Have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends.
From Maha, Arul and James (a.k.a Magizh)
24 December 2012
Merry Christmas to you and yours....
Have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends.
From Maha, Arul and James (a.k.a Magizh)
18 December 2012
My good news of the year
My year has been very busy with many things in my professional and personal life. My best news (and what a good way to end the year) is a review of my book published by the Australian Library Journal that was just published. I am sharing it here and woul like to cite that is from ALJ, volume 61, no.4. It was a lot of work and I am glad it is being reviewed well. Happy holidays everyone.
Leadership in Libraries: A Focus on Ethnic-Minority Librarians. By Maha Kumaran.
Chandos Information Professional Series. Witney: Chandos Publishing, 2012. 187 pp.
£47.50 soft cover ISBN 9781843346586
This is a timely, thought-provoking and informative work that addresses minority librarians and
leadership in Anglo-Saxon cultures and fills a gap in leadership literature, which is focused more
commonly on intercultural leadership advice for those from Anglo-Saxon majority cultures. While it has clear value to ethnic minority librarians, it deserves a much wider audience from all interested in leadership, library education and ethnic diversity in the workplace.
Kumaran covers available literature on the topic; the influence of culture, profession and
gender on leaders, management and leadership; leadership styles and skills; and the status quo
of ethnic minority leadership and developmental opportunities in the US, the UK, Canada and
Australia. The last-mentioned topic is supported by research, and chapters are all well referenced
throughout. Abstracts are provided for each chapter, research survey questions are given in
appendices and there is an index.
Kumaran points out that leadership programmes are tailored to the majority culture in many cases. She supports this assertion with her own research, which located no leadership programme specific to minority librarians in Canada, Australia or the UK. She recommends that all library schools introduce a leadership course with modules on intercultural leadership. Library leadership demographics should mirror society’s demographics, and Kumaran asserts that cross-cultural training is important both for minority and majority groups. Much of the content of the book indicates what such training could cover. Speaking primarily to non-Caucasian first generation immigrants in Anglo-Saxon cultures, the author explains the major cultural differences affecting leadership in Asian and African cultures and in Anglo-Saxon workplaces. Throughout her discussion of management and leadership she offers a wealth of cultural insight. She also covers significant ground in terms of explaining management and leadership theory. The final section covers leadership in school, public and academic libraries in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. This gives context-specific information and examples of opportunities for leadership, such as joint-use public and school libraries and excellence in research skills training in academic libraries. It also shows the imperative of good leadership in situations of financial constraint.
It is difficult to fully capture the depth and contribution of this book – certainly it achieves much more than its primary purpose in addressing immigrant librarians and is highly recommended for its contribution to our understanding of an important aspect of the information profession.
Julia Leong
RMIT University
Leadership in Libraries: A Focus on Ethnic-Minority Librarians. By Maha Kumaran.
Chandos Information Professional Series. Witney: Chandos Publishing, 2012. 187 pp.
£47.50 soft cover ISBN 9781843346586
This is a timely, thought-provoking and informative work that addresses minority librarians and
leadership in Anglo-Saxon cultures and fills a gap in leadership literature, which is focused more
commonly on intercultural leadership advice for those from Anglo-Saxon majority cultures. While it has clear value to ethnic minority librarians, it deserves a much wider audience from all interested in leadership, library education and ethnic diversity in the workplace.
Kumaran covers available literature on the topic; the influence of culture, profession and
gender on leaders, management and leadership; leadership styles and skills; and the status quo
of ethnic minority leadership and developmental opportunities in the US, the UK, Canada and
Australia. The last-mentioned topic is supported by research, and chapters are all well referenced
throughout. Abstracts are provided for each chapter, research survey questions are given in
appendices and there is an index.
Kumaran points out that leadership programmes are tailored to the majority culture in many cases. She supports this assertion with her own research, which located no leadership programme specific to minority librarians in Canada, Australia or the UK. She recommends that all library schools introduce a leadership course with modules on intercultural leadership. Library leadership demographics should mirror society’s demographics, and Kumaran asserts that cross-cultural training is important both for minority and majority groups. Much of the content of the book indicates what such training could cover. Speaking primarily to non-Caucasian first generation immigrants in Anglo-Saxon cultures, the author explains the major cultural differences affecting leadership in Asian and African cultures and in Anglo-Saxon workplaces. Throughout her discussion of management and leadership she offers a wealth of cultural insight. She also covers significant ground in terms of explaining management and leadership theory. The final section covers leadership in school, public and academic libraries in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. This gives context-specific information and examples of opportunities for leadership, such as joint-use public and school libraries and excellence in research skills training in academic libraries. It also shows the imperative of good leadership in situations of financial constraint.
It is difficult to fully capture the depth and contribution of this book – certainly it achieves much more than its primary purpose in addressing immigrant librarians and is highly recommended for its contribution to our understanding of an important aspect of the information profession.
Julia Leong
RMIT University
12 December 2012
12-12-12
Wishing All of you and your families with the best of Christmas and a happy Prosperous New year with Good health, Joy, Love, understanding.
