Extended-Consultant-Mousl Library Development

OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Education Sector (ED)

Duty Station: Nineveh

Job Family: Education

Type of contract : Non Staff

Duration of contract : 5 months

Recruitment open to : External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : Extended-27.07.2023

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

Background and Objective

The Mosul University library was extensively damaged during the conflict with ISIL/Da’esh. The space once housed more than one million books, periodicals, manuscripts and government publications from as early as the 1920s. As a house of learning and knowledge at the center of the University, the Library was among the first institutions targeted by ISIL/Da’esh after their occupation of Mosul in 2014. The Library was deliberately set on fire, almost all of its collection was destroyed, and its building severely damaged.

In the absence of the central library, approximately 50,000 students, university lecturers, and staff do not have easy access to required literature for their research and academic projects.
UNESCO aims to build resilience and promote rapid recovery and transition in Mosul. Education provides physical, psychosocial, and cognitive protection that can sustain and save lives during a crisis. Education remains a fundamental human right, and quality learning opportunities should be available for all ages.

The Mosul University library plays an important role in realizing this objective by supporting the revival of the spirit of Moslawi youth, ensuring access to a safe learning environment, especially for young girls, and fostering peaceful coexistence among the youth of Mosul.
The physical infrastructure rehabilitation of the Central Library was completed in February 2022, but, the operationalization of the library requires urgent support to put in place the necessary measures for designing library functionalities and providing the modern tools and instruments necessary to effectively perform those functionalities from acquisition to archiving and digitization of the existing old and new library materials and holdings. Additionally, technical and professional capacity strengthening of the library staff through tailored practical training programs is essential. Currently, the gaps within institutional and professional capacities of the Central Library undermine the wider investment and prospects of the university in offering a holistic approach to learning and research.

With the overall objective of making the Mosul University Library fully functional and ensuring that it is perceived as an essential knowledge resource and a cultural connecting place, UNESCO will implement the following activities:

Long Description

1- Capacity-building: Develop and implement a training program for more than 80 Library staff in various areas such as access to services, acquisitions, cataloguing, archive management, conservation, digitization, repository management, reference services, LIS use and communication. Training will be followed by practical application throughout the project duration.

2- Library Information system (LIS): Selection, customization and deployment of an enterprise software solution, covering the Library local functions and remote e-services, including acquisition, warehousing, interchange and virtual integration with other libraries’ content and catalogues, cataloging, classification, collection management, local and remote access and circulation/borrowing/reading/interlibrary loan, reference services, research and instruction, patron and subscriber relation management, management of scanned materials, periodicals, e-books, rare materials and manuscripts.

3- Conservation, restoration, digitization, and indexing/cataloguing: Restoration, preservation, conservation, digitization and bookbinding of rare and other endangered library materials including manuscripts and historical documents.

4- Partnerships: Establishment of partnerships with relevant institutions across the world, thereby reinforcing sustainability of the library’s functions and operations. These partnerships shall, in particular, facilitate the provision of advice and support to capacity building as well as result in agreements on acquisitions of relevant up-to-date knowledge material.

Specifically, the Consultant will undertake reviewing the project document’s components, outputs and activities against the reality on the ground and, in discussion with the Project team, key project partners, to identify the potential gaps/areas that need to be re-examined. The consultant will lead the inception phase of the project implementation, focusing on implementation recommendations, workplan and bring the required expertise and human resources.
The Consultant will work collaboratively with the MoHESR (Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research), University of Mosul, and UNESCO team.

Long Description

Duties and Responsibilities of the Consultant

Under the overall authority of the Director and UNESCO Representative to Iraq and direct guidance and supervision of the Chief of Education, UNESCO Iraq Office and the Project Officer, the Consultant shall be responsible for leading and conducting the Project Inception Phase through the achievement of the following objectives and tasks:

Duration and duty station of Assignment

The consultancy is based in Iraq / Nineveh with the duration of 5 months.

Timeline and Expected Output/Deliverables

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial) Accountability (C)Communication (C)Innovation (C)Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement (C)Planning and organizing (C)Results focus (C)Teamwork (C)Professionalism (C)

- For detailed information, please consult the UNESCO Competency Framework.

Required Qualifications

Academic Qualifications

Work Experience

Language

• Excellent knowledge of English (written and spoken)
• Good Knowledge of Arabic (written and spoken)

Desirable Qualifications