tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-180689342024-02-08T19:01:50.466+08:00Escaped LibrarianBeware! We have a lot of Librarians escaped and running lose out there. Well, it is not really a bad thing but you'll be the judge.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-23605187792051525192007-06-26T12:55:00.000+08:002007-06-26T13:14:04.300+08:00Print on Demand for Out of Print BooksI was alerted by <a href="http://lisnews.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/24/2357216&from=rss">LISNews.Org</a> about this "Amazon's print-on-demand division "BookSurge". It is not so much of the content of the story, it is not new, that I want to write here as I could foresee this happening in the industry. Obviously there is a good business case and model for this kind of thing and Amazon, if not Google, is big enough to sustain it.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-88514231294197412382007-02-26T21:12:00.000+08:002007-06-27T13:19:45.781+08:00Malaysian Libraries and Librarians: a state-of-the-artWell the title above is meant to be a joke and not meant for anybody. When I was in college the phrase state-of-the-art had always been in whatever papers or articles that we read in fact even our own papers most of the times were titled with ‘state-of-the-art’ as on component. If my friends reading this I am very sure they would be smiling. Joking aside what I am going to share would probably have some truth to it when you look closely to the state of our profession in Malaysia. My observations are derived from two things that I was part of not too long ago.<br /><br />The first event was the gathering of local librarians under the ‘skim gunasama’ Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia and the second was the launching of the Perpunet Portal at MMU. The main issue in the first event was still basic which was more or less how to provide more innovative services in the wake of the challenges that are facing us. Why I say basic because the issues raised as well as the questions asked were basic questions how to be get buy-in from the management, how to provide better services, how to utilize the technology that they have, how to be proactive and to look beyond the obvious. It is still very much a mentality issue to me. In between complacent and not confident lies certain degree of incompetence as well.<br /><br />In the second event I witnessed that we are ready to move ahead and willing to take the risk more. The majority it seems understands what we need to do and I just hope we can stay focus a bit more. However, my colleague sitting next to me mentioned to me on his experience during one KM local conference recently. He said the kind of questions asked during the conference were so basic similar to questions that I explained when I started out on this KM journey 10 years ago. It is sad but that’s the reality and after all the conferences it is still remain the same. Something is wrong somewhere and I hope somebody in relevant places would do something about it. As for me, frankly, I am already tired talking and speaking about it. Thinking aloud however I could not ignore it and although I am more on a doing mode now I still need to do some talking still.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1170122219609775392007-01-30T09:54:00.000+08:002007-06-27T13:20:50.549+08:00Immersive Learning EnvironmentI was really tempted to apply when I read <a href="http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2007/01/29/wanted_immersive_learning_environments_librarian.html">this piece </a>. But then again why not we do the same here in Malaysia?Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1145511749174014382006-04-20T13:42:00.000+08:002007-06-27T13:21:39.262+08:00A library should be a Living OrganismA library should be a Living Organism<br /><br />In another new development the <a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/04/17/c1a_LIBRARYU_0417.html">Palm Beach Atlantic University library</a><span style="font-family:Arial;"> 'will have a cafe, an outdoor patio, more than twice the number of books, and 653 study spots, up from 115. Students will be encouraged to take their coffee and pastries throughout the library, apparently an important perk for collegians. '</span><br /><br />Findley, who is designing the library said. <span style="font-family:Arial;">"A library should not be a rusty, rigid and boring place. It should be a living organism."</span><br /><br />The impact on us is we have to embrace continuous change.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1145511621274131442006-04-20T13:40:00.000+08:002007-06-27T13:22:35.503+08:00Public Libraries Going PrivatePublic Libraries Going Private<br /><br />Very interesting development from the US concerning the <a href="http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060412/NEWS01/604120307/1002">privatization of public library</a>. Do you think we can do this here? What is interesting about this is that they have bidders/proposals from their current outsource service providers already. Below are the <a href="http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060413/OPINION/604130302&SearchID=73242048205056">reasons</a> that gave.