Sarawakiana Portal

Background Information

Pustaka Negeri Sarawak under the Sarawak Library Ordinance 1999, has the legal responsibility for acquiring, developing, maintaining, preserving and making accessible a comprehensive collection of documentary materials relating to Sarawak in order to create a centre of excellence on Intellectual Heritage of Sarawak. One of the initiative under Key Focus Area Project in 2013, Sarawakiana Portal was created. The title of the Key Focus Area (KFA) Project was The Enhancement of Sarawakiana Services to the public by intensifying visibility and access. The name of the Portal is Sarawakiana Art Collection Online.

Working Group members involved in the creation of the portal were:

• Group sponsor: Japri Bujang Masli
• Group facilitator: Hayati Haji Sabil
• Group Leader: Edison Ricket
• Assistant Group Leader: Izaruddin Moss
  
  

Group Members:

• Laurena Anak Aloh
• Norassima Sitam
• Musa Ayub Abd Rahman
• Lillian Baun Pulo
• Amir Hamzah Ahmad
• Abdul Afiq Abdul Aziz
• Cyprian Eldred Rossem
  
  

Scope of the KFA Project

The project focuses only on Visual Arts collection and expected to improve the access and information content on Sarawakiana materials (Visual Arts) collection in Pustaka Negeri Sarawak.

Sarawakiana Art Collection Online Portal

Sarawakiana Art Collection Online portal is the digital representative of Sarawak State Library’s visual art collections. The collection feature artworks either by local artists or about Sarawak, is a resource for researchers, art aficionados and enthusiasts alike. The collection includes pieces by Sarawak's leading artist such as; Raphael Scott Ahbeng, Lam Siong Onn, Tan Wei Kheng, Chew Fang Chin, Sylvester Wielding Jussem, the late Micheal Voon Nam Kwong, the late Foo Syn Choon, Foo Syn Hee, Mohd. Zaidi Wahab, Ramsay Ong, Petrus Alfred, Ashari Hj. Hamdan, Sim Chiap Chin, K.V. Chai, Hendrick Nicholas, Abdul Malik Adenan, Dr. Kamil Salem, Gerald Goh Teck Joo, Noel Belulok, Mohd Relly, Aloysius Ho Boo Chiang, Magdalene Tai, Mary Ann Vaz, Yong Pik Dien, Siti Hajijah Abdullah Sani and many more. These visual arts are available in Sarawakiana collection at Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, Kuching and Miri. Many of these painting images are accompanied by summarised write-ups on the artwork concerned.

The Sarawakiana Art collection Online is updated and uploaded to the Sarawakiana Portal regularly. Currently the portal had about 68 Artists profiles and 464 visual arts in its collections.

Completion of the KFA Project

The project was completed in 2014 and handed over to Sarawakiana Division on the 20th November 2014. The initial project managed to do data input of:

• 124 visual arts collections
• 23 artists profile
  
  

Features of Sarawakiana Portal

• The Portal is in compliance with HTML5 which is responsive in design for web and mobile version.
• Watermarks & Visual Arts Specifications:

 - Size of visual arts: Height - 300px; Width – 400px
 - Size of watermarks: Height - 20px; Width – 210px
 - Transparency: 40%
 - Font: Calibri

• Links:

 - Sarawak State Bibliography
 - Sarawak Authors
 - e-Sarawak Gazette

Outcome & Impact of the Project

• The total number of Visual Arts in Pustaka at in 2014 was about 500. Continuous effort is being made to upload more visual arts collections to the Portal. The portal was uploaded from December 2013 to December 2014. It facilitates excellence result in service delivery and can be accessed 24/7.
• The number of visual arts uploaded to Sarawakiana Portal and available for access to the global community were 124 as of 31th Dec. 2014.
• Sarawakiana Collection usage statistics in 2012 was recoded at 794. As of 31 December 2014 the Portal was accessed 16,399 times.
• The Return of Investment (ROI) of the Portal in term of usage/access/hits was 16,399 as of December 2014 compared to 794 in 2012. This indicates an increase of 95.2% of usage/access/hits to the Portal and the cost of purchasing the website template was only RM70.
• Increase public awareness on Sarawakiana Collections.
• Provides easy access to digital representation of primary source materials documenting and illustrating the arts, culture and the history of Sarawak.
• Provides an alternative format for Visual Arts materials.
• Improve control over collections and the information contained in them.
  
  

Future Plans

Currently the Portal only include Sarawakiana Art Collection Online with 68 Artists profiles and 464 visual arts. Links were also provided for selected information (see features of the Portal). However, the changes to the Portal is already in the pipeline in 2019 to improve the features of Sarawakiana Portal and the content of the Portal.

To include programs & activities such as:

• Exhibitions
• Sarawakiana Talk
• Other collections such as stamps; postcards; photographs, manuscripts, etc.
• Artists to upload their own visual arts collections
  
  

Consent Form and Artists Profile

Artists are expected to complete the Consent Form and their profile in order for Pustaka to upload their visual arts. Currently the priority is for Pustaka to upload the visual arts that is available in its collection.

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