers-2016/#_
In my humble opinion, communication plays a very important part especially when you are in a multicultural and international setting. Sometimes, certain words or connotations mean differently in different culture.
On top of that, we also need to be aware of the communication nuances especially during meetings or one-to-one conversations. I find it very useful to learn them (c0mmunication techniques and local culture) from the locals over here. They are ever so willing to help you understand their culture.
Reading relevant books on this topic would also be beneficial. My pick list:
One of the things that resonates with me is this saying:
“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”- Albert Einstein
In the previous blog post on my experience in eating in a Fish Restaurant, here are some snippets of my very first ‘fish-eating expedition’ with a few friends. We didn’t paint the town red 🙂 but we managed to get a good open-air spot in the restaurant. Soaked in the atmosphere and indulged in some good ol’ fish food.
By the way, I decided NOT to include the pictures of my 3 piece chicken meal 🙂
Life in the University town has never been boring. Apart from working and studying, there are lots of events and recreational activities provided for the residents. Life here has evolved from the early days to present. Such events are platform for nurturing friendships and understanding among residents who come from different countries (more than 75 nationalities) and walks of life.
Source: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjUnLJWK.
Community life snapshots:
Source: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjUo8vCg
We (my family and I) participated in some community events; making quality time for family despite our busy schedule. (Work and school life). Here are some of our pics:
After close to 3 weeks since I arrived (2009), I got the nod to move into my house in the University town. One of the benefits of living on campus is the reduction in commuting time. It drastically shorten the traveling time from home to work: from 1.5 – 2 hours (by bus, from Jeddah to campus) to just around 10 minutes (cycling within the campus) 🙂
My first abode – after arriving from Jeddah
My family was still in Singapore. I was all alone and missing them lots. I would skype with my wife and kids during the weekends or at night. Hearing their voices helped a little in reducing my loneliness over here in the initial stages. Me and my wife were never far apart for more than 1 day since we got married; the only time when we were apart was when she was giving birth to my kids. This temporary separation was very hard on her and she used to cry at night when the children were asleep. (Reason: she didn’t want the kids to see her sad and demoralize them).
One of the ways to combat loneliness was to hang out with your office mates after working hours. Sometimes we visited one another or ate at the fish restaurant located in small town just outside the campus. I remembered the first time eating at the fish restaurant, I ordered a 3 piece chicken meal while the rest ate fish and rice. That chicken meal, I bought from a ‘fast food’ joint just across the restaurant. My friends looked at me in amazement. Luckily they (restaurant) didn’t kick me out for eating food bought from elsewhere. I have to admit I’m not a big eater.
At times, I took to cycling around the campus neighborhood.
Apart from that, I spent my time reading books, journals/magazines or polish up my PS3 skills 🙂
Source: https://flic.kr/p/7scp4v
Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog posts. This blog was started in 2016 – Urged by someone who told me to start a blog to chronicle my experience when I made the move from Singapore to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
I graduated from Queensland Uni of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, in Information Technology (Bachelor); majoring in Information Management. (That was when I fell in love with librarianship). While working in an academic institution in Singapore, I was sponsored by my employer to continue with my education – MSc, Masters program in Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore (Information Studies). I won’t forget those 2 years of slogging and working full-time; plus my twin girls were born around the same time I started my Masters. So I became a dad, hubby, student and an employee all rolled into one 🙂
I have worked in the library arena close to 25 years. Started my career at Singapore Polytechnic Library as a Reference Librarian. Led a Quality Circle team that won a National Award for a library project on Library Booking system. During my time at Singapore Polytechnic, I also took up the role as an Advisor to the Singapore Polytechnic Malay Language Society.
After spending more than ten years at Singapore Polytechnic, I moved to Li Ka Shing Library, Singapore Management University to work as a Reference Librarian cum Webmaster. One of my significant accomplishments was leading the library website usability project.
Before joining NTU Library in 2018, I had the opportunity to work in an International Graduate Research University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for almost 10 years. Some of my achievements at KAUST include: leading several projects in the area of Electronic Resources Management, Web Discovery Layer Services and Usability Study.
