Digital Services through Institutional Repositories at Kuching Sarawak Polytechnic Library
This title (paper) has been presented at International Knowledge virtual Conference 2021 (IKC2021) organised by Pustaka Negeri Sarawak on 12th until 13th August 2021. The paper was prepared by Sabrina Milan and Kiprawi Sani (Politeknik Kuching Sarawak).
Contents
Introduction
Brief Background
Kuching Sarawak Polytechnic (PKS) was established in 1988 under the Fifth Malaysia Plan. PKS was located about 22 kilometers from Kuching City, which is 112 acres of built up area. PKS started the first intake in July 1989 with an initial 160 students. PKS are part of 36 polytechnics and 103 community colleges under the administration of the Polytechnic and Community College Department (JPPKK). PKS plays a role in producing semi -professionals to meet the workforce of various industries. PKS has eight academic departments and offers 14 programs with nine programs conducted covering engineering and non-engineering fields comprising nine engineering programs, two commerce programs and one information technology programs. Since 1988, PKS has produced more than 27,000 graduates working in various employment sectors in Malaysia. Presently, the PKS has about 500 employees consisting of academic staff and academic support while the total number of students is about 4,500 students. The PKS library is part of the support units that play an important role in supporting teaching and learning activities to produce competitive polytechnic graduates. The services and facilities provided in the library have made the library as the main reference center and even serve as a leisure center and so on. To date the PKS Library has about 30,000 copies of materials.
PKS Digital Institutional Repository (PKS IR) ; digital services moving forward
The success of Malaysian Universities in implementing digital platforms using institutional repositories has been the driving force for the PKS Library to ensure that PKS IR acts as digital platforms that benefit end users. DSpace’s capabilities and uniqueness have made ideas and expectations to make knowledge management continue to be relevant in line with the rapid development of technology. (Smith et al., 2003) argues that DSpace will play a very important role in the future especially to university libraries and archives, which will act as a platform to explore, develop standards and serve to develop sustainable research in digital asset management, archives and preservation systems.
DSpace has had a positive impact on the digital services of the PKS Library especially forming a digital network in its services, research information sharing, scholarly writing and so on. The ability to provide digital services through DSpace drives better access to library materials such as archival collections, research papers and conferences that can be accessed more quickly. (Biswas & Paul, 2010), their study explains that the role played by repositories in managing and disseminating information generated by institutions digitally will help preserve long-term digital resources.
DSpace has transformed a traditional library into a more efficient and low -cost provision of digital services. This has been successfully implemented by the PKS Library which supports a new dimension in line with the fast -growing and open nature of digital services. Acknowledge by (Zainab, 2010) will dominate the scholarly world where it helps authors share research knowledge and information with others as much as possible.
The Success of the PKS Digital Repository of Institutions
| Community | Total |
|---|---|
| Archives | 90 |
| Articles on Research & Innovation | 25 |
| Conference Paper | 35 |
| Examination Paper | 2,458 |
| Freesias | 5 |
| Image | 84 |
| PKS's Director Speech | 25 |
| Publications | 64 |
| Record Management | 1 |
| Tracer Study Reports | 7 |
| Example | 2,794 |
* Table 1: Number of digital collections until 2021
Impact of Institutional Repository
Research Information Management
The results of research conducted by academic lecturers are the largest contributor to the research data available in PKS IR which are obtained through research and presentation. To ensure that this information remains at all times, efficient intellectual information management is created so that aspects of knowledge sharing and reference services can be done more easily.
Centre of Archive
PKS Library has successfully diversified its functions either as a supporter of teaching and learning activities or as an archive center. Its existence has become an important element of reference and information centers in PKS. Archival materials have been successfully archived through the digitization process so that they have added value and are also preserved. The PKS Library strengthens the activities of managing, collecting and preserving archival materials and academic writing. These materials are highly valued based on their content, historical value and the year of publication. The initiatives implemented are aimed at making libraries and archive centers as well as PKS history. The rapid development of technology has caused digital services to become very significant to consumers today. Hence, the implementation of the PKS IR which has given a new dimension to PKS Library services.
Cost
DSpace has provided a very effective advantage in creating a digital environment in PKS. The concept of openness allowed by DSpace allows it to be very cost effective and many benefits.
