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INFORMATION SERVICES AND FACILITIESAVAILABLE TO SOCIAL
SCIENCE RESEARCHERS : COUNTRY REPORT*
by
ARA TALIB**
ABSTRAK
Kertas kerja ini membincangkan peranan perpustakaan dalam
menyokong infrastrukturpembangunan maklumat yang diperlukan oleh
penyelidik dan saintis sosial di dalam usahamereka memenuhi
aspirasi kerajaan menjadikan Malaysia negara yang maju
sepenuhnyamenjelang tahun 2020. Penulis cuba menyingkap secara
ringkas senario pembangunanpenyelidikan sains sosial di Malaysia
bermula dari tahun 1949 di mana Universiti Malayamula ditubuhkan
sehinggalah tahun 70an di mana tertubuhnya universiti-universiti
yanglain yang giat menjalankan kajian-kajian dalam bidang ini bagi
pihak kerajaan dan agensi-agensi tertentu. Seterusnya sumber-sumber
maklumat yang banyak tersimpan diperpustakaan-perpustakaan
khususnya, perwujudan akta-akta perpustakaan, penggunaankomputer di
perpustakaan-perpustakaan, perkongsian maklumat dan penghantaran
dokumendi antara perpustakaan serta penubuhan rangkaian maklumat
sains sosial adalah antaraisu-isu yang dibincangkan oleh
penulis.
INTRODUCTION
nder the Sixth Malaysia Plan, 1991-95,it is stated that the
objective of the library
development programme is to "inculcate andpromote greater
develop the reading habit amongMalaysians. This is with a view of
developinga knowledgeable and informed society, as a partof the
overall national goal of developing qualitycitizens". Underneath
that very deceptively
Paper presented at the Asia Pacific Regional Seminar on Social
Science Information, Seoul, Korea, 1 -4 June 1993
Librarian, Data Processing Division, Perpustakaan Negara
Malaysia
simplistic statement of the objective of librarydevelopment, the
role that libraries has toactually play is tremendous.
Their direction has to be in line with nationalpolicies as
clearly outlined in the Sixth MalaysiaPlan. Library information
facilities and servicesshould respond to the National Policy on
Library
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and Information Services, the National BookPolicy, the National
Science and TechnologyPolicy, Industrial Technology Development
Planto name a few. Social Science research activitiespresumably
centre within the boundaries of theNational Development Policy. And
presumablylibraries must cater for the needs of the socialscience
researchers.
Development of Social Science Researchin Malaysia - a brief
scenario
The development of social sciences in Malaysiawas coincidental
with colonial rule. Thepatterns of research then had to be in
accordancewith the demands of the colonial
administrators.Researches that were carried out were notdirected to
the development of the localpopulation but instead were dictated by
the needsof the colonial set-up, to provide data andinformation
about the peoples, their customs,languages and cultures which were
consideredcrucial to efficient management. Problemsrelated to
social change brought about by theBritish themselves were not
addressed. Most ofthe writings and findings if not all,
wereconducted by the administrators of the Britishcivil
service.
In any case, researchers dedicated to socialscience research
activities were scarce.Attachments to organizations or institutions
forthe purpose of research was an unknown feature.This was
acceptable as even education andtraining of social scientists at
the time wasnoticeably absent. The first local university
wasestablished only in 1949, namely the Universityof Malaya located
in Singapore. It was perceivedas unimportant then that social
science researchhad a role to play or that it was a basis for
theformulation and implementation of policies.However, in the early
years followingindependence and in the subsequent decades,there was
a slight difference and developmentin the social science research
activities. But the"research culture" that was to take shape
wasundeniably a reflection of practices experienced
before independence hitherto inherited as anorm. The ideology of
the colonial masters wasclearly seen in the theoretical and
philosophicalsuppositions of researches conducted. Andwhatever
built-in prejudices that were once inforce became difficult to
change.
During the early years after independence,policy makers and
bureaucrats alike were slowto realize the importance of the social
sciencediscipline in national development. Science andtechnology
were disciplines perceived asimportant to enhance development and
if at allsocial science was considered, it was onlyeconomics.
Although social science was taughtat university level, very little
was done in termsof teaching research in social science, except
tofulfill departments' graduation exerciserequirements. If there
was any research donetowards development, it was either
bygovernment or government-sponsoredorganizations.