<br /><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Private management brings solid corporate business thinking to the table. That means working hard to find the most efficient way to do things. It means looking for innovation and finding ways to get more productivity out of existing resources. It means knowing how to get the most out of every dollar spent. Corporations know how to do this. </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">LSSI brings significant library management experience to the table. It already operates four public libraries in Tennessee and about 50 nationwide. It operates some very large public library systems such as in Riverside County, Calif. It also does work for the Library of Congress and for the Smithsonian Institution. </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Corporate management of the library will bring new resources to the library. LSSI has a nationally known advisory board including some of the top library officials and library science educators in the country. These resources will be at our disposal. </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Successful corporations know how to manage change. Change is difficult, but those who don't change with the times fall behind. </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">A private management contract would be performance based. Benchmarks and performance standards would be set by the board and agreed to by the contractor. If the goals are not met, a management change could again be made. LSSI has an outstanding record of meeting its performance goals for the public libraries it manages. </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">The LSSI proposal is reasonable and includes taking quick action to open a North Jackson branch, something that has only been talked about for too many years. </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Corporations understand the concept of living within their means. LSSI has been successful at finding new non-taxpayer sources of revenue in other libraries it manages</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br />What I am interested to find out is their business model.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1145336607257817852006-04-18T13:03:00.000+08:002007-06-27T13:23:56.466+08:00Librarian's BlogsIn the recent CONSAL in Manila a <a href="http://filipinolibrarian.blogspot.com/">Filipino Librarian</a> presented a paper on <a href="http://filipinolibrarian.blogspot.com/blogging-101-for.librariansfulltext.html">Blogging 101 for Librarians</a>. The librarian cited few well known examples out of the US but what surprise almost nothing form this region. Well, it could be there are somewhere but not traceable or we do not blog down here. Is that means we do not write as well? I dreaded to ask ‘do we read’? Do not get me wrong I am not celebrating technology for the sake of it but it si the issue that we are always late at embracing technology to be an effective part of our daily being. <a href="http://www.technorati.com/">Technorati</a> is tracking around 3.3 million blogs now and although most of them a personal opinions a lot of these personal opinions are opinions that matter. Simply because these blogs are written by prominent people in their field. Blogs are no doubt a good reference sources now. I love to see a lot more of us to start to blog. One interesting blog by a librarian, <a href="http://www.enrique-design.com/amroth/?p=258">he said he is</a>, that I have discovered is <a href="http://www.enrique-design.com/amroth/">Munmon’s Stories as I see it</a>. Having a blog doesn’t mean that you have to update or write everyday. Once a week will do and it would be meaningful if you write something more pertinent. Of course some of you are blogging already but hiding under different names. Come out!Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1143624290951160152006-03-29T17:23:00.000+08:002006-03-29T17:24:50.973+08:00Information Sharing through BloggingI am quite disappointed that almost nobody blog the recent CONSAL XIII. Is this means that not many librarians blog in this region. The reason I am disappointed is the fact that not many people could be in Manila and blog is one of the best way to make us ‘attend’ the conference. Sort of extended conference. So many people are doing it now at various conferences. The other best part is of course someone could comment on what presented immediately and also could seek feedback from their colleagues or anybody else online. Probably technically it was not feasible to do but a few hours late should be ok as well.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1143541469176701682006-03-28T18:16:00.000+08:002006-03-28T18:25:14.940+08:00More on social softwareThe cover story <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12015774/site/newsweek/page/1/">Putting The We in the Web</a> in the latest Newsweek is a nice read to explain what I have written about social software before. Again to me in the end the question is how can we make these tools relevant and useful for our organization and us? We can look at them from two perspectives, firstly, as tools to enhance capability and capacity among us and secondly enablers to enhance our services my incorporating them as part of our service to value add our offering. If you want to discover what other libraries in the west have done with these technologies. Read the latest blog written by Sarah Houghton commenting on a paper presented at PLA 2006 conference <a href="http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2006/03/pla_2006_commun.html">Community Building On Your Website: Library Blogs and RSS Feeds</a> There are several examples mentioned that could trigger us to think of something new for our users.