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[log in to unmask]" type="cite">Best wishes,I hope and I trust that you shall be able to navigate the MELCom UK in those choppy waters and I am looking forward to attending this lecture and meet all the colleagues who will be able to attend.It would be great though if we could rekindle the connection with Middle Eastern librarians within the hosting institutions in order to depend less from the BRISMES in terms of practical organisation, but we should be careful in doing so, as disengaging the MELCOM UK from the BRISMES conference altogether might cost us the attendance of academics to the Pearson Memorial Lecture.Dear Yasmin and Maria-Luisa,I should be able to attend the meeting.
In principle, I agree with the remarks made by Geoffrey, Peter and Ursula, and would be happy to see that new development revised, as indeed, many of us have to either no subventions whatsoever while other have to convince reluctant employers...If this fee was to stay, maybe you could introduce a two-tiered system, where professionals getting subventions from their employers would pay a different (more important) fee than those not benefiting from the support of an employer? Could you by the way provide receipts for those of us who might be able to reclaim this fee from their employer?
On the other side, I'd like to acknowledge your efforts at raising the profile of the Pearson lecture & MELCOM UK (with much success both last year in Dublin, enhanced with wonderful visits to the libraries of Chester Beatty, the Archbishop Marsh ad the Trinity College, and the year before at LSE in London). This obviously cannot come without introducing a few changes. It might be that paying a fee would be the only way to maintain and develop our Summer MELCOM UK meeting, while keeping the connection with the academics working on the Middle East.
We could contemplate focusing our Winter meeting on collaboration among Middle Eastern librarians/book professionals, and make our Summer Meeting a more "open" session where we can mingle with the academic world, and attract their attention to the importance of the collections developed by their librarians... Since one of the issues raised during the MELCom International in Istanbul this year was the rapidly depleting stock of professional librarians specialised in Middle Eastern studies, this would be an opportunity to raise the profile of our profession... Well, this is just an idea from a very tired brain, so my apologies if I am only stating the obvious.
Dominique
--
Dominique Akhoun-Schwarb
Subject Librarian (Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica)
Directorate of Library and Information Services
SOAS, University of LondonThornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/subjects/me/
Tel. +44 (0)207 898 4152
Email: [log in to unmask]
On 3 June 2014 10:38, Yasmin Faghihi <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Dear Ursula
many thanks for these comments. I am grateful for receiving them. I have started the contact with BRISMES a long time in advance but communication was slow.
For the past few days, however I am in constant discussion with them to try and agree on them waiving the fees after all.
I do agree that we do not really have much in common with BRISMES any longer and that it complicates matter much more than we benefit from their organisation of logistics and dissemination. However, if we are making an effort to have a speaker from abroad relying on MELCOM members to attend, I am faced with a further challenge.
So far I have with three exceptions only received apologies. My only hope is that other BRISMES conference participants will attend Uli's lecture, which I had considered a highlight of a MELCOM UK event.
On another note, I was hoping that a concession of perhaps and extra £10 expense would not have had such an impact. We always go for lunch which costs about £15 in any case which we would be receiving for free this time plus a coffee or tea. BRISMES is a self supported conference, where even speakers pay their day rates. In some cases like LSE and Exeter the conference had additional funding, of which we silently benefited. This is not the case in Brighton this year and was not the case last year.
I am continuing the discussions, but as MELCOM UK we clearly need to consider drastic changes in the future, for which I am encouraging you to contribute with ideas and inspirations.
Best wishes
Yasmin
On 03/06/2014 10:06, Sims-Williams, Ursula wrote:
Dear Yasmin and Maria-Luisa,
I very much regret not being able to come to the MELCOM meeting, and in particular to hear Ulrich Marzoph's lecture. However, I wanted to add to Geoffrey and Paul's responses to say that I was dismayed to see that we would be obliged to pay £25 in order to attend. This is a quite new departure for MELCOM and one which I think should be discouraged, coming now at a time when both institutions and individuals are feeling the pinch!
If you were thinking that SAALG and NCOLR (maybe other library groups too) make nominal charges, we should bear in mind that in those cases, unlike MELCOM, a whole day of lectures is arranged, especially designed for the attendees. A small fee for a day conference seems very reasonable, to cover speakers' travel expenses and a sandwich lunch, but the offer of participating in breakfast and sessions on The Middle East in Global Perspective I and II is a nonsense for MELCOM members who are not attending the whole conference and who have to travel to Brighton during peak hours.
Could we not always in future arrange MELCOM meetings through libraries? Was the University unwilling to host a meeting for us? They have relevant collections so it would be quite logical to have met there. Forgive me if you already explored these possibilities, I am the first to admit I know nothing about the background!
I hope, despite this, that the meeting and the lecture in particular, go well. However, I think the whole question of finance needs revisiting,
Ursula
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Think before you print
--
Yasmin Faghihi
Head of Near and Middle Eastern Department
Manuscripts and Printed Collections
Cambridge University Library
West Road
CB3 9DR UK
Tel.: +44 1223 764739
Email: [log in to unmask]
-- Yasmin Faghihi Head of Near and Middle Eastern Department Manuscripts and Printed Collections Cambridge University Library West Road CB3 9DR UK Tel.: +44 1223 764739 Email: [log in to unmask]