There was a noticeable change however in theseventies with the
establishment of moreuniversities, significantly the
ScienceUniversity, Pulau Pinang and the NationalUniversity in Kuala
Lumpur. The ScienceUniversity had full fledged disciplines in
theirown rights. The Centre for Policy Researchwas established at
USM which undertookresearches for both government and
otheragencies. In a sense, researches were carriedout based on
national needs, besides contributingto the academic development of
social scienceteaching and research programs. It was the trendin
the seventies therefore, that it was theuniversities rather than
government that becamethe centre where researches were carried
out.Activities grew in response to nationalisticdemands as well as
the economic demand fortrained manpower.
Sources of Social Science Information
The scope of social science is very wide andvaried. Regardless
of its stages of development
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between the developed and developing countriesand regardless of
its research orientation, socialscience plays a major role in
fashioning societies.But research will remain research or study if
thefindings are not utilized by those who needthem.
The objective of the Malaysian National Policyon Library and
Information Services aims at theprovision and progressive
improvement oflibrary facilities and services in order tocontribute
effectively to national developmentand provide in particular,
effective support for:
a. the policy formulation and decisionmaking process
b. planning, research and developmentactivity
c. the educational processd. the intellectual development of
the
people, their economic activity and thefulfilment of their
cultural andrecreational needs.
Libraries, particularly those in social scienceinstitutions
should acquire all materials inwhatever format, be it monographs,
serials,research reports microforms or other media tobe kept,
managed and systematicallydocumented for easy access to those who
needthem.
Under the provision of the Deposit of LibraryMaterials Act 1986,
Perpustakaan NegaraMalaysia receives 5 copies of all
publicationspublished in Malaysia, for the purpose ofpreservation
and reference. Materials here aredesignated print as well as
non-print.Perpustakaan Negara also acquires materialsthrough
purchase, gifts and exchange.
In 1987 Perpustakaan Negara conducted a surveyto determine the
subject strength of librarycollections. The result of this survey
waspublished in the Panduan Kekukuhan KoleksiPerpustakaan which is
the directory of libraryresources in Malaysia, indicating
subject
coverage. Several libraries are identified as"social science"
libraries. The purpose of thedirectory is to assist librarians and
informationprofessionals identify the subject strength oflibraries
for the purposes of resource sharing andinter-library loan. In the
1987 edition, 110libraries were listed. For the same purpose,
thedirectory was updated in 1991 with an additional65
libraries/information centres listed. Simpleentries were provided
indicating subject strength,availability of special collection,
original formavailable for loan and materials not allowed forloan.
To expedite inter-library loan, the nameof the person in-charge was
also indicated. Inthe 1987 edition, out of the 110 libraries
listed,it was found that 74 libraries contained socialscience
colletions, while in the 1991 edition outof 175, there are 88 with
social sciencecollections.
Most libraries publish reference tools in one formor another to
disseminate information about theircollection. This may include the
catalogue,bibliographies, indexes and abstracts. Forexample, to
find out about materials publishedlocally, the Perpustakaan Negara
Malaysiapublishes on a quarterly basis the MalaysianNational
Bibliography. This is a listing of allmaterials received under the
Deposit of LibraryMaterials Act 1986. For easy access of
journalarticles, conference papers and newspaperarticles, the
Perpustakaan Negara Malaysiapublishes the Malaysian Periodicals
Index, theIndex to Conferences and the NewspaperIndex respectively.
These bibliographic recordsare now available online to users. At
the sametime, other libraries also undertake to informusers of
their collections in the form of newacquisitions lists and selected
subjectbibliographies. SDI and Current AwarenessServices are common
practices amongstlibraries.
Use of Computers
The use of computers is now a common featureamongst Malaysian
libraries. It is also an
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accepted fact that libraries are using and willcontinue to use
different systems. For example,there are now 9 libraries using VTLS
(VirginiaTech Library System), 2 using DOBIS/L1BIS,12 using Dynix,
5 using Columbia LibrarySystem, 4 using SISPUKOM, 5 using
TechLibnot discounting those using software such asCDS/ISIS.
