Middle East Librarians Association MELA

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Middle East Librarians Association (MELA)

• November 19-22, 2005
• Washington, D.C.
• Christine Dykgraaf

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MELA with MESA

• MELA meets in conjunction with the larger MESA
  (Middle East Studies Association) Annual
  Conference
• MESA formed in 1966 with 50 founding members, and
  now has over 2,600
• A private, non-profit, non-political learned
  society that brings together scholars, educators
  and those interested in the study of the region
  from all over the world.
• Headquarters in Tucson
• Annual student dues are 40/year
• Publications are IJMES and MESA Bulletin

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MELA History

• Founded in in 1972/3, 2005 was 34th meeting
• First MELANotes published in 1973
• More than 180 members, almost all are practicing
  M. E. Librarians, specialists, and a handful of
  vendors
• MELA website contains MELANotes, so far, back to
  1997
• Listserves now serve as communication links
• Membership dues 30/year
• Committees always expanding

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MELA Committees

• Committee on the Bylaws
• Cataloging Committee
• Committee on Education
• Reference and Research Committee
• Committee on Iraqi Libraries
• Committee on Legal Affairs
• Prize Award Committees
• George Atiyeh Prize (library student)
• David H. Partingtion Award (Librarian)

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Related Committees or Commitments

• OCLC
• Library of Congress
• MEMP (M. E. Microform Project)
• Iraqi Library Initiative
• Electronic Projects
• OACIS
• Photo digitization efforts

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Joint Meetings Sometimes

• 2005 Joint Meeting with other organizations LC,
  American Academy of Religion, Society of American
  Archivists, American Oriental Society, etc.
• Joint programs and concerns with AAMES (Asia
  Africa and the Middle East Section) of ALA/ACRL
• Cooperation on initiatives such as microfilming,
  digitilization, and preservation of North
  African, Asian, and Southwestern Asian (Afghan
  Pakistan, etc.) ex. Cooperative Africana
  Microform Project

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Resources

• MESA http//mesa.wns.ccit.arizona.edu/
• MELA http//www.mela.us/
• MELA Notes http//www.lib.umich.edu/area/Near.East
  /MELANotesIntro.html
• Area Librarianship http//www.indiana.edu/arealib
  s/