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ALIA 2001 TAFE libraries conferenceThe expatriate librarian : skills that travel
Neil Kilah Presenter: Neil Kilah BiographyAfter a varied career in Urban Planning and the University of Life (international backpacking faculty) Neil Kilah discovered his spiritual home in the library profession in the mid nineties. He came to work as supervisor (manager) of the Integrated Learning Centre at the Sharjah Women's College in November, 2000 after a career of six years as a Liaison Librarian at Southbank Institute of TAFE, Queensland, Australia. Particular interests in librarianship are marketing, reference and customer service excellence and online delivery of information and learning. Future career moves will most probably involve expatriate positions in a variety of countries. AbstractMany Australian vocational education librarian and library technicians are applying for and gaining positions overseas. This paper will outline the challenges and rewards of applying skills gained in the tough TAFE world to the sometimes even tougher world of foreign employment. Concentrating on the Middle East, topics to be examined include bringing your skills to a new environment, management styles, the challenge of librarianship when English is the second language, the culturally sensitive librarian, learning the rules and the expatriate lifestyle. Given the changing nature of TAFE library clients as more non-native speakers of English enrol and vocational education becomes attractive to a wider variety of cultural and ethnic groups, the foreign library seems less a contrast. Valuable lessons from the expatriate experience that can be applied in the Australian TAFE environment will be discussed. Finally, practical advice on seeking and gaining expatriate positions will be discussed. Resources will be distributed to aid library staff considering a move or just interested in the lessons to be drawn from the experience of working in a foreign country. IntroductionThe first objective of this paper is to discuss the application of librarian and library technician skills to the library in a foreign country, and often, very foreign culture. The Second objective is to discuss the organizational culture of educational institutions in foreign countries and some of the work practice adjustments that may need to be made. This discussion will be based largely on the personal experiences and observations of the author in living in the United Arab Emirates. Finally, the paper will discuss the post expatriate experience and how the skills acquired can be applied in a TAFE or other Australian academic library setting. Skills That TravelThe expatriate work experience varies vastly according to country, culture, type and level of library, type of institution, level of resources, fellow staff, communications links, professional support and many other factors. Working in a rural institution in a developing country in Africa or Asia is going to be vastly different from the comfortable and familiar setting of, say, an academic library in the United Kingdom. This paper will discuss the experience in the Middle East and particularly the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Middle East is a diverse place with a range of countries in different stages of economic and educational development. What most people think of, apart from the tragedy of the conflict in Israel and Palestine, is the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. For library staff seeking an overseas posting this is very much the way to think as well. The majority of Gulf States (United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait) and Saudi Arabia have, at vocational education level and above, adopted and adapted a western style education system. Usually the language of education is English and often there is a focus on producing graduates with an international outlook and equipped with transferable skills. This education system requires the support of libraries and learning centres for its existence. There is only one university in the Middle East offering any sort of library education programs - a certificate and associate of arts in Library and Information Science are offered at the Lebanese American University. Kuwait University also has offered an undergraduate degree in Library and Information Studies but this is no longer available. Sharjah Women's College will be offering the Middle East's first program in Library Technician Studies in January 2002. So, there is not much local competition and expatriate library staff from a wide range of English speaking countries but mainly Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the United States will be required into the foreseeable future. Having said this there is a policy in most institutions for Arabisation or in the case of the UAE, Emiratisation of assistant level positions and encouragement for nationals to take up paraprofessional positions and undertake a library education by distance learning whilst working. As a generalization you can be confident that the range of skills you use in your current position will be transferable to a Middle East and particularly a Gulf of Saudi Arabian academic library. Dewey and LOC are just the same as at home. The successful expatriate library staffer will recognize early the local variations on the standard skills and adapt quickly and enthusiastically. The learning curve is steep but you will have a whole reservoir of experience and knowledge to fall back on. All the adaptations in skills can't be listed here (some the author hasn't discovered yet), but a few major ones can be examined. Collection Development The educational background of students in much of the Middle East is much less developed than in a TAFE setting. Their first language is most likely to be Arabic and they generally have rudimentary or nil English language skills. In the early years of all courses there is a heavy emphasis on developing English skills and a large part of the collection development budget is spent on English learning and teaching resources. The scope you may be used to in