“Professionalism Revisited”

by
Professor Szarina Abdullah

Seminar
‘PUiTM 2010-Pustakwan Dinamik’
anjuran

Perpustakaan Tun Abdul Razak

20-21 Februari 2010

 Librarians
Perpustakaan Tun Abdul
Razak, ITM, Jalan
Othman
PTAR Campus Puncak
Perdana
Universiti Sains
Malaysia
Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia 2
 SCOPE
• Professionalism

• Principles in Library Science

• Strategic Role of Information

• Case Studies
 6 Common Characteristics of All
Professions
(Gardner & Shulman 2005)
1. A commitment to serve in the interests of clients and the
welfare of society.

2. A body of theory or special knowledge with its own principles

of growth and reorganisation.

3. A specialised set of special skills, practices, and performances

unique to the profession.

4. The development of capacity to render judgments with integrity

under conditions of both technical and ethical uncertainty.

5. An organised approach to learning from experience both

individually and collectively and, thus, of growing new
knowledge from the contexts of practice.

6. The development of a professional community responsible for

the oversight and monitoring of quality in both practice and
professional education.
Ranganathan
’s Five Laws
of Library
SCience
(1931)
focus on
users
and
services
 Save the
Books Each time of the
are for MISSION / VISION book reader.
use. its reader.

Each GOALS The library

is a growing
reader
his book. Organism.

OBJECTIVES

STRATEGIES

PROGRAMS

ACTIVITIES

EVALUATE/MEASURE
Quality Management Principles
8 2
Mutually LEADERS
beneficial HIP
supplier
relationships
1 3
Factual
7 PEOPLE
Approach
Decision- 4
PROCE
Making
6
SS
CQI 5
SYSTE
M

(ISO 9000:2000 & ISO 9000:2004)

What is our organisation’s vision?

What is our library’s mission?

What are the goal and specific objectives of
the library?
Goal and objectives – in accordance with
achieving the organisation’s mission &
vision
VISION 2020, World-Class University, World-Class Library,

NLB Singapore: Library 2000, 2010

 Enriching the Future.

Valuing the Present,

Preserving the Past,

Information Professionals
En Arshad Ayub, Leadership is Service, Service is Leadership
Director ITM
Alumni AchievementsFulfil
Mrs Radha Nadarajah the Institute’s Mission –
Head “to send out men and women
School of Library who are professionally well-equipped
Science
and inspired with a spirit of dedication
ITM
to the nation”.
Librarians = Catalysts for the Knowledge
Economy
 Faculty of
Host:
Information Management

PHILOSOPHY

The faculty believes

in educating
information
professionals,
enabling them to
become the catalyst
for the knowledge-
based society,
transforming Malaysia
into a developed
nation.
Profesor Dr Azali Mohamed,
Universiti Putra Malaysia

“Saya kalau pergi ke library,

saya hanya akan berjumpa
librarian lepasan UiTM
kerana mereka memberikan
perkhidmatan yang
terbaik”.
8 Oktober 2009,1st Regional Residential Officers Convention
Towards Students' Holistic Development (ROSD 09)
Intekma Resort and Convention Center
Shah Alam, Selangor
Perdana Leadership Library, Putrajaya, Malaysia

In 2003, PETRONAS appointed Azahar

to set up the Perdana Library for the
newly established Perdana Leadership
Foundation. The Perdana Library is a
resource center for the foundation which is
dedicated to Malaysian leadership and
Azahar Mohd Noor national development.

• Manager of the Petroleum

Dialog InfoStar award winners
Resource Center for over 20
chosen for their strategic involvement
years.
in their organizations, innovative
• Outstanding leadership
information services, proactive
capabilities
relationship building and continuous
• Contributes his expertise
change and development. They are
to the Petronas University
enthusiastic and positive about the
value and future of information services
• 2004 Awarded International
and act as role models for creativity
Dialog InfoStar
and innovation both inside and outside
their organizations.
 Value of the Information Professional

A study conducted by SLA: • Information professionals,

85% of the companies
ranked in the top 100
on the Fortune 500 list
employed information
professionals,
working in non-traditional settings
such as market research, business
development, and strategic planning,
• Use the Internet and other technology
to present information in a way that
maximizes its usefulness,
saving time and money in order to
attain the goals of their organization.

<less than 50% of the • Organizations that are integrating

companies ranked in the information professionals into strategic
planning initiatives recognize their
bottom 100. necessity in gaining a competitive
advantage in the information and
knowledge age.