Regardless of the system used,bibliographic records are now
accessible online.Some special libraries have also
createddatabases, but on a more modest scale
usingmicrocomputers.
In 1986. the Perpustakaan Negara Malaysiaconducted a survey, the
results of which werepublished in the Directory of Databases:
adirectory of institutional databases. Thisdirectory was an attempt
to list databasesavailable in libraries in the public sector,
thestatutory bodies as well as the private sector. Itwas an
ambitions project, but it gave us an ideawhat was available. There
were not manydatabases available, as computerisation was
justcatching on in the public sector. And privatecompanies were not
so ready to reveal what theyhad.
More specifically in 1992, the PerpustakaanNegara Malaysia
undertook yet another surveyparticularly on social science
databases. Thepurpose of this survey was to find out
databasesavailable amongst the social science
institutionsidentified and the results to be published in
adirectory and distributed. 56 institutions wereidentified and
questionnaire sent. To date, only17 responded.
The survey required names of databases,information about the
type of database, i.e.whether they are catalogues, indexes,
directories,statistics or others. The software applicationsand the
hardware platform to run the applicationwere found to be useful
features.
Resource Sharing and Document Delivery
The availability of databases online or manual
is important to libraries in terms of inter-libraryloan. In June
1989 the Document DeliverySystem was launched with the
PerpustakaanNegara Malaysia as the coordinator. At the time,126
libraries signed the memorandum ofunderstanding whereby member
libraries agreeto loan materials either in the original form
orphotocopy to those who need them for theirusers. The Document
Delivery System has beenexpedited with the use of the electronic
mail,called TELEMA1L introduced by the SyarikatTelekom. On a trial
basis, the DDS form hasbeen successfully built into TELEMAIL for
usebetween the members. For libraries that do notyet own a
microcomputer, but has a telefaxmachine, requests can be made
through thetelafax, or at the very least the telephone, orthe
ordinary postal service.
Other services available to researchers aredatabases on CD-ROM.
Since 1988, thePerpustakaan Negara Malaysia has produced alist of
CD-ROM databases available ininstitutions using the CD-ROM. This
list isupdated quarterly and circulated to selectedlibraries and
others on request.
The Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia and ahandful of university
libraries, namely theUniversity Of Malaya, Agricultural
Universityand the Science University subscribe toDIALOG, an
international database, tosupplement research needs. DIALOG
containsmore than 170 million records online, coveringa variety of
subjects. Since the searches requiretelecommunication charges,
users are chargeda minimal fee for every search done.
Social Science Information Network
Under the Sixth Malaysia Plan and futureMalaysia Five Year
Plans, planning thenetworking of libraries will be undertaken
andhas in fact already taken-off. A MalaysiaNational Bibliographic
Network in now in theprocess under the distributed
networkenvironment. This is taking into consideration
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that libraries have now developed their owndatabases using
different computer systems.
There is a plan to facilitate the development ofspecial
libraries and specialised informationcentres in the ministries,
Federal GovernmentDepartments, Research Institutions and
privatecorporations to become specialised centres ofexcellence in
related subject areas to form partof the national information
system.
In the first phase of the networking plan, linkageswill be
between libraries using the same softwareapplication. The date, the
libraries at theMinistry of Trade and Industry and the
NationalProductivity Centre already have access to thePerpustakaan
Negara Malaysia databases, usingthe dial-up line via modem.
Although the first phase of the NationalBibliographic networking
stipulated linkagesbetween similar system, Perpustakaan
NegaraMalaysia entertains requests by non-VTLS usersto access its
databases.
CONCLUSION
The National Development Policy formulatedby the Malaysian
government aims to makeMalaysia become a fully developed nation
bythe year 2020. To achieve this, there must be abalanced
development in order to establish amore united and just society
based on theprinciple of growth within the context of arapidly
growing economy. Taking off from this,social scientists and
researchers have a multitudeof tasks to fulfill if the aspirations
of thegovernment are to be successfully met andachieved. And
needless to say, in order tosupport this endeavor, libraries play a
major rolein the development of the informationinfrastructure.
Currently, facilities and services for the purposeof social
science researches are relativelyadequate in Malaysia, although
these willcontinue to be developed and improved.
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Hak Cipta Terpelihara © 1994 – Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia