Field Trip Report By Nilofer Nisa Binti Mohamad Fawzi University Tun Hussein Onn Library (UTHM, Parit Raja Batu Pahat) 31 September 2012 THE UNIQENESS AND THE SPECIALITY OF UTHM LIBRARY
The largest library in South East Asia since May 2010
The beautiful sceneries of UTHM library bring peaceful vibes and a relaxing environment for students.
University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) is known to have the largest library in South East Asia since May 2010. To have come this far it is definitely not an easy task. Many researches and developments have been made to improvise the conditions and facilities of UTHM library. The first library in UTHM began operating on 1st October 1993 where UTHM was still known as Pusat Latihan Staf Politeknik. At that time it was only a two-storey building that can accommodate 120 users and consists of only 5000 copies of books inherited from the Politeknik Batu Pahat. Later in the year 2000, the library building was extended to support the increasing number of users and in the year 2004 UTHM has opened a branch library which is situated at the Town Campus. In 2006, another branch library was opened which is called the B5 library located above the Bursary Office. The seating capacity of the B5 library was for 500 users and it also had a few collections of journals, magazines, thesis, audio visuals, novels, maps prospectuses, examination papers and other reference books. Then in July 2008, the Town Campus Library was shifted to a new ground to provide better facilities and a more conducive learning environment for users. Two years later, UTHM library has moved to a new building which is now known to be the largest library in South East Asia. This building is a 5-storey building and has a floor area of 16 000 square meters. It is so big that it could accommodate of at least 3000 users. Besides that, this library can fill as many as 300 000 volumes. As for now, UTHM library holds more than 182 000 copies of reference books in various fields, 8 000 titles of thesis, 150 titles of printed journal, 180 titles of electric journal, 40 titles of magazine and 22,000 copies of audio-visual materials. The library has also subscribed the services of 28 databases, 4 e-books and 180 titles of e-journals. Not only that, UTHM Library also provides us with 100 carrel rooms, a postgraduate research rooms, 40 discussion rooms, 2 seminar rooms, an auditorium and a 24 hours room.
With all this facilities and services offered by UTHM library, students are able to have a spacious and conducive learning environment where they can obtain any kind of information based on their needs in UTHM itself. At this point, UTHM Library has become the finest place to gain knowledge as it is the centre of knowledge for students in UTHM.
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 4 LEVEL 3 UTHM Library floor plan from level 1 to level 4.
Operations in UTHM Library Currently UTHM library is using Symphony integrated library system; a software solution that associates with any library services to manage library operations, automate tasks and improve staff productivity. Using this system the library has managed to provide students with the most proficient services. Students so far never had any complaint with the service provided by UTHM library as it has been very well–organise and easy for the students to get what they want. There are two types of services that are available in UTHM library that are the circulation services and the reference and information services. The circulation services include:
The circulation counter located at level 1 which provides excellent services for UTHM students.
1. Membership registrations where all UTHM students and staff are registered as library members and all the details regarding borrowing and returning of books, overdue and others will be uploaded in the system where students and staff can always check it time to time. 2. Borrowing and returning- as borrowing students can either use the circulation counter or the self-check out machine which is more convenient. Every floor in the library has one or two of these machines. While to return the books we also use the circulation counter or the book drop station. 3. Reminder or overdue notice will be emailed to the students two days before the due date. Students will also be given three overdue notices that is the first, seventh and thirteenth day after the due day. Fine will be charged for any late returns. 4. Renewal of materials is a service where students can renew the material that they borrowed by extending their borrowing period. The maximum renewal that can be done by students is two times. Next , the reference and information services is the service where students are helped to find their reference book based on their researched topics by the librarians and students will also be given some kind of seminar at least once for every semester on how to use all the facilities and services provided by UTHM library in finding information. Other facilities given by UTHM library are locker, open carrels, laptop’s lock photocopy machine, Iqra’ room which is an individual carrel room for those who wants more privacy and a quieter environment, discussion rooms, information searching room which has 50 units of computer in it, closed reference room for close access collections, Al-Shirazi Scholar Room for post graduate Students, 24 hours reading room located next to the library entrance, Wi-Fi access and many more. As for the UTHM collections, it can be divided into a few categories as below .
Open access books on the library shelves which cover various fields
1. Open access which covers reference books in various fields. Each and every book has its own call number which is grouped according to its genres and its location in the library. The call number is placed at the bottom of each book. 2. Closed access is reference books that have limited copies and it is for internal reference only.
Individual carrels which give students personal space and a better privacy for learning purposes
3. Journals which is also for internal use only. 4. Magazines 5. Online resources such as e-book and e-journal 6. Audio visuals like CD-ROM,VCD, DVD, cassette and etc. 7. UTHM special collection which cover materials about UTHM or written by UTHM staffs. 8. Creative that includes English, Malay and some Japanese novels written by famous authors.
UTHM library has a seating capacities of 3000 people.
9. Maps
Based on all the facilities and services provided by UTHM library it is no doubt that UTHM has not only the largest but also the best library in South East Asia. We as UTHM students should be very proud and make full use of the goodness given to us. Unfortunately there still many students who are still unaware of the amenities provided by UTHM library in fact there are also some students who do not even know the where the library is. Therefore it is a very good opportunity for us to go and visit the library and learn many thing about the library as it could make us understand the importance of knowledge. There is nothing to be sceptical about UTHM being the centre of knowledge for everyone in UTHM.
