American University of Sharjah (AUS) will host on Wednesday, the American International Consortium of Academic Libraries (AMICAL). To be held for the first time ever in UAE, AMICAL is a consortium of American-model, liberal arts institutions of higher learning made up of 26 institutions from 21 countries.

More than 100 delegates from around the world are expected to attend the ninth conference this year. The four-day conference will provide them an opportunity to discuss issues affecting academic libraries and hear from leading experts on the subject.

This year's theme, "The Value of Library and Information Services: Sharing Data and Assessing Impact," focuses on collaboration, the value of libraries and learning spaces and making effective use of technology. Several AUS faculty members and library staff members will give presentations at the conference.

The AUS Provost, Dr. Thomas Hochstettler, will address the conference opening session, while the keynote speakers are Malcolm Brown, Director of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, and Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, Associate Professor for Library Administration and Coordinator for Information Literacy Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

According to Daphne Flanagan, Interim University Librarian, "The AMICAL conference is a unique chance for members from similar institutions around the world to share and learn from top leaders in the field of academic libraries and information services. This year's theme for the conference is focused on using data to assess the impact and value of libraries and information services."

The goal of the conference is to discuss emerging issues in academic libraries and allow colleagues from similar institutions, but culturally diverse backgrounds, to network and share knowledge and insight on important issues facing libraries and information services. The conference content also deals with specific library and information service issues that AUS faces and provides the university an opportunity to showcase its library to a global audience.

Operating in diverse cultural contexts but committed to the American model of liberal education, AMICAL institutions have chosen to collaborate for mutual benefit and to support the advancement of learning and teaching.