(http:www.sla.org/content/learn/ipvalue/index)
 Data – Information - Competitive
Intelligence
Environmental
External Internal
scanning
Phase I
Scanning & Intelligence I

Interpreting of N

Information F
Strategic Decision Making O
R
Phase II
M
Strategic Strategy Formulation A
Decision T
Making Strategy Implementation I
O
N
Strategy Evaluation
18
 SWOT analysis
Opportunities & Threats (External)

Analysis of Trends:
I • Economic
N
F • Social
O
• Cultural
R
M • Demographic/Environmental
A
• Political, Legal, Governmental
T
I • Technological
O
N
• Competitors
19
 Strategic use of Information
• Recognise the need for data, information

• Value data & information

• Find, locate, evaluate Preserve the past,

Value the present,
• Organise
Enrich the future.
• Preserve

• Evaluate, select, share

• Use & transform into K

 NYPD -
CompStat
• a system that allows police to track crime
incidents almost as soon as they occur.
• information on the crime, the victim, the time of
day the crime took place, and other details
• officials can spot emerging crime patterns.
The result is a computer-generated map.

• illustrating where and when crime is occurring citywide.

With this high-tech “pin-mapping”
the police can quickly identify trouble spots and then target resources
to fight crime strategically. (Innovations in American Government, 1996)
 1. Timely and accurate
intelligence
the core needs of all 2. Rapid response
police organizations 3. Effective tactics
4. Relentless follow-up
 KNOWLEDGE
IMAGINATION
POSSIBILITY
(http://nlb.gov.sg)

LIFELONG LEARNING
NATIONAL
COMPETITIVENESS

Convenient
Accessible
Customer-oriented
Useful
Market-driven
People’s lifestyle
 Judy Ng, Deputy Director, National
Library, Singapore, showcasing NLB's
rare materials collection to Her
Majesty during her visit 17 March 2006

• 1953 Straits Times special

supplement of Queen Elizabeth’s
coronation
• 1819 letter penned by Sir Stamford
Raffles describing Singapura.

Library’s involvement
must be seen at the
highest level

Mrs Bush at the

kidsREAD programme
during her visit to NLB
16 November 2006
 Infrastructures
MISSION
‘to expand the learning capacity of
the nation so as to enhance
national competitiveness’
National Library Board Singapore
(NLB 2000)

• Public libraries become

centres for lifelong learning. Singapore PM (2005):

 Library users with laptops •Our public libraries epitomise the

or PDAs can get access to way IT helps every citizen to access
wireless Internet service. and exploit information.

• From 25 September 2003 all • There will be no barrier to knowledge,

public libraries have wireless information and lifelong learning.
surfing capabilities.

HBS case study: a boring conventional govt. dept – customer-focused service

 PORIM PORLA

VISION
The premier Nobel-Laureate-producing R & D institution, providing
leadership and impetus for the development of a highly diversified,
value-added, globally competitive and sustainable oil palm industry.
MISSION
To enhance the well-being of the Malaysian oil palm industry
through research, development, and excellent services

Research Lib + Digital

Archives + Gallery
+Palm Shoppe +
Infocafe

PALM INFORMATION CENTRE = KNOWLEDGE HUB

 A case study: Bill Gates and his
strategies
Left Harvard to found Microsoft in 1975.
Went public in 1986 and by 1987 the
company's soaring share prices had made
the then 31-year-old Gates the world's
youngest self-made billionaire.

Gates stepped down from his day-to-day

management role at Microsoft in 2008 to
focus on philanthropic work.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, founded in 2000,

supports projects to improve health, reduce poverty
and increase public access to technology.
Learn from
Reading
01. Be in the right place at the right time.

02. Fall in love with technology.

03. Take no prisoners.
04. Hire very smart people.
05. Learn to survive.
06. Don’t expect any thanks.
07. Assume the visionary position.
08. Cover all the bases.
09. Build a byte-sized business.
10. Never, ever take your eye off the ball.
 Challenge and Strategy, 16 May 1991, Gates’ memo

Every year I set aside at least one "think week" to get away
and update myself on the latest technical developments –
reading PhD theses, using competitive products, reading
books, newsletters and anything …

A lot of people choose things for me to read. By the end of

the week I make an effort to synthesize the best ideas and
make our technical strategy clear.
 How you gather,
manage, and use
information will
determine whether
you win or lose.
Information flow is the
lifeblood of your company
because it enables you to
get the most out of your
people and learn from
your customers
Information work is
thinking work. To do
information work, people
have to have ready
access to information.
Bill Gates. Business @ the speed of thought. Warner Books. 1999, p.3-15
There is more information
available. The winners will
be the ones who develop a
world-class digital nervous
system so that information
can easily flow through
their companies for
maximum and constant
learning.
A digital nervous system
will make it possible for
facts and ideas to quickly
surface from down in your
organisation…and allows
you to do all these things
fast.
 Knowledge management
Knowledge management is managing information
does not start with flow and getting the right
technology. KM starts with information to the people
business objectives and who need it so that they
the recognition of the need can act on it quickly.
to share information.
Corporate IQ.
How easily your people
Knowledge management is
can share information
a means to an end – to
broadly and how well
increase institutional
intelligence, or corporate they can build on each
IQ. other’s ideas.

Corporate IQ comes from Knowledge sharing must start

individual learning and from the top. Leaders cannot
from cross-pollination of isolate themselves behind
different people’s ideas. close doors. They must send
out emails to employees and
give responses to employees.

Bill Gates. Business @ the speed of thought. Warner Books. 1999, p.238-
240
 Information professionals
play a unique role in gathering,
organizing, and coordinating
access to the best available
information sources
for the organization,

understanding the critical need of

turning that information into
usable KNOWLEDGE.
Oracle University

INFORMATION
 “Users are becoming savvy about the
differences in the quality of information
and are waking up to the fact that there
are often better sources than what they
find on the open Web.“

Information Management Best Practices: Opportunit

Changing User Needs Require
Service Revisions, Outsell, May 13, 2005 ies?
Threats?
Know Our Customers / Library Users:
1. Information-seeking behavior
2. Information needs
• Information-seeking behavior in various contexts –
no shortage of studies.
• ISIC 2004, Dublin – 5th Information Seeking in Context Conference
Information Research, vol10, 1,2, 2004/05
http://InformationR.net/ir/10

• OCLC (2005) Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources

• Findings help us to rethink STRATEGIES

- to compete, to regain the library respect / reputation
- to design & develop information retrieval tools
- to improve our relationship with users.
 Some Salient Points in Findings

Students Students Managers Managers US S&T

Malaysia Ireland Singapore US residents Or
Urban-rural Humanities

• Information search begins by asking other people:

relationship, knowledge, communication
behavior, cognitive style, cognitive ability.
• Libraries and librarians are not the
prime sources in information
search.
• The Internet is more
frequently accessed than
the library.
WHY?
 OCLC major findings:
• A higher number • Respondents regard
information from the
of respondents library as more trustworthy
and reliable.
use the Internet
as the main
information
source.
OPPORTUNITIES -
Create our
CHALLENGE impact by
THREAT adding value
to users
 The Economic Impact of Public
Libraries on South Carolina (Barron et al.
2005)
Cost- Benefits of SC public libraries
• Total direct & indirect expenditures =$ 77.5
(mil.)
• Total values of direct impact = 222.0
• Total values of indirect impact = 126.0

• Total direct & indirect (ROI)

Return on investment of $1.00 is $4.48

Empower yourself with impactful

evidences
 The Economic Impact of Information
Services on Citizens of South Carolina (Barron
et al. 2005)
Benefits of the public libraries indicated by users:
• Improve overall quality of life 92 (%)
• Contribute to the success of business 78
• Negative impact without business info. 74
• Nurture a love for reading 73
• Enhance personal fulfillment 73
• A source of personal enjoyment 64
• Enabled wise investment 59
• Help life-long learning 47
• Improve job productivity 37
 Celebrating Libraries
25 October 2006

“ A book
has
changed
> 4,000 my life.”
“Reference books from Singaporeans
the library have helped shared the impact
tremendously in my the library has
pursuit of a degree.” made on their lives.

Empower by making positive impact on users.

“LIBRARY:
a noble place
where voices are
lowered
and minds are
 Entrepreneurs = Turn Problems into Opportunities

How can we take advantage of this public complaint?

 2007/08/08, NST
Library facilities: Out of date titles, no Net access.
By : CHUA TECK BOON, Muar

NST, 2007/09/22
Without power, library
becomes white elephant.

KUCHING: The Long San rural

library has a good collection
of books and Internet facility
but users are now avoiding
the place.

Using customer feedback as a 
strategic tool!
Penetration of Telecommunication Services
per 100 Malaysian Households

Year Broadband Mobile Direct Line

2006 10.8 72.3 48.3

2007 14.4 81.5 47.8

2008 21.1 96.8 44.9

(http://www.skmm.gov.my/facts_figures/stats/)

content
conte
nts s
Law 4 - Save the time of the users
(ease, convenience, speed)
the Library in Your Pocket BETA
portal 19 May 2009

• Search the catalogue

• check the library account
• renew and reserve books
• keep up to date on latest arrivals
• current events in the library
• SMS queries to Librarians
• download and read short stories
• NLB blogs
• subscribe to free reminder
& e-notification service.
 launched 2004
(http://books.google.com/googlebooks/agr
eement/)

GOAL - The tremendous wealth of

knowledge that lies within the books of
the world will now be at readers’
fingertips.