purchasing a wide range of resources for vocational courses is narrowed by this fact. The size of acquisitions budgets, at least in the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in the UAE is probably more generous than what you will have been used to, so there is a balancing factor. Acquisitions have to be educationally appropriate in terms of language and technical level and origin (English edition/US edition etc..) but the skills you have in liaising with faculty and analyzing a curriculum will stand you in good stead. More importantly acquisitions have to be culturally appropriate. The degree of social and religious conservatism varies across the Middle East and indeed across countries. Some emirates in the UAE are more conservative than others. What you decide to put on the shelf or network for any student to access whether it be a book, magazine, video or piece of software must be carefully evaluated in terms of its appropriateness for the local community and the institution. All videos that enter the UAE are currently reviewed by a Censorship authority and edited, if required, or rejected. With DVDs being unable to be edited they are usually either passed or rejected. There is a growing supply of UAE versions of most popular DVD titles from local suppliers. However a classification stamp approval from the national Censorship authority is not good enough. Standards of appropriateness vary so material that may be in any way questionable must be vetted at the college level before display. Interestingly the existence of the Censorship authority is under review and most likely censorship and classification will be done on a regional level. This will have implications for ensuring material meets local community standards. Taking a wider view of collection development to include internet and online resources the same rules apply. The internet access students have may be filtered for a wider range keywords than the usual pornographic and offensive sites common in some Australian libraries. The internet access policy in the HCT, in keeping with the global focus of the education provided, is to have largely open internet access with minimal filtering. The HCT access is, in fact, much more liberal than that provided by the state run, and only, ISP in the country. You can access more at work than home. If you have strongly held liberal views about censorship and have a mission to introduce students to the unexpurgated world of information this is unlikely to be the place for you. If, however, you recognize western liberal values are not the only legitimate values in the world and that an education which opens up the world to students for the first time does not have to insult or aggressively challenge the culture practices, social mores and religious beliefs of the community it serves then you will adapt quickly. You can be comforted by the fact that your relationship with the students, the respect you show for them, the subtle social engineering you may do without even realizing it (for example all male staff at SWC treat all female students and staff with the utmost courtesy - opening a door for a student - an alternative form of male behaviour she may not be used to - will have a bigger positive impact than an uncensored and perhaps religiously offensive photograph in an international magazine will ever have), the world of information you open them up to, and the support you provide for their globally focused education will equip them to become forward (which way forward is a question for the country) thinking and influential members of their society. It's quite a responsibility and a challenge, but an exciting one. A technical aspect of collection development that is frustrating but often beyond control is the time it takes to have overseas resources delivered and on the shelf. Timelines for books can extend to one year from order to shelf. Some of this has to do with the geographical position of the Middle East and particularly the Gulf, the complex financial regulations involved in ordering via local suppliers, the institutional bureaucracy and no doubt the inefficiency of the international suppliers. If you usually get it next day you need to lower your expectations. Having said this, you will soon learn the alternative sources - Amazon and its clones deliver quite quickly and there are some relatively good local bookshops that carry a decent range, although you may not think so if you compare it to your present situation. Be prepared to use your credit card and wait for reimbursement (if you are ordering out of the budgetary period you may have to wait months). This is not compulsory of course, it depends on how far you want to take customer service and become a hero of the faculty. At Sharjah Women's College (SWC) all avenues are exhausted before saying it can't be bought. The final collection development issue is to do with Arabic resources. Though the language of education is English, Arabic may be taught as a subject or some courses may be delivered in Arabic (for example Sharia - Islamic Law). Hopefully there will be an Arabic speaking library colleague who can handle selection and maybe cataloguing. If not, you may need to leave selection and even acquisitions to faculty who are Arabic speakers. In the SWC, only about 12% of the collection is in Arabic as Arabic as a language is only taught in the foundation years. Selection and acquisition is handled by the principle Arabic teacher. The library allocates a budget and the teacher goes to an Arabic bookstore to select. Cataloguing is done by two Emirati assistants. Technical Services Not much to adapt to here. Cataloguing, inter college loans, circulation etc..will be familiar with a few local variations. The Library systems used are generally one of the proprietary products used around the world - Dynix, Inopac, Horizon etc..The good ones will have a bilingual interface. Reference and Customer Service These two topics are included together because in the Middle Eastern library setting they are one. The major adaptation that needs to be made to the reference and customer service skills you have