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Simmons GSLIS is pleased to congratulate two Iraqi doctoral students on the successful defense of their dissertations last week. The defenses were attended by many faculty, staff, students and friends. Dr. Gerald Benoit, Associate Professor at Simmons College GSLIS, served as the chair of the doctoral defense committee and acted as advisor to both Iraqi candidates throughout the completion of their dissertations. Dr. Benoit was joined by committee members Dean and Professor Michele Cloonan, Professor Candy Schwartz, and Dr. Harvey Varnet of University of South Carolina-Beaufort who acted as the outside committee member. 

Dr. Abdulateef Khairi, previously a faculty member at Al-Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad, defended his dissertation first and gave an overview of his research on developing a model of educational academic library websites in Iraq. Through the data he collected on library services offered on Iraqi academic library websites compared with the core service and feature components of international academic library websites which have been identified in the professional literature, Dr. Khairi was able to develop a model for online information services that will move Iraqi libraries into the 21st century. He hopes that through greater cooperation between LIS professionals in Iraq and higher standards for LIS education and training, this model will lead to a greater unified move towards the future of LIS in Iraq, and will highlight the importance of digital services for library users.

The second candidate provided an overview of his research on digital libraries. He placed specific emphasis on what the implementation of digital preservation could mean for the LIS profession and library users in Iraq as well as the obstacles that the profession currently faces in providing digital access. From the data he collected both in the U.S. and in Iraq, he created a model for defining and implementing digital libraries with the hope that education and training in this field will help preserve Iraq's cultural heritage as it rebuilds its educational and cultural institutions.

Both candidates, expressed the utmost concern for preserving Iraqi cultural heritage through digital libraries and online library services and are equally optimistic that their research will lead to greater strides towards achieving higher standards for information services in general. They joined the GSLIS community in January 2008. For more information about Simmons GSLIS and its connection with Iraqi librarians, please see: http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/about/initiatives/international.php#iraq.

The nationally top ten ranked Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science is one of the oldest and largest library and information science programs in the nation. The School is committed to excellence in instruction and a leadership role within the local, regional, national and international community of library and information science.