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...

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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...

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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 : AVAILABL...

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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...

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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.o...

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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 2012ICOL 20122 - 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/&nb...

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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...

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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 journaln  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...

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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...

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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...

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CONSAL 2012

21 November 2011 : http://www.consalxv.org/home/The 15th Consal (Congress of Southeast Asian librarians)Meeting & General Conference28 - 31 May 2012Bali, IndonesiaConference Theme"National Heritage: Preservation and Dissemination" Latest News28 November, 2011 - Registration form (hardcopy version) now can be downloaded. See registration section 24 November, 2011 - Early registration due date postponed to December 31, 2012. See the registration section 20 September, 2011 - Information about accomodation is now available. See "travel and accomodation" section. 09 August, 2011 - Information about Registration is now avaliable. See "registration" section 09 August, 2011 - Information about Meeting and Conference Venue is now avaliable,...

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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,...

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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:...

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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...

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