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1143157854682410412006-03-24T07:44:00.000+08:002007-06-27T13:25:53.797+08:00Social Software and Networking<a href="http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarininblack/2006/02/social_networki.html">Sarah Houghton</a> is right when she says most librarians forget about the Social Networking sites like blogs as one of the resources for librarians today. Blogs are mostly written by passionate people on certain subject. Most of them are also experts in their area. The usefulness of blogs is not only because it is written by somebody with the subject domain expertise but also almost always written with the right context. Hence understanding the subject matter is easier. Also the kind of comments and discussion took place sometimes are valuable to the understanding of the issue at hand. There are numerous blogs written and if you use <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.technorati.com">Technorati</a>, which to date search 31.1 million blogs, you practically could search on other topics. To make it even useful and searchable most of the blogs writers would Tag their blogs according to specific topics which you can also track and search by. Another useful social networking tool or site is <a href="http://www.wikipedia.com/">wiki</a>. A free collaborative online encyclopedia. Although not many Malaysian librarians aware of the potential of these tools it is not too late for some of us to strategically think about them as part of our service offering. I would love to see more librarians to blog. In fact librarian could easily use these tools to collaborate among themselves.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1137144752173633242006-01-13T17:32:00.000+08:002007-06-27T13:24:53.001+08:00Library 2.0To me in the world of libraries any new development has almost always been evolutionary. I believe deeply we have to continuously align, change and leverage technology and the new way of managing information to our users requirement. And I also believe to give something extra to provoke our users to use new technology and thinking in using our facilities – services, products and the place. So far I have been trying to do that. That is why I was glad that I stumbled upon the debate/discussion on the concept of Library 2.0 in the west. I admit I am already late on this one as there were bunch of discussions on it and so far it was best captured by Walt Crawford in his <a href="http://cites.boisestate.edu/v6i2a.htm">Prologue Library 2.0 and “Library 2.0”</a>. In the end he just confirmed my thinking about the whole thing. Blogs, wiki, Technorati, del.li.cious, Flikr, Fotopages, Podcast and RSS are no doubt great technologies and concepts but what matters to us is how we best apply them for our environment. First we need to know what they are before we do anything. The thing is we have to continuously learn and keep abreast with the new development around us and find the best way to apply them to improve ourselves and our library to serve our clients better. I plan to do a series of blogs on all the technologies I have mentioned above separately.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1133885933942258052005-12-07T00:16:00.000+08:002005-12-07T00:18:54.113+08:00The Gathering of LibrariansI attended a dinner organized by PPM last Friday. The dinner was a farewell dinner for the retired x-presidents of the association as well as a Hari Raya gathering for librarians. To me it was another occasion to meet old friends as well as to tighten my social networks among librarians. I sat at a table next to somebody that I knew but the person did not have a clue as to who I was. That was until I said, ‘Wah! Jannah you tak ingat I lagi ye?’ She turned towards me with her surprised look and soon gave a small yell mentioning my name. She was asking what had happened to me I looked thin. I said I must congratulate my doctor. Well that night was not about me. When I looked around there weren’t enough young bloods within the PPM. I wish there were as I love to see more of them to come forward to push for new things. Even the young ones that were there that night were the ones that either work for the National Library or the Ministry libraries. Only one or two escaped librarians that potentially could play a bigger role were there. Probably they have a valid reason to escape…….Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1133546579741857322005-12-03T02:02:00.000+08:002005-12-03T02:02:59.800+08:00Talk by Alex Byrne, IFLA PresidentTalk by Alex Byrne, IFLA President<br/><br/>I went to hear Alex Byrne, the current IFLA President, yesterday at UiTM and I was somewhat disappointed with the talk. My fault actually as I was expecting a different thing from him. There were three parts to his talk, first was on IFLA and its activities. Second, was on World Summit of Information Society (WSIS) and the third on digital library. Although all of them are valid and still relevant but there isn’t anything that really new that he was talking about. I was expecting new thinking, direction and initiatives maybe. I guess in the world of librarianship past issues are still current issues. Again this doesn’t mean the world of librarianship is way behind in thinking and progress it is just that the issues are just still relevant no matter what the era or environment. I guess that is why I saw not many ‘excited’ and ‘interested’ people there. I guess that is why there are quite a number of escaped librarians like me ())) Indeed most of my batch mates are now escaped librarians. All was not lost for me as I got to meet old friends that I have not a chance to meet. I got to know, at least comforting to my ego, that quite a number of my former students are lecturers now. Some of them are leading quite interesting interest groups like CI. <br/><br/>As planned I met my old buddy ARM and meeting him means a blast. Even though it was a short meeting we never have had such a good laugh for a long timeGhazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1132674282812297312005-11-22T23:44:00.000+08:002005-11-22T23:47:44.523+08:00In search for a perfect system<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">I wrote this about 15 years ago. It is not finish and never got published. I just thought I just share it anyway verbatim.