Singapore Libraries Bulletin Blog : Library Association of Singapore

Co-organised by the National Library of Singapore, IFLA Newspapers Section and IFLA Core Activity on Preservation and Conservation.

Interested to uncover the impact of digital technology upon contemporary and historic newspapers? Register for the IFLA International Newspaper Conference and learn how distinguished international & regional speakers tackle these challenges. (more…)

Abstract Submissions for IFLA International Newspaper Conference 2008
- Old Issues, New Issues: Impact of Digital Technology upon Contemporary and Historic Newspapers

Want to share collective knowledge about how libraries can tackle the dual challenges of preserving printed newspapers and responding to the changes that new technologies bring on to managing both printed and online (born digital) newspapers?

We invite you to register and submit a short proposal for a presentation on the IFLA International Newspaper Conference’s theme - Old Issues, New Issues: Impact of Digital Technology upon Contemporary and Historic Newspapers.  The Conference will focus on the rapid advancements of digital technologies affecting the various aspects relating to newspapers in libraries and archives, and will be held at the National Library of Singapore from 1 to 3 April 2008.

(more…)

Ajita Thuraisingham was Assistant Librarian at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies while I was Librarian. One of her tasks was the compilation of the second volume of the ASEAN Bibliography for1981-85 which was published in 1988. This volume was a regional effort in that it included contributions from cooperating regional librarians and included the holdings of libraries in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Japan. When the bibliography was completed, it contained 6,400 entries and was acknowledged as a major contribution to the efforts of scholars and governments working towards building the idea of region. Ajita brought to library work a high level of intellectual input and this was to bring quality into the editing process.Ajita left Singapore shortly after that and I lost touch with her but I still remember the good times and the good professional discussions we had together.

A tribute by Miss Ch’ng Kim See, Head of ISEAS Library.

(more…)

Mrs Ajita Lewis nee Thuraisingham, passed away peacefully on 25 May, 2007.

Those of you who knew her will remember her as an active member of LAS.

The next few articles are contributions from fellow librarians who remember her fondly.

Libraries the world over are facing financial challenges in collection build-up; one obvious way to address this is to establish some form of resource sharing between libraries.
While resource sharing sounds good as an idea, the actual pathways leading to successful implementation are subject to various inter-dependencies and obstacles such as rights and distribution.

The National Library Board of Singapore (NLB) is pleased to bring you the 10th IFLA Interlending and Document Supply (ILDS) International Conference that gathers over 200 information and knowledge professionals and business leaders from all over the world to engage in insightful exchanges on the theme ‘Resource Sharing for the Future, Building Blocks for Success’ to be held 29 – 31 October 2007.

There will be 4 keynote speakers for each main block of our conference.

• Mr Mike McGrath, the editor of Interlending and Document Supply Journal will set the backdrop of the industry and paint the state of affairs and challenges facing the business of ILDS. 
• Dr Harald Müller, the Director of the Library at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law will share with us the issues faced by our industry and some of the experiences encountered all over the world. 
• Mr Mat Pfleger, the Head of Sales and Marketing at the British Library will be describing to us their experience working with 2 major search engines on the web Google and Microsoft and how the partnerships were struck, their journey and performances thus far. 
• Ms Ngian Lek Choh, Director of the National Library Singapore will explore some of the new ideas and consolidation of services experimented by the librarians in Singapore to provide new angles of business for ILDS.

Overall, we will be covering the background, legal, tools and future aspects of the ILDS business. Log on to http://www.nlbconference.com/ilds/programme.htm for more details on the conference programme.

Special Discounts for LAS members

LAS members pay only S$486 (a discount of more than S$150 off the conference fees) if they register by 31 July 2007 with jenny@singex.com.sg.

We have a variety of sponsorship packages available that are tailored to your needs. For further discussions, you may wish to contact Ms Fauziah Soeratman at Tel: (65) 6342 4270 or Fauziah_Soeratman@nlb.gov.sg.

Blog Your Thoughts
The ILDS Conference Blog is up and running! So feel free to give us your comments, suggestions or just drop us short notes of how you think could help us make the event a success. We will also be periodically updating information via the blog page so do check in regularly for more conference knick-knacks.

Contributed by Ang Ling Ling, National Library Board

Knowledge, Imagination, Possibility

Celebrating the theme of “Bringing Knowledge Alive, Sparking Imagination, and Creating Possibility”, the National Library Board (NLB) launched a commemorative book, Celebrating Libraries, on 25 October. The book is sold at The Library Shop, National Library Building, from 1 November, at $35.

