IASL2002Conference

The 2002 IASL Conference

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 4-9 August

SPEECH BY
Datuk Abdul Rafie bin Mahat
Director General of Education Malaysia at the Closing Ceremony of the 31st IASL Conference

Assalamulaaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh and Good morning

Yang Berbahagia Datin Dr. Nor Hayati Abd Rasid, Director, Educational Technology Division, Ministry of Education Malaysia, in her capacity as Chairperson of the 31 st IASL Annual Conference Organising Committee
Mr. Peter Genco, President of the International Association of School Librarianship
Distinguished Guests, Conference Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen.

The past four days have witnessed a considerable amount of infusion and exchange of ideas. Educationists and school library experts, who have come together at this conference would have no doubt benefitted from this exchange. The wide spectrum of knowledge that has been made available will inevitably contribute towards the betterment and development of school libraries. The unselfish sharing of inspirations and ideas through the work shop sessions, and the research and professional papers presented would have formed seeds of knowledge to be sowed and planted in the participants' own environment. To the presenters, I would like to express my appreciation for the fine work done in your presentations. To the participants, thank you for your attentiveness, and your input in the many formal and informal discussions held. There is no doubt, that the little discussions held over coffee breaks or lunch were just as beneficial as the papers presented. Significant progress in the development, and betterment of school libraries can be achieved by the implementation of some of the many ideas conceived and shared at this conference. It is imperative that we take stock of our needs and adopt the best practices gained from this conference.

E-learning is part of the process of change being felt, and experienced, in many education systems. The impact of e-learning on students who are at the receiving end of the learning process, needs to be addressed and addressed with urgency. A lot of thinking, and planning is necessary by all parties concerned to ensure that students will not lose out in this knowledge explosion beset by e-learning. Knowledge today, is dependent on the speed of learning whereby a good infrastructure provides for the quick access to knowledge resources. A knowledge rich environment is and will be part of the 21 st century and as such, school libraries must evolve to accept, and assimilate the use of the technology driven resources. The services that these libraries provide must complement the availability of a myriad of resources that students have, at their disposal. School libraries have to be proactive in striving for global partnerships where there can be fulfilling exchanges of resources and information. Bridging the gap between rural and urban schools, between knowledge rich societies and lesser ones, and bringing the world of immense knowledge to the student lies in the hands of a good, functional and proactive school library.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In one prominent conference paper, the library is presented as the digital hub of the school. The school library is thus under increasing pressure to evaluate and justify the services it provides. Information literacy is the current issue in today's knowledge world. In providing for life long learning, the library must provide services and collections which support self directed learning. These resources can either be in print form or on-line resources.

With the spread of new technologies, the implications for school libraries are many; and the following factors have to be considered. In preparing the library to face these challenges; access to information is no longer place or time bound. The ability of students to access information from their own home computers poses a threat to the traditionally run library. With the ever increasing improvements in electronic presentations, resources that attract vibrant learning point towards learning that is multimedia and virtual. Users having such high expectations will often look for resources which have attributes that cater for such current technologies.

In line with these, educational trends must portray greater competiveness. New teaching styles and methods must emerge, which stimulate thinking skills and incorporate the elements of problem solving and analytical abilitites. The Malaysian Smart school concept is an example of a learning environment which caters for elearning and resource-based teaching and learning.

On-line links which allow the students to access, and use information sources outside the school library, transcending space and distance, promote the elements of distance education and life long learning. These elements will support the need to set up national and international networks as more users demand such resources.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

To provide for easy storage and portability, collections may be on CD-ROMs and information databases. This may see students borrowing not books but CD-ROMS to research their assignments. The focus on learning interactivity, may even see a demand for more interactive material being made available. With knowledge being made available through web sites and portals, students have at their disposal a multitude of resources which will encourage resource-based education.

Internet links to portals will further encourage collaboration between groups of students in different schools and places, discussion groups among teachers in different countries, and discussion through special interests groups. Online instruction can be used by teaching staff to transcend time. A teacher posts notes, or an assignment on a web site which can then be accessed by students, who then work on it independently or in groups according to the required tasks.