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">In Search of a Perfect System</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">by </span><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Ghazali Mohamed Fadzil</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> Twenty years ago when we talked about the automation of library or what is commonly known today as information resource center, we would definitely be talking about the computerization of their operations; catalogue, circulation, serial and acquisition. Then a while after that we were looking at a system called Information Retrieval System (IRS) which primarily is a system that has permit us to determine our own database structures, store data and retrieve them according to certain predetermine search function. Example of the earliest IRS system is Inmagic and then came CDS/ISIS and others. The hardware based also evolved from big machine like mainframe to PC and, now, client server technology. Some people say that there will be no end to this but it also only just the beginning.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> There is a trend to anything. Ever since the history of humankind, some sort of patterns and trends prevail during human life span, be it sociological, economical or technological. Information Resource Center, Information Center or library has to particularly be aware of two most important trends. Information and Information Technology trends.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Information Trend </span></em></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> It all started with a free flowing format where information were passed around endlessly without any specific format or structure. Then suddenly somebody realized that there was a better way to organize the scattered information in the form of structured format. Which was later used in organizing information for a computer to read and display? This is what we called later a database. After the structured database then came along the introduction of abstract and free text indexing. Followed by variable length databases, fulltext, fullimage and now the concept of multimedia polluted the world of information. In a way the trend where the information are being stored and retrieved is also more or less the reflection of how the information being used. From a bibliographic type of information, now people are using information as it is and having the capability of manipulating the information into knowledge. Instead of moving towards an information society, we are actually moving towards a knowledge society. A society which takes in information, digests them and reproduces them as knowledge.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> If we look into the trend of information usage in detail we could trace it from informal to specific use. Specific does not only mean specific in terms of information but in all aspects. Specific in use, type of information, format, time and need. Information of highest value now is information that can be used immediately as a decision making tools. In other words information that can produce a certain vital knowledge about something. Undoubtedly, this will make the person who could produce or provide such information very powerful or influential. The question remains what exactly is that information. How do we recognize such information? How do we get them? When can we get them and at what cost?</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> It is simply a case of ‘it is near yet so far.' You can say it as simple as finding the exact need of the client, but, what the client relay to you may be a matter of syntax or his own perception of things. Not really a reflection of the entire group needs. So where does it end, searching for a perfect system is like searching for an unknown then. Rest assured that nothing in this world is perfect, we just doing our best with the best possible means. As far as information system is concern the trend remains as to provide the widest, accurate and the most vital information at the fastest speed. The fact that it is still true till today is that most information systems developed are technology driven rather then needs. The information formats, types, services, and processes normally have to conform to technology. This has to change. </span><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Information Technology Trend</span></em></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></em></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> Technologically there have been a lot of major changes since the introduction of the first computer. Information technology is getting smaller and powerful by each day, to keep pace of these changes is a full time job by itself. So what are we supposed to do? Go with the flow? Even if we manage to do just that we would not be able to do anything else at all. Nothing gets implemented, the technology changes faster than we could sit down and decide on any new implementation. Radical you might say. Well, that is exactly what going to happen and sooner than we like it to be.