ACED 2012

12 December 2011 :

The 16th Asian Conference on Electrical Discharge (ACED 2012) will be held at Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia, on December 10 -12, 2012. This is the 16th conference of a series that had its last venues in  Xian, China, (2010), Bandung, Indonesia (2008), Hokkaido, Japan (2006), Shenzhen, China (2004), Seoul, Korea (2002), Kyoto, Japan (2000), Bandung, Indonesia (1998), Bangkok, Thailand (1996), Xian, China (1994), Oita, Japan (1993) and Singapore (1992). The purpose of this conference is to provide a forum for researchers, scientist and engineers to exchange ideas and discuss recent progress in properties, phenomena and applications of electrical discharges. The organizing committee cordially invites you to participates in the conference.

Further information: http://aced2012.fke.utm.my/

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Biggest Issues on Social Media Faced by Librarians

12 December 2011 :

Prepared by Lisa Surihani Aziz (Senior Librarian/Head, Automation Division) 

Bloggers, what I would like to share today? What is the hot issue? Oh ya, social media using Web 2.0 technologies is a phenomenon in today’s world right?? If we were to just walk around, we would see how many of people are looking at social media especially Facebook, twitter, blogs, chat and Youtube. However, there are several biggest issues faced by librarians personally and professionally need to think.

Personally:

One of the issues is not all librarians are ready to employ Web 2.0 applications. Some of them do not ‘believe in’ or ‘are fearful of’ using these online tools (Rogers, 2009). The most common reason associated with librarians’ inability to accept and use social media tools are lack of interest, skills, knowledge; lack of understanding of Web 2.0 or social media; and fear of change and fear with technology. Some of the libraries want to increase the use of social media, but the issues is having know one who knows enough about them to implement them. So to make librarians are ready and confident to employ social media such as blogs, Facebook, Youtube, twitter and second life for the library are through education, training, use of successful examples and make them understand of these technologies. These may be can change their minds and they begin slowly implement with all these online tools.

In addition, privacy is a concern as well. For example, the librarians cannot completely control or make it private their answers, message, comments, response and content to the library users through social media. Once they on the social media, everybody can see and access. This is because they are ‘servicing’ and ‘satisficing’ not only the library users, but also the Google community. Besides that, Librarians’ behaviour and content is not only a reflection of themselves but also of to the Library. Librarians must know what they should do and should not do. That means, librarians don’t share secrets, bad mouth, complain, do stupid things, defame and so on through social media. Librarians need also to think about privacy, confidentiality, permission to use other people’s content and show everyone respect.

Professionally:

Having a social media presence is a commitment. Keeping up with the information, constant communication with friends and followers and maintain the quality of social media, so that it always consistent and up-to-date are an issue faced by librarians. These are because a staff and time constraint. The librarians busy are doing their daily duties such as cataloguing, acquisition, reference services, user education programs, etc. and they don’t have a quality time to give their commitments or to do an effective job with these social media. Some of the libraries are understaffed and they don’t have a lot of time to really devote to the development of these social media. Proper library planning and investigating the staff time necessary to participate in theses social media are required for the better future of library services.

Another issue is not every library will benefit from the same social media tools. Librarians need to experiment to see what works for their library and make a library planning based on their users needs. Before plan anything, every Web 2.0 tool needs to go through an evaluation process before it is used in the library. Librarian who is involved in the social media strategy must clearly understand the role and goals of this initiative. There is nothing worse than joining a social network with no purpose, plan or a way to measure what we are doing.

Be serious on planning library strategy using social media. It would be useful if library social media provided information on rights and limitation of library users. For example, if the libraries provide reference chat service, IM or Facebook, the libraries need also to provide a users’ guide that contained information on different issues such as who can use the chat service, types of valid questions, how to create a new entry, how to reply/make a comment to library Facebook, what they’re allowed to say or respond, how to configure chat programs as well as technical support information, and provide solutions for potential technical issues. Not all library users could be familiar with such issues, especially new users. In addition, with this social media, librarians are also sometimes difficult to sort out ‘official’ library use from sanctioned-but-independent use (Rogers, 2009). This is where a social media policy and guidelines come in. The way by making sure everyone who is involved in library’s efforts understands what to do. A specific measurement to measure the social media effectiveness is also required, so that the library’s mission can be achieved.