The book is the result of a four-month long campaign in which more than 4,000 Singaporeans shared the impact the library has made on their lives. Stories collected were then short-listed before being compiled into an anthology that is the first of its kind in Singapore.

Celebrating Young Talents …

Guest-of-Honour, Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Information, Communications and the Arts, was present to commemorate the book launch and present the Marshall Cavendish Librarian Award and prizes to the winners of a nationwide school competition and held in conjunction with the ‘Celebrating Libraries’ campaign. The contributors of the three best stories from each category won book prizes sponsored by Marshall Cavendish.

… and Librarians

Ms Azizah Sidek, Reference Specialist, Lee Kong Chian Reference Library (LKCRL), was awarded the inaugural Marshall Cavendish Librarian Award. A librarian since 1977 she beamed, “I am indeed honoured to have won the award. Being a librarian is a truly rewarding and meaningful career. We have the opportunity to stay abreast of the latest knowledge management and information trends, serve our patrons, and ultimately contribute to the development of Asian content in Singapore.”

From Scaling Mountains…

Contributor Mr David Lim, a veteran mountaineer and Chief Motivation Officer of the Everest Motivation Team, declared, “People always hear of a book changing someone’s life but never actually met one. I am one of the minority of people who can actually say that a book changed their life. I thought it [my story] would be a good fit for this book.”

“I was at a book sale looking for my then favorite sport, rowing, when I came across a book on mountaineering. I thought it would make a quick read before being thrown away. But I read it and thought, I must do this!”

… To Training a Pet Rabbit!

Life-changing transformations aside, the book also showcased more modest personal experiences. Elizabeth Danielle Hardie, a student at Cedar Primary School, wrote, “I went to the National Library to borrow a book on how to make my pet rabbit’s life more interesting, fun and exciting. The book was actually for dogs! But since I am a girl who likes to try new things, I decided to try some of the methods on my rabbit. The library has helped make my relationship with my pet rabbit special!”

Motivating the Physically Disabled

For Mr Michael Kuan who has been physically disabled all his life, reference books from the library helped tremendously in his pursuit of a degree. Now a Business Development Manager at Checkmate Data Services, he remarked, “Some of the physically disabled are not very motivated in terms of education and I wanted to show them a way to get out of the rut.

“I wanted to share the thirst for knowledge and show that if they want to pursue knowledge, it doesn’t matter if they are in a wheelchair … they can do it!”

Closing the Loop

Asked about the objective of ‘Celebrating Libraries’, Dr Varaprasad said, “The impetus is to ‘close the loop’. As information providers, people ask you something and go away. What we are trying to do is tell people: Let us know how we helped you. Has it made a difference to you? How has it impacted you?” As a provider, unless you know that, your work doesn’t become as fulfilling. It is my philosophy that people need to be respected and appreciated to do a good job. But it is not enough for me to say ‘you’ve helped a lot of people’; it is for the people you’ve helped to say ‘you’ve helped me turn my life around’. It is much more effective when they say it.”

Meet the “Who’s Who” in the arena of Interlending and Document Supply services provided by the libraries around the world at IFLA’s 10th Interlending and Document Supply Conference to be held in National Library building from 29 to 31 October 2007.

To open the conference, delegates will get to hear from Mike McGrath, who will provide an overview on the developments that took place in recent years.

Widely known as the authority in the field, Mike has spoken and written extensively on the field of document supply. Mike joined the British Library on its formation in 1973 and remained there until retirement in 2001, finishing as Head of UK Marketing for their remote services and was responsible for generating about £12 million of revenue. Now in semi-retirement, Mike is presently the editor of the well-known and widely circulated journal Interlending and Document Supply which is published by Emerald Group. Mike also acts as a marketing consultant for libraries.

We are pleased to inform that the conference has generated huge interest from key industry players and we are in the process of confirming the rest of our key speakers for this conference.

This bi-annual meeting aims at sharing of collective knowledge about how libraries can tackle challenges in sharing resources through interlending and document delivery services. It is also a great opportunity for Singapore libraries to learn from overseas libraries and also network with associated industry players, and perhaps, even work out suitable partnerships that will help improve the provision of interlending and document supply services.