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> The only sensible thing to do is to base every new implementation of information technology on the trend of our own profession. Even this is not a fool proof strategy. At least we have the consolation of knowing that we are not totally lost. If we trace the trend of computer technology alone could bog our mind with a lot of jargons and complexities; from mainframe, mini computer, super computers, workstations, PCs, Notebooks and Laptop. That is to name the type alone. Then you have to know about a system whether it is turnkey, dedicated, integrated, distributed, IRS (Information Retrieval System), Multi-media which comprises of another set of imaging, sound, text, CD-ROM and whatever else that you could think off. To make things even more complex, came telecommunication technologies, these make the changes even rampant. At first you need your PC’s to talk to each other than suddenly somebody came along saying you need LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), BBS (Bulletin Board System), Groupware and Internet until you do not even know where else you are connected to. They all claim to provide or make your information activity better. Regardless of whether you need them at all, they just dump everything upon you. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">So what is the information resource center supposed to do?</span></em></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> What any information resource center or rather information professionals should do is firstly to evaluate his or her position in the organization. Position here means literally the position of their post in the organizational structure and their position as an influential person in the organization. A direct access to the decision maker in the organizational structure is the biggest asset any information professionals could have which means whatever it is they only need to convince one person for any critical decision or any new ideas. Evenso, this is not always an advantage, having an understanding immediate superior could be the best thing that ever happened to you. Evaluate your position in the organization properly and do something about it if you think you need to change structurally. To some it may be best the information resource center to be under the CEO itself, some part of R&D, or may be with the Administration, it is for you to make it work or make any changes. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> What are we supposed to achieve is based on the organization’s goals and objectives. To really know about the objectives is very important to the roles and functions of any information resource centers. Careful and proper observation of what your organization trying to achieve in itself will explain the tasks that lay ahead for the information professionals. Sensitivity on the part of the information professionals is vital here. In the world of changing technologies, methods and concepts the information professionals should be prepared for every change in needs of their organization. It is no more of a once in a lifetime information needs survey methodology. The requirement of today’s on information can change as fast as the clock ticks. Literally speaking, at every tick of the clock million bits of information being transferred worldwide, with it also the changes in flow, types and needs. The moral of it is that all information professionals will have to be up-to-date with their organization’s current information needs. Continuos information survey should be formulated to maintain a degree of effectiveness to the services rendered to the users.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> To do an effective survey or to maintain a continuous survey on information needs the information professionals in the first place have to identify who their clients are indefinitely. This should be straight forward enough. Base on whatever statistics that you have you can easily identify your regular users, but then, you also should look into other users that has not been using your services. Find out why is this so. Is it your services? Your marketing? Or your information is not what they want. The biggest challenge for certain information resource centers in Malaysia right now is to get their client to use the information resource center services. It is for a fact that it is not because of lack of appropriate information but rather more the lack of proper marketing strategy, timely information and the right type of information. So, firstly you have to be sure with whom and what kind of information you are dealing with. Outline as detail as possible on every of their information requirement. You can do this in several ways, Information Analysis, Information Need Analysis, InfoMapping or whatever you want to call it. Just make sure that you have everything pertaining to your clients and their needs. When you have this information your next step would be to survey the market and source around any information system that can be used to help you with your information management. This could be an Integrated Information resource center System, Information Retrieval System, Expert System or it could be just any of the application packages available out there. Your ultimate system could be just a derivation and combination of the capabilities of PC based software packages such as Database Management System (DBMS), (Dbase IV, Dbase for Windows, Paradox, etc), Spreadsheets (Lotus 123, Excel, etc), and Word Processing ((WordStar, Word, WordPerfect, etc.). The only thing that you need to be reminded of is that there is no right answer to every problem or needs. Just the best solutions for you to cope with and always think of the future needs. Try to think and acquire systems that could evolve with time and technology. Which leads us to our next point of discussion.