Served on the following committees and groups:
Currently serving on the following committees and groups:
Presently, I am the Assistant Director of NTU Library’s Advisory and Consultation Team. Among my responsibilities include planning and providing leadership in the provision of advisory and consultation services and information support to faculty, researchers and students in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CoHASS) among others. In addition to that, I also serves as a liaison librarian and provides outreach to the CoHASS cluster.
My spare time revolves around spending quality time with my family, reading, traveling and blogging (my new found hobby). Not forgetting: Sparring with my son with the PS4 games.
More info in my LinkedIn account.
Disclaimer: All posts in this blog are reflections of my own thoughts, NOT of anyone or any organization.
ER&L 2016: SWAG, won it 🙂
I was fortunate to be given the chance to attend the TRLN (Triangle Research Libraries Network – Duke Uni, North Carolina Central Uni, North Carolina State Uni, UNC Chapel Hill) Management Academy. It was held at the Paul J Rizzo Conference Center (Chapel Hill, NC, USA) from 26 – 30 Oct 2015.
TRLN 2015 participants
This course was very beneficial to me as it opened up new insights, ideas and knowledge on leadership and management in the field of librarianship. On top of that, it provided me with the platform to network with library professionals from North America and Canada. (I discovered that I was the only one from outside the States).
Some of the learning objectives include:
Our trainers include:
Me and some of the important people of TRLN
There was a panel session where participants have the chance to interact with the 4 big-wigs (directors) from the 4 uni libraries. They include:
Panel session with 4 library directors
We were also given a tour of the majestic James B Hunt Jr Library, NCSU.
NCSU, Hunt Library
Hunt Library – Book Bot
Random pictures of TRLN
Special thanks to my library director and manager for their continuous support.
Participants List and Alumni. This was the 2015 information and application process.
I am grateful to my director and manager for giving me the opportunity to attend ER&L (Electronic Resources and Libraries) 2016 in Austin, Texas from April 3 – 6 2016. The conference was held at the AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center, University of Texas at Austin.
This conference has been going on since 2006. And it has a strong following ever since. More information about ER&L can be found here. Quick stats:
Conference Tracks:
Source: https://www.electroniclibrarian.org/about/erl-in-a-snapshot/
I enjoyed the 2016 conference tremendously. Having attended the 10th year anniversary in 2015, I was looking forward to the 2016 event. One of my concern though was the weather. It was freezing cold in 2015, but it turned out that the weather (2016) was much, way much, better. Thank God.
I wanted to gain as much knowledge as I possible could. On top of that, I looked forward to network with my other counterparts in the same field: Electronic Resources Management among others. Took the opportunity to attend 2 workshops:
Below are some of the interesting sessions that I attended during the conference:
There were lots of other valuable sessions too. However, I wasn’t able to attend them as they were held concurrently with the ones that I attended. Sacrifices had to be made. Fortunately, the conference organizers recorded all the sessions and uploaded them online (You need to pay to watch them online). This allowed me to view them at a later time.
** A little background: prior to this conference, I was involved in some major projects in my library. They were, among others:
At the end of the conference, some of the following questions lingered in my mind:
On another note, I met some wonderful people over there. Enjoyed the open discussions with them. I would definitely recommend those who are into electronic resources management to attend this conference at least once. I’m pretty sure that they won’t be disappointed.
I used to get lots of questions on what I do as a librarian. Did I ‘stamp’ due dates on books; how many ‘stamps’ did I make in one day and so forth. At times, it made me feel like ‘stamping’ their foreheads with the book rubber stamps. However, I realize that it’s not all their fault as librarianship wasn’t a glamorous job compared to doctors, pilots, engineers etc. Furthermore, back then, there was not much publicity about this profession.
Source: https://flic.kr/p/eAcKKB
I had to explain to them that some of my major tasks back then revolved around these activities:
We were also made to
Fast forward 20 years, my responsibilities have evolved. Not all have changed though. I still handle questions coming in from emails/phone calls/in person. Sometimes, I do conduct training sessions for faculty members, students and researchers. I shall elaborate these changes in my upcoming posts.
Rain D Librarian 