Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division National Search for New Chief
The Library of Congress seeks new leadership to direct the African and Middle Eastern Division. This is a unique opportunity to exercise imagination, vision, and energy and to establish new standards for service and research support on the regions covered by the African, Hebraic and Near Eastern sections. The new chief will bring a wealth of knowledge of contemporary issues and their historic roots and employ them to lead the division to more fully document the complexity of these regions. This leader will have significant understanding of the transformation of information resources as a result of digital technology and will pursue new connections to libraries and institutions in the regions. Recognizing the Library's mission of support for scholarship, the new leader will act with flexibility and creativity in enhancing service to the public. The new division chief has an opportunity to direct one of the most significant national resources providing knowledge of this complex region at a time of enormous historical significance and unprecedented access to information, both from within and about the countries and cultures. African and Middle Eastern Division - Opportunity The Library of Congress offers an exceptional opportunity for forwarding the work of the premier African, Hebraic and Near Eastern library program for the nation. The Chief is the Library's principal authority in matters dealing with the countries, languages, and regions covered by the Division. The Library seeks a person with broad and deep knowledge of the areas and understanding of librarianship and research trends in the context of global forces. This person is one who can work with a network of contacts among the international and national scholarly communities that study Africa, Hebraica and the Near East. The Library seeks a leader who can take advantage of digital opportunities to develop new acquisitions pathways and to make one of the most comprehensive collections in the world even more accessible. This individual will take full advantage of the fertile environment the nation's capital provides for creative exchange with other federal and international organizations, NGOs, embassies, the scholarly community and others. The African and Middle Eastern Division chief will provide leadership to: * develop the excellent collections related to the region; * extend expert research service and reference assistance in both digital and traditional modes; * work closely with overseas offices of the Library of Congress in Nairobi, Cairo and Islamabad, which acquire materials in the regions; * collaborate with Special Collections who hold special format materials including maps, films, photographs, and sound recordings; * develop collaborative projects with organizations and institutions at the national and international levels; * promote linkages among the Division's three sections and across a complex institution; * secure support to supplement federal appropriations through external partnerships and development activities; * develop special events and publications in order to publicize resources and services; * expand international relations for African, Hebraic, and Middle Eastern librarianship, scholarship, and networks; * serve a broad constituency, including the Congress and federal agencies, the academic community, embassies, and the general public. African and Middle Eastern Division - Background The Division has in its custody a comprehensive collection of over 570,000 items from more than 70 countries, their languages and vernaculars. The Near East Section has materials in more than 40 languages, including Arabic (with approximately 130,000 volumes), Persian, Turkish, non-Cyrillic Central Asian languages, Armenian, and Georgian. The Hebraic Section collections contain some 160,000 volumes in Hebrew and related languages, including Yiddish, Ladino, Syriac, and the languages of Ethiopia. Although the African Section has no formal custodial responsibilities, it maintains a pamphlet collection of more than 25,000 items. African materials written in roman script are held primarily in the general collection, but are accessed through specialists in the Division. In addition, the Library's general collections and databases possess an enormous store of roman script information about the regions. This is a Senior-level position with pay beginning at approximately $107,000. The application process is expected to open in Summer 2005. For more information about this position, contact: Robert Worden Special Assistant, Collections and Services The Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20540-4600 (202) 707-3909 [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information about the Library of Congress and the African and Middle Eastern Division, consult: www.loc.gov/rr/amed/ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