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> Basically, to me there are five types of systems that in every way deals directly with the activity of an information resource center. They are Information Retrieval System (IRS), Integrated Library Systems, Multimedia Library Systems, Groupware and a Total System. As I mentioned earlier IRS is a software that enables us to define our own database structure, indexing technique, search methodology and design our own output format. In fact they do a lot more if we know how to manipulate them. One micro based commercially example of such software is Inmagic which quiet famous when it was first introduced. The more famous of this type in Malaysia is UNESCO’s CDS/ISIS. This software is available free for a non-profit organization. A lot of people thought that since this software is free it is not that good or useless to use. On the contrary if we could manipulate its strong point it can be the most powerful tool for your information management. It will be even better if ever UNESCO will come out with a Windows version. A small and a medium size information resource center would certainly benefit from this software. You do not need to go through the hustle of implementing an integrated system because no matter how you justify it you do not really need such system. CDS/ISIS would work wonders for you and improve you information handling three folds. Basically with it you can create any type and format of information database and retrieval system which is exactly what any small information resource center needs. It is not the system that counts it is the information and how we handle those information that really matters. Information resource center or library is not about system or books anymore. It is about information, which will put us information professionals in a better perspective.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> Dedicated information resource center system is a system that mechanized the way we manage the information resource center. That is all there is to it. Unless your organization has a lot of money, going to be an institute or going to be opened to the public do not go for the integrated information resource center system. If you want to, make sure the system that you choose is flexible enough for you to fully implement IRS functions using different templates for different databases. What I really mean here is that for whatever the systems you decided upon make sure such system would allow you to create a lot of databases using the existing templates rather then just bibliographic databases. Set up you own searching and display modes and could handle multimedia access. If you could identify such system’s existence for you to use go for it. It is in a way you are identifying the best solution to your needs. But it is by no means a perfect system for you. Simply because there is no such system. Based on current technologies I would say the best solution for information resource centers should cover every aspect of information entities. Information just do not come in one format or package. Once they are being repackaged by someone they could take many forms and format. So it is impossible to predetermine any future formats. At the moment I would say the best solution would be a solution that covers multimedia, interfaces to on-line services local and international, interface to local Internet host, CD-ROM and a system that complies to Z39.50 standard for information interchange. The system should also be something that can evolve for future requirement. If you acquire any integrated information resource center system that can only do the information resource center functions without these extras, then, I would say you have just wasted a lot of money for something that any PC could do even better.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> To refresh, study your requirement properly and decide on what you really need. If you have found out that you really need an integrated information resource center system and you know a lot of new thing you could do with it, proceed by all means. But, that does not mean that your problem is over. It is, for all you know, only just the beginning for you. I do not mean to be very negative about these things, but it is a matter of precaution. Be prepared for any eventualities. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Seven criteria for system evaluation</span></em></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Own staff and environment</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">The best way to start is to firstly evaluate your own backyard. Find out what kind of environment and staff that you have. What are the levels of expertise that you can rely on. Are they equip to handle the task that you are going to set them to? If not, are they the kind of staff that can learn very fast or at the worst willing to try and learn new things? Or you need to get new staff who is equip with certain knowledge to handle the job. Sometimes you can just rely on the IT personnel of you organization.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Functions and features</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Of course this is the most important criteria to any user. All functions and features should be what the users want based on their information requirement. It is helpful if the users being specific with their needs and evaluate all the possibilities possible. If you cannot satisfy you information requirement with one system, maybe a combination of several systems is the answer. If you strife hard enough to cleanse you thirst you will find the answer. However, you have to bare in mind that that is no such thing as a perfect system. If you think it is perfect now, it will not be in the second year. Information are dynamic which warrant changes most of the time in terms of structure, requirement, speed and technologies to handle them.