Open Access
The PKS IR has enabled materials such as the archive collection, research materials to be publicly accessible and more widely available through the internet network. This service has enhanced the ability of PKS Library to provide digital services to its library users.
Challenges And Issues
Knowledge Sharing
Convincing researchers or lecturers to include their publications in institutional repositories is a challenging task and is an ongoing process. (Kamraninia & Abrizah, 2010) states that authors still rarely upload materials and meetings in the form of training should be held to promote the institutional repository. Awareness among lecturers on IR PKS is still at a satisfactory level. However, the problem of contribution of research materials is still low because they prefer other platforms. Cultivation of knowledge sharing needs to be carried out more frequently so that knowledge is always renewed, developed and the creation of knowledge always happens. Meanwhile, (Okoroma, 2018) argue that the awareness of researchers and lecturers of institutional repositories is an important element in creating a significant role and benefit if they use IR to develop research results.
Digitization budget
Limited financial resources resulted in the project being carried out on a minimal scale. Priority is given to the use of existing equipment and tools to make the project a success. Suggest by (Harun, 2010) propose appropriate budget allocations to facilitate digital library planning. It is necessary for the development of digital libraries, training, database maintenance, hardware and software, infrastructure, provision of online services and maintenance.
IT Expertise
PKS Library staff have only minimal expertise in the field of information systems. To overcome this problem, groups of experts in PKS are fully utilized to carry out technical work such as upgrades and maintenance to ensure the continuity of PKS IR. This collaboration has yielded many positive results.
Copyright
Issues related to copyright and intellectual property are challenges that need to be faced. The ever -evolving technology has made it a more challenging issue for libraries and librarians. However, (Zainab, 2010) mentions that problems such as copyright ownerships seem to be able to be resolved, as attitudes are beginning to change. More e-print, e-journal and print journal publishers are going green by allowing authors to retain the copyright to their works.
Conclusion
State by (Kamraninia & Abrizah, 2010) the primary reason for establishing institutional repositories is to increase the visibility of the institution’s research output by making it Open Access. And (Joo et al., 2018) argues that institutional repositories not only serve as a compelling digital place for researchers to store, manage and preserve their scholarly materials, but also as an online venue to distribute those materials effectively, potentially increasing the impact and visibility of research products. Polytechnics needs to make the university in Malaysia a benchmark which has successfully developed a repository institutional platform that successfully forms a pool of high value academic materials. This indicates the importance of educational institutions to implement open access to available research materials. The digital initiative project implemented is a long journey to ensure that PKS Libraries remain competitive in this increasingly challenging world. This project needs to be improved to remain relevant in the evolving technology era. The efforts given by the PKS Library to maximize the potential to move towards digital should be commended.
References
Biswas, G., & Paul, D. (2010). An evaluative study on the open source digital library softwares for institutional repository : Special reference to Dspace and greenstone digital library. Journal of Library and Information Science, 2, 1–10.
Harun, N. (2010). Digital library perspectives: Some views. Tinta, 19, 15–21.
Joo, S., Hofman, D., & Kim, Y. (2018). Investigation of challenges in academic institutional repositories: A survey of academic librarians. Library Hi Tech, 37(3), 525–548. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-12-2017-0266
Kamraninia, K., & Abrizah, A. (2010). Librarians’ role as change agents for institutional repositories: A case of Malaysian academic libraries. Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science, 15(3), 121–133.
Okoroma, F. N. (2018). Awareness, knowledge and attitude of lecturers towards institutional repositories in university libraries in Nigeria. Digital Library Perspectives, 34(4), 288–307. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-04-2018-0011
Smith, M., Bass, M., Mcclellan, G., & Walker, J. H. (2003). DSpace An Open Source Dynamic Digital Repository. D-Lib Magazine, 9(1), 1–11. https://dlib.org/dlib/january03/smith/01smith.html
Zainab, A. N. (2010). Open access repositories and journals for visibility: Implications for Malaysian libraries. Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science, 15(3), 97–119. https://doi.org/10.1045/september2005-westrienen; Ware, M., Universities’ own electronic repositories yet to impact on Open Access (2004) Nature, p. 7. , http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/accessdebate/4.html, 7 September; Zainab, A.N., Abrizah, A., Hilmi, M.R., What a Digital Library of Malay Manuscripts Should Support: An Exploratory Needs Analysis (2009) Libri, 59 (4), pp. 275-289
