ACCESS AND COLLABORATION : Search and Discovery through Innovative Technologies

1. ACCESS AND COLLABORATION : Search and Discovery through Innovative Technologies DatinPadukaHajah Adina binti Othman

2. Cultural institutions/Libraries • Cultural Institutions responsible for the preservation of tangible and intangible heritage • Responsible for the preservation of historical monuments, landscapes, artifacts, works of art as well as documents, archives and records , which are not necessarily in paper form only • Libraries : generally refer to the place housing a large collection of books which may include digital sources, print, audio, and visual materials in numerous formats.

3. Relationship between Libraries, Archives & Cultural Institutions • Complement one another • Relationship have always been and should always be close • Serve the same clientele - information and knowledge seekers • Core business interlinked • Cultural institutions serve to preserve for posterity and to facilitate research • Libraries enrich the understanding of the artefacts held in the cultural institutions.

4. Archives / Libraries • Archives are closer to cultural institutions • Archives hold the records and written documents of the Government • Archives basically primary sources • Libraries hold considerably more secondary sources

5. Relationship between Libraries, Archives & Cultural Institutions • National Archives, Libraries, Museums and other cultural institutions are among the country’s core research resources • Libraries, Archives and Museums as the three pillars of cultural institutions • Need to collaborate more closely not only with each other but with other interested parties, such as education institutions, related government agencies as well as Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and the private sector.

6. Good Relationship Vital • Relationship and collaboration more relevant and necessary in small populated countries • Brunei Darussalam - small population, limited manpower and financial resources • Cooperation saves money and time • Reach users more efficiently • e-Library – at least 20 libraries • e-Archives • B-Heritage

7. Innovative Technologies & Information Science • Knowledge the basis of a nation’s life • Knowledge intrinsically linked with information • Age of information technology explosion • Dissemination of information easier, faster • Multiple modes for information dissemination • Search engines easier than the traditional manual search • Role of traditional information repositories jeopardised if they remain stagnant • New technologies need to be embraced and utilised • Traditional concept of libraries and other information repositories need to be redefined

8. Innovative Technologies & Information Science • Efforts need to be taken to show that libraries, archives and other information repositories are still relevant and essential to the knowledge and information seeker • Adaptation to the information explosion era requires profound changes in the organizations – not just in skills but no less important, in attitude • 21st century information specialists face more challenges but also exciting opportunities

9. Innovative Technologies & Information Science • Advantage of librarians and information managers • World wide web massive – difficult for some researchers unsure of the effective ways of navigating it • Advances in management information technology has brought about radical changes in organisational form and function • Impact on information storage, information management and searching tools

10. Change is inevitable • Need for information specialists to rethink strategies • The potential for change is here and information managers need to grab them • Can increase efficiency, effectiveness, creativity and innovativeness • Electronic information storage and retrieval should be the norm • Traditional archives and library should be retained in terms of storage • Information professionals should take on additional jobs of electronically storing and retrieving their holdings

11. Library Development in Brunei • Types of libraries :- • Public libraries • Special libraries • Reference libraries • Academic libraries • School libraries • The Language and Literature Bureau, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, runs the public libraries • Act as the lead agency in Brunei on coordination of library development programmes • Other key players being the University Brunei Darussalam Library • Ministry of Education lead agency on provision of formal training for librarians basically through the vocational schools.  

12. Legal Deposit & National Bibliography • No National Library • Preservation of Books Act 1967 • Legal deposit entrusted to the Director of Museums - three copies of nationally produced publications deposited in the Brunei Museum • Since the 1970s, the Public Library has also acted as depository for all Brunei publications • National bibliography published by the Museums Department - backlog • Cooperation needed from librarians to ensure annual publication of National Bibliography • Two main functions of the National Library i.e. the legal deposit and the national bibliographic control, have been addressed

13. Brunei National Archives • Brunei National Archives Act 1975 (revised 1983) • National Archives of Brunei is the lead agency for archives • Current Director of the National Archives is the Director of Museums

14. National Library? – Possible Alternatives • National Library/University Library? • National Library/National Archives? • Absence of a National Library should not be used as rationale for inertia and inactivity • Demography and the small population of Brunei - some other set up? • Should not divert from core business to serve the community • Intrinsic right of all to access to information and knowledge

15. Information Specialists, handlers and Providers • Need to ‘license’ the librarians and information handlers to ensure they have the right qualifications from the lowest post • Regulatory body to implement this and keep a register on them • Need to review the schemes of service of librarians and archivists • Training should be made compulsory • Need to establish a framework for library qualifications to regulate standard of information handlers and providers

16. Image of Librarians and Information Specialists • Need to upgrade image of librarians • Change in the role of librarians • Libraries have transformed or should transform • Society need to accept the new role of librarians and information specialists • Impact of social media and mobile technologies on the use of information and libraries • Librarians are the ‘people behind the scene’ gathering the information, organizing it, preserving it so it is accessible to all • Machines cannot do it

17. Image of Librarians and Information Specialists • Equally important, if not more important, for librarians and information specialists themselves to understand the need to change • Change of mindsets necessary to adapt to the new types of information seekers • Need to comprehend and accept the change in their roles • Libraries and information repositories which fail to adapt to the needs of society and stay relevant to the community they serve will find themselves marginalised in the long run.

18. CONCLUSION • Libraries should exude aura of dynamism • Libraries should continually upgrade themselves • Be alive • Be a place that can promise exciting discoveries to your readers • Do not forget your core business - to serve the community by providing access to information • Clients should be central to all your strategies • Restrategise • Reach out to the younger generation

19. Believe in Yourselves • The feel of a book in one’s hands definitely beats reading from a monitor screen • Have pride in what you do • Society will always require the services of libraries and archives.

20. Thank you