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Flexibility</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">As I said earlier in this paper to get an information resource center system just to handle the day to day operation of your center is a bad investment. Any PC would do the job even better. The main thing is to get the most open and flexible system there is so that you can create and produce new information products and services. Flexible in terms of database structure, application, templates, searching and the whole setup of the system. Since, majority of today application software are Windows based and GUI is the most vital features from the user perspective, find a system that has these capabilities. Where cut and paste is the norm the user has somewhat a limited option to play around with the information for report or statistics. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">First line support from vendor</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">After you have satisfied with the functions and features of any system or at least you are satisfy with the vital part of it, the next criteria to evaluate is its first line support. As far as information resource center system is concern the supports that you need and should be aware of are system, hardware and database support. Software and hardware support if your system is a stand alone and system and database if it is client/server technology. Whichever option you want to go for, support is always a major concern to any user. Evaluate how many experience support staffs your vendor has. Are the experiences in the area of information resource center and information? What are their qualification backgrounds? At least one must has a library science degree. If not you have to be prepared for series of miscommunication and misinformation. You can never stress enough on the importance of your first line support. Some say it is a ‘do or die’ kind of situation. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Second line support from vendor</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Usually the second line of support will come from the principal distributors, which is normally overseas. Their activities, standing and how often they get together with their local distributors would tell you a lot about their support structure. Furthermore if you are thinking of customizing some part of the system the principal is the most likely organization to do it. So, if you have a principal that is so far away for you to get constantly in touch with, you going to face a lot of problem. The worst part is that your first line support wont do any better than you are. To say the least this is the worst possible scenario that any information professionals would want to have.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> </span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Software support staff, database and system</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">You also have to be aware of the kind of support staff that you can have for your software, database and system. What are their credibility’s, capabilities and career history? If you are looking for stable support staff the one that move around a lot from company to company is obviously not your ideal person to support you and your system. It is a fact, maybe because of the economic upswing, that company pinches staff from each other. But the adverse effect is the user will lose confidence and faith of the whole industry altogether. There was a case where a certain support person boasted that he had worked in four different companies in the last five years. He or she is definitely the last person on earth that I am going to acquire to support my system. In fact I am not going to even think a second about the product he or she trying to sell. No matter how good this guy is you are the one who going to end up as the biggest loser. So think about this and do a little bit of research on their background discreetly. Sometimes all you need to do is just to listen to them.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Development team</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Most of us tend to miss this requirement or we simply just do not know it’s importance. The software development team is the section where normally the system people gather to develop and improve any particular system. Historically, this development team used to be the principal or the main supplier of the system. But, with the change in world economy and when everything is getting global this is not necessarily true anymore. There are a lot of instance where the main supplier is in Europe or Australia but the development team for the system is in Asia. This situation is to the advantage of any user around this region. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Users could really keep track of new enhancement to their system and see very well how the system developed. Our ideas and suggestion could easily be sent across and discussed so that our specific need could be implemented easily in the new version.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Customer base</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">To get a system which is widely used could be a two edges sword. Evenso, in comparison, to have a wide user based work much better for the users. The main advantage is that it ensure the stability of the system, the supplier and it goes without saying, your support to the system. So, I really think you should think twice of getting the most sophisticated system available in the market if it is new with no customer base. That is unless you are so sure and confident of it’s existence.