With this development of social media in the libraries, the role of librarians has also changed. Librarians not only become a cataloguer, information provider, knowledge manager, or information consultant, they are now become a knowledge engineer or information gatekeeper. In this regard, librarians in the today’s world require new skills, knowledge, abilities and competencies to adapt this kind of technologies especially knowledge and skills in web 2.0 applications. We also can refer “Competencies for information professionals of the 21st Century” guidelines developed by the Special Library Association for library staff development and continuing education purposes. This is because without clear guidelines on competencies, a library profession is likely to get lost when marching toward an increasingly dynamic future (Luo, 2007).

Overall, it can be believed that social media and Web 2.0 have proven to be of great use for online communities and sharing online information and resources. They are not only helping communicate a libraries’ message to current and potential customers, but also demonstrates their popularity and impact. From this development, librarians easily can build their own social media authority which may give a good influence on their profession. However, there are two concerns about the library users’ and librarians’ attitude. With this social media, the library users reluctant to come to the library. If this continues, in the not-to-distant future some library users will arrive at universities with no concept of what a library is, or what a library does. While, librarians are becoming heavily reliant on social media, incapable of communication, lose contact with reality, lose their relationships with other people and no real life experience. So, we need to be working together and not undermining the traditional work we still do, that is still overwhelmingly appreciated by the people we serve. Traditional methods are still used because we’re able to reach an extremely wide audience, regardless of their technological skills and they are still relevant. There can be a balance to using new technology to promote, support and enhance traditional, as well as new, programming and resources.

References:

Luo, L. (2007). Chat reference competencies: identification from a literature review and

librarian interviews. Reference Services Review, 35(2), 195-209.

Retrieved November 15, 2011, from Emerald Database.      

Nguyen, C. L. (2008). A survey of the application of Web 2.0 in Australasian university

libraries. Library Hi Tech, 26(4), 630-653. Retrieved November 13, 2011,

from Emerald Database.

Nielsen. (2011). Nielsen: social media report: Q3 2011. Message posted to

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/social/

Rogers, C. R. (2009). Social media, libraries, and Web 2.0: how American libraries are using

new tools for public relations and to attract new users. Paper presented at Germany

Library Association Annual Conference. Retrieved November 7, 2011, from

http://www.slideshare.net/crr29061/social-media-libraries-and-web-20-how-american-

libraries-are-using-new-tools-for-public-relations-and-to-attract-new-users

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Watch: APEX status

7 December 2011 :

University Sains Malaysia beat a field of eight other higher learning centres to emerge as the Ministry of Higher Education's choice for Apex University.

(Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/89023)

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Library Workshops for December 2012 - Registration opens now!!

6 December 2011 :

INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS WORKSHOP (ILS) & ENDNOTE WORKSHOP

MONDAY : ILS (8:30AM – 11:00AM)
TUESDAY: ENDNOTE (8:30AM – 11:00AM)
WEDNESDAY: ILS (8:30AM – 11:00AM)
THURSDAY: ENDNOTE (2:15PM – 5:00PM)

ATTENTION !!
Register :
At Reference Counter, Ground Floor, PHS [New Wing] or
By phone: 04-6535350 or
By e-mail: rujukan@usm.my

Registration should be made two (2) weeks before the chosen date.
No earlier registration is allowed.

WORKSHOP VENUE: Computer Lab, Ground Floor, PHS1

Note:
BLUE : NO CLASS
YELLOW : FULL
WHITE : AVAILABLE

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Watch: Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX)

6 December 2011 :

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been granted apex status. The Cabinet had agreed to USM being given the apex status on Aug 27. Watch the news from TV3.

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USM gets APEX status

5 December 2011 :

PUTRAJAYA: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been granted apex status. With it, USM can expect hundreds of millions of ringgit in additional funding to transform it into Malaysia's first world-class university.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that quantitative and qualitative criteria were used to select USM under the accelerated programme for excellence (apex).