These new technologies challenge the usefulness and the role of the school library. This poses the question; "Where do we go from now? Do we discard the old technologies in favour of the new?

The logical thing would be to meet these new demands by acquiring and using the new technologies. School libraries must change with the times to provide for user needs and user satisfaction. Taking into account the ideas that have risen out of the presentations and discussion during this conference, it is time to evaluate, strategise and act on providing for these new needs. Whilst these new technologies may be the major push factor, school libraries must be cautious in their endeavour to meet the new challenges. It should strive to achieve a balance between traditional and new media. There will still be instances when the traditional media like books and printed formats will serve better. Hence, it is for good intentions that strategic planning be used, to develop a performance based model of programmes and services, that the school library can carry out. Such a model, will act as a guide, as to the role of the school library, in servicing its clientele. This should take into account programmes and services that reflect the needs of students and teachers. Constant monitoring of its users' profile and borrowing habits wil give a good indication of the needs of its users.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let us not discard the old technologies especially those related to the reading habit. In the light of this perspective, let me just recap on some of the many projects that have been implemented in Malaysia to encourage the development of school libraries.

In Malaysia, the reading habit is given prominence in both primary and secondary schools through the NILAM Programme. This programme which has been implemented since 1998 is a continuous programme carried out at state level to encourage reading and to inculcate the reading habit.

The School Resource Centre Excellence Award in its 3rd year of inception is given to schools to encourage the development and usage of school libraries with the aim of inculcating the reading culture. In this year's evaluation, the implementation of the NILAM Programme was one of the major components in the evaluation procedure.

The establishment of state school library associations headed by the State Director of Education in all states oversees and helps to coordinate the activities of school libraries at state level. With the setting up of these school library associations more coordinated activities have resulted. This has given rise to better services by the school libraries.

Reading and Information Literacy Courses planned this year to expose state resource centre personnel to effective reading and information skills have been carried out in 3 out of the 4 zones in Malaysia. Personnel who have attended these sessions will be master trainers to pass on these skills to others.

School Library teachers often said to be lacking in proper management skills are being exposed to proper management skills by means of a Module on the Management of School Resource Centres for teachers. Good library management skills will promote the usage of the library. A management team which includes the school principal, deputy principal, and teacher librarian who are committed towards managing a library to meet these changing needs of students and teachers will see them overcoming the challenge of new technologies.

Similarly, good library management skills will promote the usage of the library. A management team which includes the school principal, deputy principal, and teacher librarian who are committed towards managing a library to meet these changing needs of students and teachers will see them overcoming the challenge of new technologies.

A school library which focuses on the big picture, has long term goals, is proactive, regularly scans internal and external influencing factors, constantly analizes users needs, and adopts best practices will I believe be on the way to providing quality services.

Ladies and gentlemen,

With all these challenges being faced as a result of globalisation, we have to go back to basics in reminding ourselves of the role of school libraries. The book Information Power (1988), states two basic statements which reflect the role of school libraries;

  • to ensure that staff and students are effective users of information, and
  • to provide intellectual access to information through systematic learning activities, which develop strategies for selecting, retrieving, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing and creating information at all age levels in all curriculum content areas.

Libraries which follow these two basic outlines will fulfil the general requirements of its users. The new technologies are merely the vehicles that enable the service providers, in this case, school libraries, to deliver the material. What is of utmost importance is that school libraries fulfill their obligations as information centres, that possess expert information managers for the dissemination of knowledge, that in turn can contribute to the development of a knowledge society and a society of avid readers. How we do it is immaterial. Many of us will approach it in many different ways but the end result or objective will be the same.

Therefore as we conclude the 31 st Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship, which also incorporates the 6th Annual Research Forum on School Librarianship, may I take this opportunity once again to thank all paper presenters and delegates for your participation and intellectual contributions at this conference. To the Malaysian organising committee and sub committees, thank you for your efforts in making this conference possible. Malaysia will have benefited tremendously from this event being hosted here.

With that note I hereby officially close the 31st Annual Conference of IASL.

Thank you once again. Assalamualaikum.

Last Updated 8 April 2003 (LAC)