Bandar Seri Begawan - The Brunei Darussalam Library Association (BDLA), with the support of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), organised a two-day national symposium, which began yesterday morning.
The symposium, held at the university‘s central lecture theatre, focused on library development surrounding its theme "Libraries: the Landmark for Intellectual Society".
Through the initiatives of Brunei government, various forms of digital libraries have emerged, replacing the need for the printed word. E-library@UBD, VILIS Brunei, ITB‘s e-RIS are just a few examples of library digitisation.
The symposium endeavours to provide a strong foundation for the establishment of a learning society and offers supportive modes of acquiring skills. Limitations in terms of development and quality were also brought forward during the symposium.
According to BDLA Vice-President and chairman of the symposium, Hj Abdullah Hj Tahir, the future development of libraries in the country is the stepping stone needed to create a more conducive environment for teaching, learning and research.
Dr Mataim Bakar, Director of the Language and Literature Bureau, was present to deliver his keynote address entitled "Nation‘s Libraries are Necessity" in which he reiterated the importance of libraries towards enhancing society‘s intellectual development.
The two-day symposium saw 20 presentations focussing on different areas, including national development, information and information literacy, national in information policy, knowledge and intellectual property, and reference and information services, to name a few.
The first paper was presented by Dr Hj Suhaimi Hj Abd Karim, Acting Chief Librarian of UBD. He spoke of the role of libraries in an information society through a Brunei perspective.
Among the areas discussed was the important role the government play. "Libraries already exist," he said, "and they require relatively modest investment in improving and expanding their services.
"In an age of over-flowing information, systematic and organised access to selected and quality approved information is especially important in building human capacity... Libraries should be included as an essential component in the country‘s e-strategy," he added.
Another speaker, Dr David Prescott, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, spoke on information literacy, how different it is from traditional literacy and discussed the current state of students‘ information literacy.
According to Dr Prescott, university students, UBD students in particular, are increasingly using the Internet to gather information, but lack the "critical discernment and reasoning to make effective use of it".
"We have a good deal more work to do in Brunei if we want to have information literate students," he asserted.
"The way ahead is to ensure that the basic attributes of print literacy are in place with plenty of emphasis on regular, active, intelligent reading in the school system," he added.
"To develop the attributes of information, literacy students need to be regularly engaged in structured, Internet-based tasks."
Other speakers at the symposium included professionals in various fields, such as Nur Al‘Ain Dr Hj Abdullah, Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Attorney-General‘s Chambers, who spoke on Intellectual Property Rights.
There are currently a total of eight public libraries in the country - three in Brunei-Muara and Belait District each, and one in both Tutong and Temburong.
About 90 participants attended the symposium intended to provide a platform for knowledge sharing among information personnel in the country. By Narissa Noor
Source: http://www.brunei-online.com (July 02, 2008)