 Announcement time: Khaled flanked by deputies Dr Hou Kok Chung (right) and Datuk Idris Haron with a copy of the statement announcing USM as the country's first apex university.

“The selection committee evaluated each university's state of readiness, transformation plan and preparedness for change.
“After a thorough evaluation, the committee decided that only one university truly met all the criteria, namely USM,'' he told a press conference yesterday.
The Cabinet had agreed to USM being given the apex status on Aug 27, 2008.
The university that is given apex status is one that has the greatest potential among Malaysian universities to be world-class, and as such, would be given additional assistance to compete with top-ranked global institutions, added Khaled.
He said with apex status, USM will be expected to move up the World University Rankings with a target of top 200 in five years' and top 100, if not top 50, by 2020.
In last year’s Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, Universiti Malaya (UM) was the highest ranked Malaysian university at 246, followed by USM (307), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (309) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (364).
A selection committee headed by former Universiti Malaysia Sarawak vice-chancellor Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Mohamad Zawawi Ismail short-listed USM, UM, UKM and UPM.
USM's transformation plan, entitled “Transforming Higher Education for a Sustainable Tomorrow” focussed, among other things, on diagnostics, medical biotechnology, waste management, pharmaceuticals, nano-technology, membrane technology and vaccines.
Asked why UM was not selected, Khaled said: “I hope the apex status will spur other universities to strive for excellence, too. It's not about selecting the oldest university but choosing one with a doable plan that can help us transform our higher education.”
The other universities that applied for apex status were International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Petronas and Universiti Tenaga Nasional.

(Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/4/nation/22236521&sec=nation )

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IFLA 2012

3 December 2011 :

The IFLA World Library and Information Congress, which is also the IFLA General Conference and Assembly, is traditionally held annually in varying parts of the globe.


The Congress IFLA WLIC 2012 will be held in Helsinki, Finland, from 11-17 August 2012.
Congress theme: "Libraries Now! - Inspiring, Surprising, Empowering".

Further information: http://conference.ifla.org/

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ICOL 2012

3 December 2011 :

USM Library, supported by the Librarians Association of Malaysia will be proudly hosting:

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LIBRARIES 2012

ICOL 2012

2 - 4 July 2012 | Kota BharuTransformation to Humanize Libraries

With the theme "Transformation to Humanize Libraries", the conference will be held at the Renaissance Hotel Kota Bharu, the capital city of Kelantan, one of the states in Malaysia.

Further information: https://sites.google.com/site/usmicol2012/ 

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Book Review: Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences (8th ed.)

3 December 2011 :

Prepared/Reviewed by Kamal Adli Karim (Senior Librarian/Head, Technical Processing Division)

Title	:	Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (8th ed.)
Author	:	Bruce L. Berg and Howard Lune
Call Number	:	H61. B493 2011
Year	:	2011

This book is, by far, the most comprehensive book on qualitative research methods ever written. Berg covers all of the major areas of qualitative research methods with the expertise of a seasoned veteran researcher--of which he is. This book is written in an accessible and easy-to-understand style. Each chapter revolves around one central element of the qualitative research methods picture. Having been a reader of earlier editions of this book (in fact, all editions), I can testify that each edition of this book gets better than the previous edition. This book is required reading for anyone seriously interested in the research process - qualitative or quantitative.

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Impact Factor and h-Index

 1 December 2011 :

Prepared by Husriati Hussain (Librarian, Reference & Research Division) 

Impact Factor:

n  The only quantitative way of ranking a journal

n  A quantitative measure of the frequency with which the "average article" published in a given scholarly journal has been cited in a particular year or period.

n  Is used in citation analysis

n  It is calculated each year by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) for those journals which it tracks, and are published in the Journal Citation Report.

n  Impact Factors have a huge, but controversial, influence on the way published scientific research is perceived and evaluated

h-Index:

The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar. The index is based on the set of the scientist's most cited papers and the number of citations that they have received in other publications. The index can also be applied to the productivity and impact of a group of scientists, such as a department or university or country. The index was suggested by Jorge E. Hirsch, a physicist at UCSD, as a tool for determining theoretical physicists' relative quality and is sometimes called the Hirsch index or Hirsch number.