is, again, demonstrating cultural appropriateness and cultural sensitivity. The skills you no doubt already have in providing services and reference solutions that are precise in terms of educational level, complexity, format and range of choice will be readily applicable. Of more importance than the technical skills are the interpersonal and customer service skills developed. Most students will have had no exposure to or experience of libraries or the concept of trained professionals being available to help them. Students are instructed through library orientation and information literacy classes that this service is available, but how it is available and delivered is a much more important factor. Rather than making generalizations, the example of how Information Desk services are delivered at SWC will give an idea of one college's approach. The approach to staffing the Integrated Leaning Centre (ILC) has been to multiskill everyone to a high level of competence in the whole range of ILC functions but also to have experts on tap. There is a central Information Desk where students can be confident of getting sound advice on the entire range of reference questions, fixes for problems they are having with the ILC IT resources or more general advice on using software packages, direction as to the use of Independent Learning resources and answers to many general questions about the campus. Where the staff member doesn't know they direct the student to the appropriate person or resource and provide everything from a phone for them to make an appointment with the appropriate person to a security guard to take them (particularly the very new and disorientated students) to the right place. The key words in the ILC are "culturally appropriate customer service and value added learning experiences". The first of these is achieved by being sensitive to the background of the students and by placing greater stress on the skills all library staff should have in dealing with clients. The staff emphasize open body language, attentiveness, active listening, language at the appropriate level and patience. Arab culture places a great deal of emphasis on interpersonal and social relations. The degree of social maturity and sensitivity of a student has often nothing to do with her educational background. Students are very sensitive to nuances of behaviour and particularly to words, tones of voice and attitudes that indicate indifference, impatience, condescension or ridicule. Face is very important in Arab culture and, though they may not indicate it overtly at the time, loss of face may alienate that student, lead to a negative reputation for staff amongst students or a complaint to those in higher authority. The reference interview can be a very involved and fascinating process with much reassurance of the student, cultural sensitivity being demonstrated and clarification of real needs taking place. The second is achieved through making every, and it is stressed every, Information Desk enquiry a learning experience for the student. Staff don't just provide a solution at one point in time they use it as an opportunity to instruct, to inform of the process they are following and to link the student with tools (such as online tutorials) which will aid them in being more aware of the solutions next time they face this particular question, need or problem. The goal is that the student exits the encounter more empowered to use the ILC independently and with a skill or knowledge they didn't previously have. It's hard work and sometimes requires making an appointment with a student for follow up at less busy times but it is being achieved. It's a big step for a student unfamiliar with libraries, independent learning, computers and often, expatriates, to ask for assistance. The goal of the ILC staff is that they will be confident of doing it again when necessary and that they will tell their friends. Word of mouth is still the best advertisement. English as Second LanguageMany TAFE Institutes have a substantial number of international students for whom English is not their first language. The adaptation to be made for the expatriate library staff member in non English speaking countries is to extrapolate this to a situation where, for all students, English is a second language and where new students have only rudimentary English skills at best. The same strategies used with international TAFE students apply. Using words, pace of delivery, level of paraphrasing and repeating and locally relevant analogies at the linguistically appropriate level will help a great deal. Other strategies are to use students with more advanced English skills to help out (most are delighted to do so) and to look at the original copy of what a teacher may have asked the student to do. No doubt you have others. Please email them to me if you would like to share. Learning a few basic words and helpful expressions in Arabic or whatever the first language is (it may have to be Yorkshire dialect if you get a job in Leeds and expect everyone to speak BBC English!) will help a great deal, even if only to reassure the student you are trying every strategy you know. The respect you show by learning some of the student's first language will raise you in their esteem no end. That is all the skills to be covered. No doubt you can think of others - please ask during the question period. Organizational CultureOne of the biggest adaptations which may need to be made is to the work culture and management and decision making styles of organization. Of course cultures and styles vary with the organization and individual managers but a few generalizations can be made. Reference is again made to the HCT. Most importantly, performance is paramount. There are rigorous systems of performance appraisal for all staff at all levels. The system in the HCT is very generous in terms of conditions, salary, benefits and support. It is also a compassionate system and makes allowance for the fact expatriate staff have issues beside work to deal with. The return expected is performance at the highest level. Don't apply if you want a quiet life with a big salary.
