Journal ArticleDuring my sabbatical time from mid-September 2007 to mid-March 2008, I worked as a volunteer  librarian at Addis Ababa University (AAU) in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies Library (IESL) on a  collection development project in Ethiopia

Paiva, Marie Clare P.

English

The University of Utah: J. Willard Marriott Digital Library

INFORMED LIBRARIAN ONLINE - Guest Forum http://www.informedlibrarian.com/guestForum.cfm?FILE=gf0809.html...1 of 2 9/4/2008 1:38 PMI nform ed Librarian Online - -  Guest  Forum  - -  w w w .inform edlibrarian.com  Adventures in an Ethiopian Libraryby Marie Paiva During m y sabbat ical t im e from  m id-Septem ber 2007 to m id-March 2008, I  worked as a volunteerlibrar ian at  Addis Ababa University (AAU)  in the I nst itute of Ethiopian Studies Library ( I ESL)  on acollect ion developm ent  project  in Ethiopia.Background:  From  contacts m ade over the years, I  was invited to work at  I ESL as they had received agrant  for new acquisit ions. Their focus is on Horn of Afr ica m aterials.  The I nst itute of Ethiopian Studiesbuilding is located in Ras Makonen Hall and houses a m useum  and library. The cam pus com pound servedas form er Em peror Haile Selassie’s palace in the 1950s.   My office contained a com puter and printer with a huge window opening to flowers and birds. An officephone in the hall was padlocked. Since m obile phones are now readily available there, I  purchased oneand used that  during m y stay for all com m unicat ion. I  com m uted to work each day via two m inibuses leaving m y studio apartm ent  at  7: 15am . Since theshortest  t im e it  took was 45 m inutes and the longest  was 2.5 hours, I  didn’t  schedule any appointm entsbefore 9am . Addis Ababa is a city full of t raffic congest ion, few t raffic lights, heavy pollut ion, potholes ,donkeys, st ray cat t le, dogs, pedest r ians, sidewalk vendors with their  colorful displays, big shops, lit t leshops, m arkets, offices, apartm ents, houses, and about  10 m illion inhabitants. Elect r icity existed am idst  brownouts. The outage would last  from  several m inutes to half a day. I nternetaccess is difficult  in Ethiopia with slow I nternet  connect ivity for only two hours, usually in the m ornings.The Ethiopian governm ent  is the only I nternet  service provider and it  is censored. Water was another kindof problem . Public bathroom s are scarce in this count ry, but  a few are scat tered around on cam pus. The first  thing I  did every m orning was check m y em ail to m ake sure it  was working. Here is a sam ple of afew days of m y week:Monday, February 4:   A technician cam e to help m e with som e com puter difficult ies. He sorted things outafter an hour.  Later, I  m et  two colleagues for coffee at  a cam pus café. I  returned to review som eUniversity of Utah library databases to find book reviews in the hum anit ies and social sciences. Aroundnoon I  headed to the University Staff Lounge for lunch. I  picked up a plate of Ethiopian food- injera andwot   (bread and stew) . We sat  at  com m unal tables for our m eal. I  went  back to the office but  the I nternetwas no longer available. I  m ade som e phone calls and prepared a list  of databases, and then visited them ain library (Kennedy)  to see the Head of Acquisit ions. She is in charge of the database program  at  AAU.There are about  20 databases which are m ost ly donated through a non-governm ental organizat ion. Thislibrar ian wanted feedback for acquir ing new databases for which AAU pays 2%  of the chargesTuesday, February 5:  My two colleagues com e to m y office for Database Review.  I  had been involvedwith reviewing databases at  the University of Utah library and our goal was to exam ine each database andaccess with colleagues. Today, we had a good discussion of what  worked even though the connect ionswere slow. I  incorporated Boolean searching, t runcat ion and nest ing when needed. That  afternoon, I  m etwith m y office neighbor, a history professor, to int roduce the AAU databases.Wednesday, February 6:   After reading som e art icles on the I nternet , I  went  upstairs to the acquisit ionsm eet ing. We had m any issues to discuss such as theft , ordering m aterials, and finding out  of pr int  dealersfor the library. I n the afternoon I  went  to the Periodicals Library to look for a reel of m icrofilm  (LondonTim es) . They had no m icrofilm  reader there so I  brought  it  back to our library to read for a pat ron. At4: 30pm  we started our Society of Fr iends of the I nst itute of Ethiopian Studies (SOFI ES)  m eet ing. Plans forthe new library were discussed along with issues such as budget  and m useum  acquisit ions. At  6pm  Iat tended the SOFI ES lecture which was about  the city of Gondar.Thursday, February 7:  I  t r ied to check m y em ail but  the I nternet  was not  working. I  m et  a colleague tovisit  the Nat ional Library of Ethiopia. We would like to cooperate with them  on various issues such as theftand inter library loan. We took a bus, m inibus and walked to m ake our appointm ent . The t raveling took  anINFORMED LIBRARIAN ONLINE - Guest Forum http://www.informedlibrarian.com/guestForum.cfm?FILE=gf0809.html...2 of 2 9/4/2008 1:38 PMhour. We m et  with the Director and were given a tour of their  new facilit ies. She agreed to work with theI ESL in the near future. I n the afternoon, a librar ian from  the Kennedy Library cam e to see m e for help inedit ing a docum ent . I  went  upstairs to ret r ieve m y m ail and m essages from  the office. I  also went  outsidethe AAU to m ake som e photocopies (cheaper and faster than at  the library) .Fr iday, February 8:  Em ail worked!  Then I  got  ready for Database Review with m y colleagues. After theyarr ived the power went  off. We decided to have coffee but  the power stayed off for four hours. I  went  tothe library office to check m y m ail and m essages.  I  had a br ief m eet ing with the I ESL librar ian. I n theafternoon I  went  to the Housing Adm inist rat ion to talk to them  about  the water leak which was notresolved. Later, I  had an appointm ent  with a librar ian about  the card catalog which needed som e filingat tent ion. We then worked out  a t raining plan for the staff.Sum m ary:  I t  was m arvelous seeing what  r ich collect ions the I ESL had which included som e dedicatedstaff. Ret r ieving book reviews, t rying to find scholar ly m aterials from  publishers, edit ing docum ents andcont r ibut ing to the acquisit ions m eet ings went  well in spite of the weak infrast ructure. The project  inEthiopia covered a variety of tasks and I  felt  as though I  just  got  started when m y sabbat ical abroad wasover. I  look forward to cont inuing to work with I ESL.Copyright  2 0 0 8  by Marie Paiva.About  the Author:Marie Paiva works at  the University of Utah's Marr iot t  Library in Salt  Lake City. Her responsibilit ies includereference, collect ion developm ent , and library inst ruct ion. Marie’s internat ional involvem ent  has taken herto the Zim babwe I nternat ional Book Fair, working as a Library Fellow in Ethiopia, at tending som e I FLAm eet ings and belonging to ALA’s I nternat ional Relat ions Round Table. She can be contacted atm arie.paiva@utah.edu

Adventures in an Ethiopian library

https://collections.lib.utah.edu/dl_files/0f/66/0f66f0ae319958e9117a7860a4af2878683492cc.pdf

Adventures in an Ethiopian library

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