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">It really can work against you. If a system is new in the market, several questions should be asked. One, who can effort the price? If you are the only one, forget about the system because you definitely will end up being deserted by your local supplier and left supporting the system yourselves. Business is business, if a supplier could only get one account chances are they are not going to spend a lot just to maintain you. Two, who are the players behind the system? What experience do they have? How many information professionals? What is their financial standing? In short find out whether they have what it takes to stay in business in this region.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">How long has the system in the market and it’s developmental history</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">This may be a part of what I have already said earlier, but, it is safe to check this history. You should be looking for a system that will evolve not stagnant. The more development they have in the past means you have a system and a development team that are dedicated to the system and its improvement. Development means development in terms of incorporating new technologies as well as introducing new functions and services.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span>Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1132463811331185852005-11-20T13:16:00.000+08:002005-11-20T13:16:51.480+08:00Still worry about being relevant?<span style="font-family:Arial;">Recently there was a discussion on what would be one of the prerequisite of KM disciplines. Dave Snowden opined that </span><em><span style="font-family:Arial;">‘the role of the human agent inLibraries is as, if not more important than all the emphasis on taxonomies and search engines. There is a body of work and practice in Library science that should be shared and used within the KM profession’</span></em><span style="font-family:Courier New;font-size:85%;">. </span><span style="font-family:Arial;">He went on further to suggest that library school to offer short courses to fill this gap for KM. I am glad that Dave has that view as I, through my career evolution, is convince of this. As suggested I am exploring Dervin’s Sense Making, Anthropology and Cognitive Sciences now.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span>Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1130902117079941192005-11-02T11:28:00.000+08:002005-11-02T11:28:37.113+08:00Library Is Dead?There are already a lot of articles talking about the demise of libraries and librarians. The latest one that I have read titled ‘<a href="http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm05610.pdf">Libraries: Standing at the Wrong Platform, Waiting for the Wrong Train</a> Google does not really help the situation when they announced their digital print and the digitization initiatives with major libraries. If this happened really we are potentially looking at the possibility of more escaped librarians. As it is now more of these escaped librarians are working in other fields or taking up a new role. This proved what I have said before whatever it is our skill still very much relevant. Personally though, I believe libraries and librarians would still be a round for quite sometimes.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1130391200112108532005-10-27T13:33:00.000+08:002005-10-27T13:33:20.123+08:00Still Very Much RelevantMy old friend dropped by in my office today for a chat and as usual we talked about old times and the latest development in the library, information and knowledge management world in Malaysia. Finally we are going to have our own union catalog, along time coming and long years of waiting. But what more interesting is that the development of this union catalog would have a KM flavor. Components of directory of experts, taxonomy and I ma hoping they will throw in other collaborative tools as well so that librarians in Malaysia could interact electronically better. The other interesting thing that came out in our discussion is that more and more librarians taking a step into KM roles and it is not surprising to me as I realize years before we are equip with the basic skills and tools. Now a lot of people are talking about managing content, building taxonomy, and diffusing as well as disseminating knowledge. The jargon may be a bit different but the concept of the basic requirement of KM are still the same. So guys keep those skills and tools sharp and handy.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1129876937752773802005-10-21T14:42:00.000+08:002005-10-21T14:42:17.763+08:00Building Local ContentIn a meeting, where else, today it was brought up again the need to create databases of local content. I think we have been talking about this since the day I join the library school and yet we have not progress at the rate that we want. Oh yes, we have certain successes here and there on certain content but there are a lot more out there. The problem is, most of the time, is not whether we do not have the content of capability but the will to do it is missing. We loose steam a long the way quite often and just like the rain in Malaysia, suddenly it pours cats and dogs and suddenly it stop without warning.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18068934.post-1129782931078722772005-10-20T12:28:00.000+08:002005-10-20T12:35:31.083+08:00An Escaped LibrarianThe name Escaped Librarian came from a post by a friend in a mailing list. He made this remark, 'Another escaped librarian' when a person he has been hotly debating with declared that he is a librarian. Obviously I thought that is a neat name to use. I hope my friend do not mind.Ghazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13674866772267370168noreply@blogger.com0