Performance not only applies to strictly technical aspects of a job, but also the factors mentioned above - demonstrated cultural sensitivity, or more likely demonstrated cultural insensitivity, and adaptation to the interpersonal and educational demands of the students.
There is no industrial relations structure in the UAE, and most likely none in any country of the Gulf. Dismissal can be swift and for a variety of reasons that may not apply in Australia- certainly not in the public sector. There is some appeal via the HCT system but decisions are generally final. All staff have a probationary period and though not rampant, canceling of contracts after this period occurs every year. Growth, change and innovation are constant companions. These are not expected only to be generated from above but to come from each staff member. Change can be tiring but stimulating. At the SWC there is a blue sky attitude to innovation. Any idea for improvement will get a hearing at the highest levels. The difference is that while many a good idea falters in the harsh light of financial reality in TAFE or must wait its turn to be implemented (and may drop off the agenda), at SWC sound, innovative ideas will often receive financial backing and be implemented at lightning speed. Work culture, in terms of collaboration between staff is generally very productive and enjoyable. Staff are recruited from all over the world. If you wish to experience real multiculturalism on a professional , cultural and personal friendship level a Middle Eastern educational institution with a high expatriate population is the place to do it. Taking the SWC as an example, a far from comprehensive list of nationalities includes Indians, Pakistanis, Egyptians, English, Irish (both Eire and Ulster), Canadians, Palestinians, Syrians, Jordanians, South Africans, Sudanese, Australians (lots), New Zealanders, Lebanese, Sri Lankans, Americans, Iranians, Ugandans and of course, a growing number of Emiratis at all levels. Staff often socialize outside of work, although, as they live across the emirate in private accommodation and not in compounds as is common in many other Gulf States, privacy is easy to maintain.
A final word on management style. Styles vary with the manager of course. Libraries are often havens of participative management and this is true at least in the SWC ILC. LifestyleThe information workshop to follow this session will expand on the issues of lifestyle in the UAE. If you cannot attend, ask in the question period at the end of this session. There are a number of websites listed in the references that give good information on the expatriate lifestyle. Contact the author by email if you would like to know more. The Post Expatriate Experience : Coming HomeHaving completed a contract or many contracts as an expatriate library staffer in the Middle East or elsewhere what will you have gained and where do you fit in. The answer depends very much on personality and professional ambitions. First, you may not want to go back to Australia. The salary, the benefits, the professional challenge, the lifestyle, may set you off on another expatriate experience in a different culture and country. Like many ESL teachers you may wish to keep traveling until retirement (hopefully early). You may wish to change library jobs. There is a market for librarians in international schools all over the world that is worth exploring if that is a direction that interests you. Assuming you do return to TAFE, how will you be different, perhaps better, than before you left? Some of the changes may include :
SummaryBeing an expatriate librarian or technician is not always easy. It requires an open mind and professional and personal flexibility. It is not for all and should not be entered into only because of the salary scale and benefits. It can be exciting, professionally and personally rewarding, educative and very enjoyable. It is hoped this paper has clarified some issues for those contemplating it. Neil Kilah (please remove '.nospam' from address) ReferencesPoe, A.C., 2000, Destination Everywhere, HRMagazine, v45 i10, pp 67-74. Solomon, C.M., 1998, Women expats : shattering the myths, Workforce, v77 n5, pp S10-15. Fitzgerald-Turner, B., 1997, Myths of expatriate life, HRMagazine, v42 n6, pp65-72. Expatriate Library Job Links http://www.bubl.ac.uk/news/employment.htm - no longer working. http://www.hct.ac.ae/employment/library_sci.html - no longer working. General Expatiate Links http://www.expatsh.com/atoz/E/Expat Links/Global Expat Links.htm - no longer working. http://www.middleeastexpatonline.com/
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