UCL Qatar students bring international expertise from global institutions

DOHA: UCL Qatar master's degree students have returned from a set of high-profile work placements to bring international best practice to libraries, galleries, museums, and private firms in Qatar.

Students of MA in Library and Information Studies (LIS) and MA in Museums and Gallery Practice (MGP) programmes have spent the last few weeks working with experts at the British Library in London, the National Science and Media Museum (NSMM) in Bradford, UK, and the OPEC Information Centre, Vienna, Austria.

Doha's Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) also welcomed a number of UCL Qatar students, further demonstrating the museum's status as a world-class institution.

Work placements are a requirement for any student undertaking a master degree with UCL Qatar. They form part of the university's commitments to prepare its students for professional life and con-tribute to the development of Qatar's cultural heritage sector and its growing information and knowledge management workforce.

Students such as Maryam Abdulla Al Thani, who is undertaking an MA in Library and Information Studies and travelled to Vienna, Austria to work at the OPEC Information Centre, gained hands-on experience in information management, conservation, digitisation of documents, and cataloguing. She now hopes to put the skills she learnt into practice.

Maryam Al Thani, who works in the energy sector in Qatar, said, 'The placement is especially important as it has helped me improve my technical skills that are necessary for my future career. I can't wait to share my experiences with my fellow students and colleagues. Thanks to UCL Qatar for this experience.

Her fellow Library and Information Studies MA student Mahmoud Mahmoud was placed at the British Library in London, where he learned about the Qatar Digital Library project a joint British Library, Qatar Foundation and Qatar National Library digital archiving initiative.

Suzanna Migrhani, a Museum and Gallery Practice student, who travelled to the UK to work at the NSMM in Bradford, remarked: 'I got the chance to work on several projects simultaneously, which gave me a holistic picture of the NSMM, and its many programmes, exhibitions, and outreach efforts. I was impressed with museum's sense of civic duty and curatorial thinking two themes which I will now apply to my studies in Doha.

Founded in London, UCL is one of the world's leading universities. The university uses its global links to provide students based in Qatar with access to international expertise and a chance to expand their professional network.

Dr Milena Dobreva, who is coordinating the MA in LIS, said, It's important for students to now use these experiences to apply what they have learnt to their studies at UCL Qatar and their respective current and future workplaces.

'But it is also very rewarding to see that our students are becoming global ambassadors of the work Qatar is doing in the cultural and knowledge sectors, she added.

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