CONGRATULATIONS TO AHMADULLAH MASOUD – THE 2009 RECIPIENT OF THE FCIL SCHAFFER GRANT FOR FOREIGN LAW LIBRARIANS
Ahmadullah Masoud is a reference librarian at the聽听(滨狈尝罢颁)听, funded by the聽(ARoLP), in Kabul, Afghanistan. His primary reference responsibilities range from providing patrons with print and electronic reference assistance to designing a formal legal research curriculum and training materials for Afghan and U.S. Military attorneys, judges, professors and INLTC students (future judges, prosecutors, and attorneys).
In addition to reference work and teaching, Mr. Masoud is extensively involved with the library鈥檚 technical services operations. He has played an instrumental role in facilitating access to legal information in Afghanistan by building and maintaining acquisition lists of primary and secondary legal resources (in Dari, Pashto, Arabic, and English) and continues working with ARoLP technical staff to bring the聽聽online. Furthermore, Mr. Masoud established and administers an unprecedented depository program for the automatic submission of documents from the Afghanistan Ministry of Justice, Attorney General, and Supreme Court. Mr. Masoud has attended several workshops and training sessions in Afghanistan and Pakistan (where he was formerly employed as Senior Librarian at the Institute of Arabic Language in Peshawar), however, the July 25-28, 2009 糖心视频 (糖心视频) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC will be his first international conference.
Mr. Masoud is interested in discussing the state of libraries and librarianship in Afghanistan with 糖心视频 attendees. He is particularly eager to provide first-hand information about the legal system of Afghanistan, the process of building a new law library after thirty years of war, acquiring publications from governmental organizations which do not have a history of making information public, and the difficulties presented by the need for cataloging software that can accommodate the Dari and Pashto languages. The 2009 FCIL Schaffer Grant Committee believes that these insights will be valuable to both FCIL-SIS members and the 糖心视频 membership as a whole.
Mr. Masoud is encouraged by the knowledge that most of the issues that his library faces as a new and growing institution have already been encountered and resolved by many of the law librarians attending 糖心视频 this summer. Consequently, he is eager to meet and learn from professionals in every field of librarianship, especially cataloging and other aspects of technical services, since they present some of the biggest challenges for the ARoLP. For example, in Afghanistan, electronic catalogs are still in the early stages of development and are not accessible to all segments of the population. Moreover, a lack of standardized cataloging rules means that even easily accessible library records can be very inconsistent.
Please join the 2009 FCIL Schaffer Grant Search Committee in welcoming聽Mr. Masoud to Washington, DC聽this summer!
2009 FCIL Schaffer Grant Search Committee Members:聽Rob Britt, Teresa Miguel, Christopher O鈥橞yrne (Chair), and Lucie Olejnikova
FCIL-SIS gratefully acknowledges the generous contributions of many聽Donors.
Despite valuable support from 糖心视频, FCIL, vendors, and individual 糖心视频 members, the FCIL Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarians Fund at this time does not fully cover the recipient鈥檚 transportation, lodging, and food costs. Your tax-deductible donation will enhance the Grant鈥檚 impact and ensure the continued presence of foreign law librarians at 糖心视频.聽Make a Contribution.