Call for papers – Closing date 26 January 2007
Participants are invited to submit proposals for papers to be presented during the conference. Papers should reflect the conference theme of Resource sharing for the future, building blocks for success. Presentations will be grouped under these 4 topics:

1. Resource sharing
2. Tools and building block for success
3. Rights and distribution
4. Future directions

The submission for proposals will close 26 January 2007.

For more information on the conference and the submission of proposals, please visit the conference website http://www.nlbconference.com/ilds.

Special discount for LAS members

Conference registration will commence in Jan 2007. The good news is we are offering LAS members a special discount of $486/pax (published rate is $540/pax) where terms and conditions apply. So do look out for more registration details in our email announcement in Jan 2007.

Contributed by Janice Chia, Conference Programme, 10th ILDS Conference

“I remember Kek Hwa as a very caring and helpful mentor at the National Library’s then Reference Services Division.

As Head of the Division, her desk used to face the entrance to the Division. She always had 5 to 8 reference titles sitting on her desk as she used them to help staff with the more challenging reference enquiries.

She would not give up on an enquiry, until she had found adequate information to satisfy the enquirer, and she made it a point to check if the enquirer was happy with what was found for the question posed. This impressed me deeply as a good example of great customer service.”

Ngian Lek Choh, Director, NLB

Lim Kek Hwa at Reference Services NLB

“Lim Kek Hwa was both a friend and a colleague whom I had the pleasure to work with for more than 25 years. As a friend she was kind, helpful and nurturing. As a librarian she was the best - the best reference librarian in the National Library. She was meticulous, diligent and resourceful. She built up the National Library’s reference services and the reference skills of many of its librarians. I am sad that we have lost a good friend and a dedicated reference librarian.”

R. Ramachandran, former Deputy Chief Executive, NLB

“I worked with Miss Lim Kek Hwa in the National Library at Stamford Road from 1983 until 1987 in the Reference Services Division. Kek Hwa taught me much about the National Library’s Southeast Asia collection, particularly about Singapore and Malaysia. The knowledge and experience I gained working with her allowed me to take up the post of Librarian for Southeast Asia here at SOAS. She was a friend and mentor and her enthusiasm and sense of humour were a great help to me - I was both new to Singapore and new to librarianship when I joined the National Library. I offer my condolences to her family and former colleagues. Kek Hwa was both a good friend and great teacher to me and many others.”

Nicholas Martland, SOAS, London

“Miss Lim Kek Hwa was my mentor when I was with the Reference Services Division (RSD) from 1989 until she retired in 1997 on medical grounds. She was then the Head of the Southeast Asia Collection of the National Library. After she retired, a few of the ex-RSD staff, including myself, still kept in touch with her by visiting her in JB, where she lived after she retired. She always cherished these reunions. Our last reunion with her was when we visited her at Singapore General Hospital in September this year and then proceeded to her house in JB. Miss Lim was a dedicated and resourceful librarian. She was very knowledgeable in Singapore information, especially Singapore history. She believed in sharing of information, a quality that I admire and try to emulate. I learnt my research skills and the passion for acquiring knowledge from her, as she was a great teacher. After she retired, there was a “void” in this area of expertise. Now that she is gone, there is a void in my heart…I will never forget her…”

Azizah Sidek, NLB

Lim Kek Hwa at right with colleagues from NLB

“More than any other librarian, Kek Hwa was proud of her profession and it has every right to be proud of her. Librarianship was her vocation and her avocation.

I have the privilege of working with Kek Hwa for over 20 memorable years. Even though I was working in the government department libraries over the greater part of that period, Kek Hwa was the one person whom I would turn for help in the course of my work. Being a consummate reference librarian, she was able to provide the answer to any research enquiries that I could not resolve. On every occasion that I had to use the Reference Services Division at Stamford Road, I would see her browsing through a trolley of new arrivals or the library collection to index information on people, places and events related to Singapore. She also started a collection of Singapore related postcards and would show me her latest acquisition after each overseas holiday. What a great advocate of the Library as the future of culture and history of our country!!

Over the course of her career, Kek Hwa inspired and mentored many librarians and library officers to be equally committed to library information services and to maintain high professional standards. Even after her retirement in 1997, she maintained a keen interest in the National Library and I continued to seek her advice.

I have lost a great friend and mentor.

Lily Chow, NLB

“I first knew Kek Hwa some 30 years ago. She was then in the Attorney General’s Chambers Library while I was in public library service. We spoke over the phone regarding an inter-library loan request from the library.

