This is the first in a series* of posts about members of the Middlebury community who value the library. Today’s profile is of Oz Aloni.
Delal Bridge in Kurdistan
Where are you from and what’s your academic specialty?
I’m from Jerusalem, Israel. I teach at the Modern Hebrew program at Middlebury. I’m a Semitic Linguist, which means I research languages of the Semitic family, a family that includes Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Amharic, and many more. My research is focused on a language called the North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) – in fact only on one dialect of that language: the Jewish dialect of Zakho, Kurdistan.
Two books authored/edited by Oz Aloni in the Faculty Authors Collection in the Davis Family Library: The Neo-Aramaic Speaking Jewish Community of Zakho, and Lishana deni : leḳeṭ agadot ṿe-sipure ʻam mi-masoret Yehude Kurdisṭan mesuparim be-Aramit be-lahag Yehude Zakhu
What do you like about Middlebury?
The beautiful nature surrounding us; the college’s great facilities; the friendliness of Vermonters.
How do you use the library?
For my own research I use the library mainly through its online databases and resources, and also its efficient interlibrary loan service. Two of the databases that were recently added to the library’s collection are particularly valuable for me: the Responsa Project and the Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics [see note below]. They are also very useful for my students, as research tools for the assignments I give.
How can the library better serve you?
The library is doing a pretty good job as it is. One thing that can be an improvement is expanding the Hebrew collection, and I’m happy to help with that.
Note that the library has free access for one more week to the Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics while we decide whether to subscribe. Check it out!
*How Do You Use The Library? is a social media series based on the “Humans of New York” model.
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