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ISI Web of Knowledge - December 2011

30 November 2011 :

ISI Web of Knowledge consists of few databases containing information gathered from thousands of scholarly journals in all areas of research:

·       Science Citation Index Expanded™

·       Social Sciences Citation Index®

·       Arts & Humanities Citation Index®

·       Index Chemicus®

·       Current Chemical Reactions®

A citation index contains the references cited by the authors of the articles covered by the index. You can use these references to do cited reference searching. A cited reference search enables you to find articles that cite a previously published work.

In addition to cited reference searching, you can search these databases by topic, author, source title, and address.

The two chemistry databases contain graphic representations of the structures and reactions reported in the journal articles they cover. You can search these databases by structure, by compound/reaction details, and by bibliographic information (topic, author, source title, address). Please LOGOFF after finish the search session.

For some background information on the database, please go to the USM Library Website at:

(1)               www.lib.usm.my

(2)               Databases: login to databases (e-Resources)

(3)               ISI Web of Knowledge

 

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Knowledge Society Indicators

28 November 2011 :

Prepared by Erra Fazira Hashim (Librarian, Customer Relation Division) 

Last month, I have attended one seminar about “Knowledge Society”. For me, the seminar is very good and I get more new knowledge. Here, I would like to share several indicators of knowledge society. An overview, knowledge society is all about creating, sharing and using knowledge to bring prosperity and sense of well-being to its people. With this new paradigm, the information society evolves and we are now entering the knowledge society. In this relation, a number of knowledge society indicators have been developed. Here, there are few indicators can be considered to measure the knowledge society such as:

Number of educational institutions

We can see the number of educational institutions has increased from time to time. For example in Malaysia, the public university has increased from 14 universities to 22 universities. All these universities have their own specialty and uniqueness. From this growth, we know that university as a knowledge organization can contribute a new ideas or new knowledge and give a positive impact to the society.  However, we must make sure that the quality of lecturers, resources to education, management and of infrastructure are improved, so that no one will deny on the quality of education.

Qualitative measurement of the use of, and access to, modern ICTs

With these modern ICTs like chat, e-mail, blog, tweeter and the most popular one is facebook, we can say that the knowledge can be created, distributed, disseminated, manipulated, used and shared in real time without time and space barriers. More people can be reached simultaneously and be exposed to more information and knowledge in an interactive way. The society is heavily reliant on ICTs and they also can build their own social authority easily and efficiently. They might be smart and proactive but on the other angle, they can become too dependent on ICTs, not proactive in manual work, naive, to spoiled, easily led to be online and they have no experience with life, which is what they need to survive.

Number of Research and Development (R&D)

R&D and higher education increasingly play a crucial role in knowledge production and innovation to meet new demands in today’s environment (Britz, Lorc, Coetzeee & Bestere, 2006). This has led to greater investment in knowledge production and innovation-led society. It’s true because we know that R&D can contribute the new knowledge and creative work in order to increase the stock of knowledge, and the use of this stock of knowledge can give big impact on social and cultural value, educational programs, political activities and economic growth. For example in library perspective, by doing research in information literacy programs, a new idea on online and interactive teaching module can be created. Findings of the research can give positive impact to the teaching, learning and research programs in the University.

 Number of scientists or researchers in a country

Scientist or researcher is a person who does research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. They are also engaged in a continuous learning process involving the recombination of codified information and tacit knowledge to generate new knowledge (Mansell & Wehn, 1998). With this regard, that’s why number of scientists or researchers can be considered one of the indicators for knowledge society.

Number of patents filed in a country

A patent is a form of intellectual property. A patent gives us ownership and rights related to our invention and subsequent product(s). A patent protects our invention so that others can’t create, market or sell the product without our expressed consent (Ballew, 2011). Here can be concluded that one way to know the creation of new idea or knowledge is from the intellectual property or this invention and they are listed in patent. In patent no duplicate of idea or invention and information in patent can be trusted and reliable. In addition, patent also shows the development of knowledge and in line with knowledge society.