It was only in 1980 that we got to know one another better. I was transferred to the then Reference Services Division of the National Library and working with her in the same division, but different sections – she was in the Southeast Asia (SEA) Section and I was in the Science and Technical Section. When she later became Head of the Division, I was in charge of the Science and Technology Section.

I worked more closely with her during the late eighties when she was in charge of the SEA Section, while I was in charge of the Science and Technology Section. As heads of two different sections within the same division, there was some sort of ‘rivalry’ between the two of us for scarce resources. However, we still somehow managed to work closely for the common good of the Division. I remember the last big project that we worked together. After this project, I was away and when I returned, she was already on medical leave and then later retired on medical grounds. However, even though she had retired, she still kept in touch with us - a few of the colleagues that had worked closely with her.

At the Library, Kek Hwa was dedicated to her work in the Reference Services Division as a whole and the SEA Section in particular. She was a responsible and meticulous person, fully committed to her work. Although holding a higher position than mine, she would sometimes seek my opinion on matters relating to statistics and numbers. She was an excellent example of a passionate librarian. She was always eager to share any new information she had learnt through working on a research enquiry. She was also very strict in ensuring that staff answered enquiries to the fullest extent. She would personally go through enquiries that had not been answered fully and coached staff on this. I can say for sure that I have learnt a lot from here especially regarding information and resources relating to SEA and Singapore. She had been an inspiration to many staff.

After her retirement, she still had a profound influence on me. In spite of her illness, she would still find time to have “catching up” lunch and dinners with some of us. As her illness took a greater toil, she would continue to catch up through email or phone. Although staying in Johor Bahru, she continued to keep abreast of what’s happening in Singapore through reading The Straits Times. Occasionally, she would send emails to share her thoughts about reference services and the development of libraries in Singapore. She would also ask about how the colleagues whom she used to work with were getting on. All these showed that she had a positive, faith-filled outlook on life and toward other people. I recall there were occasions where she had a great sense of humour. For instance, after reading one of the issues of BiblioAsia, she told us that she dreamt about handling an enquiry but fumbled at counter because the information was not complete in the OPAC. Although her passing away filled me with sadness, I was at the same time happy that she had lived according to: 2 Timothy 4:7:

“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”

Chan Fook Weng, retired NLB staff

The Library Association of Singapore (LAS) Gold Medal was awarded to Chew Siew San upon completion of the MSc (Information Studies) at NTU in July 2006. The Medal is awarded to the student with the best results in the Information Studies stream. Here is what Siew San had to say about why she choose librarianship and her experience at NTU:

“The library is a treasure chest for children. While librarians share this perspective, do the children equally understand and appreciate the value of information? In turn, how competent are the children in their hunt for these gems? With the array of activities vying for the their time, how do the librarians excite the children to embark on a learning journey? The role of the children’s librarian is a challenging and multi-faceted one, more than it first appears to. There lies the question of effectively connecting and engaging the children to the wealth of information, so that they grow up to be information savvy individuals with a passion for learning and reading.

The four precious years as a public librarian with the National Library Board gave me invaluable opportunities to interact with children, parents, teachers and their caregivers. The supportive library colleagues and exciting scope of projects in the areas of collection, reader advisory, programmes and outreach collaborations deepened my interests and understanding of the informational needs of the children. At that juncture, it was good time to marry the practical experience with a structured professional training. And this is the logical next step to take so that my role as a children’s librarian will be delivered more proficiently. It would fulfill my hope to be an effective facilitator who connects library resources to the children needs and curiosity; and at the same time integrating learning with an element of fun and involvement.

The one-year full time MSc (Information Studies) programme at NTU was the right choice. The modules catered for a wide range of professional interests and specialization. In addition, the conducive learning environment made the most impact in my pursuit of knowledge. The professors, lecturers and fellow course mates were the ones who made the real difference. Carefully structured lectures, recommended readings, interactive classroom discussions, electronic discussion forums, thought-provoking tutorials and practical lab sessions were a few of the many beneficial avenues of learning. Approachable, committed and supportive professors and lecturers made the programme a truly enriching experience that extends learning beyond the classroom. The friendly culture promoted open-sharing and saw fellow course mates brainstorming with one another in applying concepts, bouncing off ideas and synergistic teamwork.

After graduation from MSc (Information Studies), I rejoined the library and I look forward to working closely with the team of librarians to provide value-added services. The treasure box of information should live in the heart of every child.”

Contributed by Betty Ong