Friday, February 22, 2008

THE INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY CONFERENCE 2007: SARAWAK

A REPORT ON THE INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY CONFERENCE: SARAWAK 2007

Author – Organising Committee, Librarian Association of Malaysia (Sarawak Chapter)

Purpose - To report on the International Library Conference 2007; Sarawak held in 12-14 July 2007 in Kuching Sarawak, Malaysia.

Design/methodology approach – Provides a review of some of the events of the conference.

Finding – It is a two days conference and a day workshop that involves librarian and information management professionals focusing on the theme “Libraries and sustainable development: perspectives on the future”

Originality/value – It is a useful summary to library and information management professionals.

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Keyword(s): Conferences, Sustainable development, IFLA’s statement, Libraries Association

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Kuching, a city well-known for its rich cultural heritage was the venue for the 1st Sarawak International Library Conference, 12-14 July 2007. The theme of the conference was “Libraries and sustainable development: perspectives on the future” featured plenary sessions, conference papers, library vendors and cultural exhibits and social programs that kept the 120 delegates from 10 countries thoroughly engaged and on the go.

The conference was organised by Librarian Association of Malaysia in partnership with the Sarawak State Government, Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, University Malaysia Sarawak, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Swinburne University of Technology (Sarawak Campus) and Maxis (Malaysia) as the main sponsor for the conference.

The objectives of the conference were to support the IFLA’s statement on libraries and sustainable development (IFLA Glasgow 2002), to give new insights on libraries and sustainable development and to enhance the roles of libraries in sustainable development initiatives.

It was a two days conference at Crowne Plaza Riverside Hotel and a day workshop at University Malaysia Sarawak. During the two days conference, a total of 13 papers were presented in 3 plenary sessions and all of the papers were published on the conference website (http://www.ilc2007.netmyne.com/). Three parallel workshops addressed specific themes on event management, balance score card and key performance indicators for librarians.

A fascinating opening keynote address was given by Tan Sri Hamid Bugo, the Patron for the Librarian Association of Malaysia (Sarawak Chapter). His addressed the global perspective on the development of library and the importance of global thinking that can redefine the role and the functions of libraries in context of becoming relevant to the knowledge society.

Session 1 (1st day) : Focusing on the IFLA’s statement of libraries and sustainable development, the 1st plenary session, featured five speakers from Malaysia, United States of America (USA), Indonesia and Iran, chaired by Puteri Saniah Megat Abdul Rahman, President, Librarian Association of Malaysia. John Hickok of California State University and Ida F. Priyanto of Gadjah Mada University Library, noted the important step forward in relation to library networking and how to effectively involve people, government agencies and universities in the initiatives.

Abdur Rahman Ebrahim of Maxis (Malaysia) outlined the creative practices that have accompanied information technology advancement citing community projects that have been done by Maxis. Hamid Kazemi of University of Iran used the Iranian Scientific Information and Documentation Center as the model for the market-centric organization analysis and Professor Syed Salim Agha of International Islamic University of Malaysia, immerse the delegates on how library can take the challenges to sustainability in inspiring library towards excellence.

Session 2 (1st day): Chaired by Mohd Sharif Mohd Saad, Vice President 1, Librarian Association of Malaysia, the second session continued to discuss the theme by focusing on new insights on libraries and sustainable development. Farshid Danesh and Mina Afshar from Department of Medical Library and Information Sciences, provided literature review on the development of Resources Description and Access (RDA) for the digital environment.

Issues on digital libraries and sustainable development continue to fascinate the audience which was elaborated further by Dr. Shahren Ahmad Zaidi Adruce of University Malaysia Sarawak and Soraya Ziaei of Ferdowsi University, Iran. Dr. Shahren Adruce challenged the audience to really think about the concept of information sharing and the technological protection measures that have greatly impacted the process of transforming traditional collection to digital. Soraya, meanwhile analyses the development strategy for Iranian digital libraries.

Investigating and assessing job satisfaction among academic librarians in eight university libraries in West Malaysia was conducted by Noor Harun Abdul Karim of Islamic International University, Malaysia. The findings showed that the variables that did correlate with job satisfaction were: affective commitment, job autonomy, job performance feedback, role conflict, role clarity and organizational tenure.

