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August 2015
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Soodeen has been a librarian for the past 25 years. He joined the staff at the then Main Library (now The Alma Jordan Library) in 1999 and has served The UWI from then to the present time. Speaking on his appointment, he said, “It is an honour to have the opportunity to lead the Campus Libraries over the next five years. I want to build on the gains that the Libraries have achieved over the past decade, but I am also keen on exploring and implementing strategies for further and deeper engagement with our research, teaching and learning community on the Campus.” Soodeen currently heads the information Technology Services Division of the Alma Jordan Library, and has been instrumental in the implementation of the digitization programme and the deployment of the UWI Space institutional repository which has as its primary goal the capture and preservation of the intellectual output of The UWI across all the campuses. He has also been working towards shifting the UWI libraries’ focus to include the notion of library as publisher, deploying a platform that currently facilitates the publishing of online journals by Campus academic departments. Soodeen’s work is underscored by his desire to see libraries in the Caribbean develop a culture of innovation and cutting edge approaches to ensure impact and relevance to the mission of the constituencies they serve. His work at The UWI has been primarily in systems librarianship, web development, the deployment of digital library services, and the development of the infrastructure for making available to the campus community both on and off campus, the vast array of electronic resources that the Campus Libraries have acquired over the past 15 years. As certified Lead Auditor for ISO 9000 quality management systems, he has always advocated for the establishment of a quality management framework as a means towards achieving institutional effectiveness in libraries. Among his other involvements, he is comanaging editor of the Caribbean Library Journal, an online peer reviewed journal launched in 2013 to encourage and support research and publication efforts by librarians and other information professionals throughout the Caribbean and the Diaspora. |
A new Campus Librarian has been appointed at The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine ahead of the academic year 2015/2016. Effective 1 September 2015, Frank Soodeen assumes the role of Campus Librarian from his predecessor University Librarian and Campus Librarian Jennifer Joseph. His appointment is for a period of 5 years.