Number of articles published in highly ranked scholarly journals

Articles published in highly ranked scholarly journals are one evidence to indicate the proliferation of knowledge. They are widely used in academic circles and one of the research evaluation tools in all universities in the world. The general purpose of this is to measure the university productivity and quality. This is also one of the medium which knowledge can be shared, disseminated and finally gives influence to the knowledge society.

From the analysis, it can be concluded that development of knowledge society depends, to a large extent, on developments in socioeconomic sectors, such as education, R&D, ICT, telecommunication, and the media. Information and knowledge bring phenomenal power, not only for economic reasons, but for achieving a desired quality of social, cultural, and political life. But one issue need to give attention with this development is our society can become ‘media-obsessed’ or ‘sms native’. They don’t have a quality of life, everything in shortcut way and highly dependent on these media (especially computer, internet, television and cellular phones). Media saturation can appear to have an adverse effect on knowledge society. So these worrying trends need to be controlled and necessary plan and action should be taken for sustainable development of society.

References

Bhargava, P. M. (2007). How to make India a knowledge-based society. Futures, 39,

997–1007. Retrieved November 1, 2011, from ScienceDirect Database.

Britz, J. J., Lorc, P. J., Coetzeee, I. E. M., & Bestere, B.C. (2006). Africa as a knowledge

society: a reality check. The International Information & Library Review, 38, 25–40. Retrieved November 1, 2011, from ScienceDirect Database.

Mansell, R., & Wehn, U. (Eds.). (1998). Knowledge societies: information technology

for sustainable development. UK: Oxford University Press.

Available from Google Books.

Norsiah Abdul Hamid & Halimah Badioze Zaman. (2008). Preliminary study on knowledge

society criteria and indicators: a cognitive informatics approach. Paper presented at

Information Technology International Symposium, 2008 (ITSim 2008). Retrieved

November 1, 2011, from IEEExplore Database.

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CONSAL 2012

21 November 2011 :

http://www.consalxv.org/home/

The 15th Consal (Congress of Southeast Asian librarians)Meeting & General Conference

28 - 31 May 2012

Bali, Indonesia

Conference Theme

"National Heritage: Preservation and Dissemination"

---

Latest News

1. 28 November, 2011 - Registration form (hardcopy version) now can be downloaded. See registration section
2. 24 November, 2011 - Early registration due date postponed to December 31, 2012. See the registration section
3. 20 September, 2011 - Information about accomodation is now available.
   See "travel and accomodation" section.
4. 09 August, 2011 - Information about Registration is now avaliable. See "registration" section
5. 09 August, 2011 - Information about Meeting and Conference Venue is now avaliable, See "about this event" section.
6. 12 July, 2011 - The Organizing Committee of CONSAL XV General Conference 2012 invites submission of papers. For further information, see "programme" section.

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Information Search Skills (subject based) Workshops

19 November 2011 :

Information Search Skills (subject based) Workshops will be run upon request from Dean/Lecturers of Schools/Centres of the Universiti Sains Malaysia. The Workshops of 1-2 hours can accomodate groups of 15-70 students and will be conducted in the Multipurpose Rooms of the Library. (Any other venue outside the Library will also be considered).


Please contact the following address for further details: Reference and Information Division Hamzah Sendut Library I Universiti Sains Malaysia Library 11800 Penang TEL : (04)6533888 ext. 3723 FAX : (04) 6571526 E-MAIL :  rujukan@notes.usm.my

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ILS Workshop & EndNote Workshop

19 November 2011 :

INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS WORKSHOP (ILS) &

ENDNOTE WORKSHOP

The Universiti Sains Malaysia Library organises Information Literacy Skills and Information Search Skills (subject based) Workshops for its academic staff and students.  All are welcome to join this free sessions/workshops are as follows:



2011/2012
INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS WORKSHOPS for students, academic staff, members of USM Library Time: 8.30 - 10.30 a.m.     Daily: Monday - Friday Place: Electronic Information Service Centre (PPME)
           3rd Floor, Hamzah Sendut Library 1Topics covered: 1. Introduction to Library Research 2. Reference resources: Abstracts and Indexes, Bibliographies, Dictionaries,                                       Encyclopaedias, etc. 2. KRISALIS; USM Library OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) 3. USM Library Electronic Information Gateway (Virtual Library) (www.lib.usm.my)
*Databases/e-journals:
EbscoHost, ProQuest, JSTOR, Emerald, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Engineering Village 2, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, ISI Web of Knowledge, Springer LINK, FSTA, MathSci, Dissertation Abstracts, NSTP e-Media, PALMOILIS, SirimLink,LawNet, Index to Theses

 * Inhouse databases: Theses and Examination Question Papers, Newspaper Cutting                                          USM Staff Publications (PKTA)
 * Subject Libraries: Arts, Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences,                                               Communication, Computer Sciences, Education,                                               Humanities, Housing, Building & Planning,                                               Industrial Technology, Management, Mathematics,                                               Pharmaceutical Sciences, Physics, Social Sciences,                                               Medical Sciences     * Malaysian Links     * Reference Resources 4. e-Books: SpringerLink, SIAM, Netlibrary, ebrary
5. Evaluation of information resources 6. Documentation/Citation styles
7. EndNote - Bibliographic Management Software (Every Monday)

Please register or make an appointment at the Reference & Information Service Counter, 2nd Floor, Hamzah Sendut Library 1.

Librarian facilitators:
Habsah Abdul Rahman habsah@notes.usm.myHusriati Hussain husriati@notes.usm.my
Noor Anisah Khadiri noor_anisah@notes.usm.my
Mohd Ikhwan Ismail ikhwanismail@notes.usm.my


For more information Literacy Skills & Information Search Skills Workshops conducted in the Engineering Library, Engineering Campus, please contact:Norshuhada Saidin  lbshuhada@eng.usm.my
For more information Literacy Skills & Information Search Skills Workshops conducted in the Hamdan Tahir 

Library, Health Campus Kelantan, please contact:
Nik Asmak Nik Idris asmak@kb.usm.my

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World eBook Library is now accessible from the Library Website

11 November 2011 :

Over 2,000,000 Research, Rare & Special e-Books and e-Documents fully downloadable. More than 500 years worth of books digitally restored and conveniently searchable across 200 specialty research collectio…ns. e-Books and e-Documents available in over 230 languages. This is the world’s largest database of portable e-Books. Key academic subjects covered include:
Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy, Economy, Management, Government, History, Agriculture, Medicine, Education, Fine Arts, Languages, Law, Literature, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Anthropology, and Medicine.

The trial version let users to explore everything..please do so before expired!!!!

click: http://community.ebooklibrary.org/default.aspx
or click: http://www.lib.usm.my/equip-usm/custom/ebook.jsp

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Book Review: Remote Research

7 November 2011 :

Prepared/Reviewed by Ummie Nazira Ali (Librarian, Automation Division) 

Title	:	Remote Research: Real Users, Real Time, Real Research
Author	:	Nate Bolt and Tony Tulathimutte
Call Number	:	Q180.55.M4 B725 2010
Year	:	2010








 "Don’t waste your life doing meaningless research"

In Remote Research Nate Bolt, and Tony Tulathimute use their knowledge and experience in user testing and experience design to share about the benefits of using remote research when conducting user testing. The book is written from the assumption that the reader has some knowledge of user testing, but is still very palatable for some who have not conducted any lab or remote testing.

The book also provides a comprehensive list of different tools that can be used during remote testing and shares the pro’s and con’s of them so that you can make a decision as to what tools will work best for your situation. There is a wide array of tools that can be used online or from your desktop and really shows that with a few resources you can do all the testing you need and stay within’ or below budget without sacrificing the quality of test results.


This book is a must for anyone who is involved in or is planning user testing in anyway. There is valuable insight and great resources throughout the book, Nate and Tony bring a fun, practical approach to sharing their knowledge and experience in remote  user testing.

If your interest has been peaked… or you have been looking for good user testing, design, and UX books/resources make sure check out Remote Research and other Rosenfeld Media titles.

Make sure to check out the companion site for remote research http://www.remoteusability.com/

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