El Sayed Mahmoud El Sheniti (1920-1995) was an Egyptian academic and government official who contributed to the development of professional

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

ship in Egypt in the latter half of the twentieth century. El Sheniti was born on November 25, 1920, in Egypt. He received his Ph.D. in

Library Science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1960. His doctoral dissertation was titled ''The University Library and the Scholar: A Study of the Recorded Faculty Use of a Large University Library''. "El Sheniti served the Egyptian and international

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

profession in several capacities. He was Librarian of Alexandria University Library, 1949–51; Assistant Librarian of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Fundamental Education Center in Sirs El Layyan, Egypt, 1952–54; Director of the

American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...

Library, 1958–63; Unesco Documentation and Publications Expert Stationed at the Unesco Regional Center of Community Development for the Arab States in Sirs El Layyan, Egypt, 1963–68; Under Secretary of State for the

Egyptian National Library and Archives The Egyptian National Library and Archives ( ar, دار الكتب والوثائق القومية; "Dar el-Kotob") is located in Nile Corniche, Cairo and is the largest library in Egypt, followed by Al-Azhar University and the Bibliotheca Alex ...

, 1968–71; Senior Under Secretary of State for the Ministry of Culture and Chairman of the General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO), 1971–77; and Deputy Minister of Culture and Chairman of the General Egyptian Book Organization, a post he held until his

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in December, 1978."El Hadi, Mohammed M., World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, 3rd Edition. pg. 281. Wedgeworth, Robert, Editor. American Library Association. Chicago. 1993 El Sheniti published several

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

s on technical aspects of librarianship in the Arab world. These include: ''Book Cataloging Rules for Arabic Materials'', ''Authority List of Arabic Names'', and ''Arabic Adaptation of Dewey Decimal Classification''. El Sheniti died on April 8, 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheniti, El Sayed Mahmoud El 1920 births 1995 deaths University of Chicago Graduate Library School alumni Academic staff of Alexandria University Academic staff of The American University in Cairo Egyptian expatriates in the United States