Hope the new year brings all the best to everyone.
Hope to see more activity here too.
God bless all with a great X"mas season.
21 November 2012
Housewarming Ceremony
In the sprirt of keeping things alive in our blog. I would like to share our housewarming ceremony of our Valliyil home in Kayamkulam. The home is not fully done but my parents wanted it done before Jay visits India in December. The house warming ceremony happened on November 12th.
I will post more when the interior and exterior gets done.
02 November 2012
Our Weekend with Kirthi
Two weeks back Jay and I went and spend the weekend with Kirthi. It was lot of fun and he showed us around his campus.
At Cal Poly Football Stadium with Kirthi
At the Architecture Graveyard were all the final year projects of the Architecture students are displayed - Sculpture with Jay
At the Architecture Graveyard - The Observatory with Kirthi
26 September 2012
our prayers
Madras Christian College
Prof Jayaraman (Retd) of the English Dept passed away last night in Apollo. A wonderful human being and a great teacher, may his soul rest in peace
His son Barath's number is 9444319364
This information Seen in Francis Sundar Singh FB.
16 August 2012
Pictures from Kenya
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| Lion smiling at us from a cliff, Masai Mara. |
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| Giraffe running away on the road, Naivasha |
Hi friends,
I had gone to Nairobi, Kenya with my kids to visit my brother and family in May. I guess most of you would have seen the pictures on FB and some of you would have seen the articles on Masai Mara I wrote for Frontline. I am providing the link again in our blog.
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| Superb starling, a beautiful bird waiting for some crumbs from our lunch plates, hotel in Naivasha. |
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Giant cactus |
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| Baboons on the road |
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| Flamingoes in Lake Oloidien |
Trust all of you are keeping fine. Right now, I am a bit obsessed with fb, so I have been visiting the blog less. I hope to make up for the lapse :)
Roshin.
15 August 2012
Hi Folks,
Its been a long time since I got into the blog. Some update from San Diego :) I had been busy with Kirthi's final months in High School. He graduated this summer from High school and during the same time I was interviewing with another company for a new position. I took a new position with Qualcomm as a HR Manager. Soon after I accepted my offer and gave my notice to my old company Kirthi and I went to India to spend some time with family and to look at our home that is being built in Kerala. It is coming out well. We got back on 27th and I joined Qualcomm on the 30th. The Month of July had been a whirlwind of events for us. Kirthi got into Cal Poly SLO - http://www.calpoly.edu/ His will major in computer Science. He is very excited and looks forward to college life. He will have to go mid next month to join.
In the process of changing jobs and my son's graduation etc... I lost the blog link. Thanks to Maha she send me the link so I can reconect with all of you. I hope everyone is doing well. I did see a blog on some obituaries, I wish their families have the strength to hold up at such terrible moment and are able to move on with great memories of their loved ones.
Regards,
Sunita
In the process of changing jobs and my son's graduation etc... I lost the blog link. Thanks to Maha she send me the link so I can reconect with all of you. I hope everyone is doing well. I did see a blog on some obituaries, I wish their families have the strength to hold up at such terrible moment and are able to move on with great memories of their loved ones.
Regards,
Sunita
20 July 2012
chat with friends
20 july. Got Roshin on chat, she said she had met Prem and Venki just then. so I took the phone no from her and called them. It was nice to catch up with all three today and with Gladi on a short message. Hope the rest of you all doing great too. take care, keep in touch. God bless.
Condolences
Vimal Athithan wrote july 2012, on Facebook MCC group.
With great sadness, I wish to convey to all my friends from MCC, that our beloved friend Rajesh Pon Pandian has passed away and has gone to be with the Lord at 2.30 am this morning. He was the Prime Minister of St. Thomas's Hall in 1992-93. MCC has lost a son today.
Murali Krishnan wrote earlier On Fb it is with deep regret that I inform you that our classmate Jeeju George, (Zoology 81) passed away this morning. She was married to Lemuel Herbert, also from Zoo81.. Funeral at 3pm tomorrow at Barthalomeow Church, next to Mysore Mofussil Bus terminal on the B'lore-Nilgiris road.. RIP Jeeju... you were simply one of the best
this is the site https://www.facebook.com/groups/thegutters/
May God be with their families and give them strength at this time. keep them in your prayers.
With great sadness, I wish to convey to all my friends from MCC, that our beloved friend Rajesh Pon Pandian has passed away and has gone to be with the Lord at 2.30 am this morning. He was the Prime Minister of St. Thomas's Hall in 1992-93. MCC has lost a son today.
Murali Krishnan wrote earlier On Fb it is with deep regret that I inform you that our classmate Jeeju George, (Zoology 81) passed away this morning. She was married to Lemuel Herbert, also from Zoo81.. Funeral at 3pm tomorrow at Barthalomeow Church, next to Mysore Mofussil Bus terminal on the B'lore-Nilgiris road.. RIP Jeeju... you were simply one of the best
this is the site https://www.facebook.com/groups/thegutters/
May God be with their families and give them strength at this time. keep them in your prayers.
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