Session 3 (2nd day): The third session looked at the roles of libraries in sustainable development initiatives chaired by Margaret Simeng, Chief Librarian, University Malaysia Sarawak. It featured presentations by Susan Roberts of Swinburne University of Technology, Australia who explores some sustainability issues that relate to library services for a growing cohort of online university students in Australia and Imilia Ibrahim and Che Zainab Hj Abdullah of University Technology Mara outlined findings from the faculty institutional repositories in enhancing and to advance the process of scholarly communication. From different perspectives both speakers stressed the benefits and challenges for librarians and information professionals in the new millennium.

In relation to sustaining the rural community in the region both Yupin Chancharoensin of Chulalongkorn University and Alvin Yeo of University Malaysia Sarawak, detailed the creation of King Bhumipol Royal Project and eBario pilot project respectively. They both enthralled the delegates with their perspectives on how university community and ICT can deliver sustainable human development to remote rural communities.

Siti Zakiah Aman, the Director General, National Library Malaysia, gave a thought-provoking closing keynote address. In her closing keynote address, Siti Zakiah began her talk with a discussion of her personal experience and challenges in spearheading the National Library. Quoting heavily from various National Library projects and initiatives, the closing keynote has fulfilled the conference theme “Libraries and sustainable development: perspectives on the future” by reiterating that librarians and information professionals need to meet the global challenges in the sustainable world.

The conference was officially closed with a conference summary and closing remark reported by the chairperson of the organizing committee, Rashidah Bolhassan. In her closing remark, she concluded that based on the paper presented and discussions being carried out, librarians and information professionals globally have envisioned what libraries can explore and contribute as we move into the sustainable development era. Global challenges in the library such as the financial impact on the global economic growth, information and communication technology and intellectual property, are met by empowering the community and creating collaborative efforts or partnership with related peer institutions. However, librarians shouldn’t sit on their laurels, as we also need to think big following the rapid growth in the library spheres. Finally, she applauded the success of the conference, highlighting the importance of great teamwork among the committee members of the Librarian Association of Malaysia. She hoped to bring the conference to a new level that will again provide high quality content of papers as part of its contribution to the librarians from all over the world.

On the 1st day of the conference, Emerald Insight had generously sponsored The K-Trends and Cats cocktail event to commemorate their 40th anniversary and the highlights of the evening was the cake cutting ceremony by Rashidah Bolhassan. Hour followed by good food, drinks and lucky draws from Emerald Insights.

Later in the evening of 12 July, the conference State Banquet hosted by the Pustaka Negeri Sarawak was held at the Sarawak Chamber Ballroom, Crowne Plaza Riverside Hotel and officiated by the guest of honour, the Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak, Tan Sri Datuk George Chan. All delegates, library vendors and guests were entertained with traditional dances of all ethnic groups in Sarawak.

Further highlight was the Rainforest Music Festival which is an annual event in Sarawak. It is a unique festival that brings together world renowned musicians from all over the world within the green grounds of the Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) at the foothill of Mount Santubong, outside Kuching. Delegates were transported to SCV at 6.00pm where they were entertained by ethno musicians up till the wee hour 12am!

Finally delegates committed themselves to the workshop, the next day held at Centre for Academic Information Services (CAIS), University Malaysia Sarawak the 8th Public University in Malaysia located at Kota Samarahan, 30km from Kuching. The overall objective of the three parallel workshop sessions was to analyse key issues pertaining to library and information services as gateways to knowledge and culture. The moderators for the workshops were Putri Saniah Megat Abdul Rahman, Azahar Mohd Noor of PETRONAS and Mohd Sharif Mohd Saad. The experience speakers engaged themselves in discussions and Q&A to identify common problems and solutions related to the themes. After the workshops, delegates were treated to a Samarahan Lunch – a sumptuous local lunch. The day was concluded with a tour of the CAIS, the hi-tech new library – an appropriate finale to a well organized, informative and excellent library conference and it is hoped that the next conference will be held in the next two years to come.

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