MISSION – to organize the world’s

information and make it
universally accessible and useful.

STRATEGY - Expand online access to

millions of in-copyright and out of-
copyright books in US libraries
- Agreement with
Opportunities ? authors,
publishers. - Collaborate
with Threats?
librarians.
 When one stops
learning,
one should stop
teaching.

Coming together is a beginning.

Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.

Henry Ford 1863-1947

The only place where success

comes before work is in the
dictionary.
Donald Kendall
 The 21st PRIDE
Century is Personal Dato’
the Service Lawrence
Responsibility Tan
Era
In
Delivery
Many suppliers Excellence
have the same
products.
High Tech
The one with
Needs High
personal touch
Touch
have the
to Succeed.
customers.
 I really had a lot of dreams when I was
a kid, and I think a great deal of that
grew out of the fact that I had a chance
to read a lot.

The first rule of any technology used in

a business is that automation applied to
Anyone who has never an efficient operation will magnify the
made a mistake has never efficiency. The second is that
tried anything new. automation applied to an inefficient
operation will magnify the inefficiency.
Management is efficiency in climbing the
ladder of success; leadership determines
whether the ladder is leaning against the
right wall. If you can't make
If you do not have it good, at least
good things to say make it look good.
about others, then
shut up.
Born: 1869-10-02
died: 1948-01-30

An eye for an
eye makes the Seven Deadly Sins
whole world
blind.
1. Wealth without Work
Mohandas 2. Pleasure without
Karamachand
Gandhi, one of Conscience
the most
influential 3. Science without
figures in
modern social Humanity
and political
activism, 4. Knowledge without
considered
these traits to Character
be the most
spiritually 5. Politics without
 Life is And what
indeed
darkness is it to
save when work with
there is
And
urge. all WORKlove?
urge is is love made visible.
blind save And if you cannot work
when there with love but only with
is distaste,
KNOWLED it is better that you
And
GE.all
knowledge should leave your work
is vain and sit at the gate of the
temple and take alms It is to
ofweave
save when the cloth
there is those who work with joy. with
threads drawn
WORK.
And all from your own
work is heart, as if
empty your beloved
save when ones were to
there is wear that
LOVE. Khalil Gibran 1883-
cloth.
1931)
REFERENCES

Gardner, Howard and Shulman, Lee S. 2005. The professions in America today:
crucial but fragile. Daedalus 134, June 22: 13-18

Wee, Phyllis Guek Suan. 2005. Aligning information services to corporate strategic
needs.
Special Library Confernce 2005 (SLIB 2005): Positioning Information Services
Towards Organisational Excellence, organised by PETRONAS in collaboration with
PPM, 15-17 May 2005. Nikko Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Szarina Abdullah. 2005. Effective strategic leadership: a boon for successful

organisations.
Special Library Confernce 2005 (SLIB 2005): Positioning Information Services
Towards Organisational Excellence, organised by PETRONAS in collaboration with
PPM, 15-17 May 2005. Nikko Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Szarina Abdullah. 2008. Turning Information into Strategic Value- The Changing Role
of Librarians, Proceedings of the Special Library Conference 2008:
Knowledge Communities: Rising to the Performance Challenges. Kuala
Lumpur Convention Center: PETRONAS in collaboration with Persatuan Pustakawan
Malaysia, 19-20 February 2008:

Huck Tee, Edwards Lim . 2007. Serving the millennial generation: management
challenges for the modern academic library. International Conference on Libraries
(ICOL2007): Emerging Trends, 31 October – 2 November , Universiti Sains Malaysia,
Pulau Pinang.

Ranganathan, S R. 1931. The Five Laws of Library Science. Madras, Madras Library
Thank you for your
attention &
 Quotes from The Prophet (Kahlil Gibran 1883-
1931)
www.philosophyblog.com.au/images.
When love beckons to you, follow
him, though his ways are hard and
steep.

A little knowledge that acts is worth

infinitely more than much
knowledge that is idle.

You cannot prevent the birds of

sorrow from flying over your
head,
but you can prevent them from
building nests in your hair.
-Chinese Proverb
 "Special Librarians:
Information Specialist
Putting Knowledge to Work (SLA)
•
* Research Librarian
* Preparing research reports in response to
* Research Specialist
staff requests for specific information;
* Senior Research Librarian
* Gathering competitive intelligence;
* Knowledge Specialist
* Identifying research done at other
* Knowledge Manager
organizations to avoid unnecessary
* Manager of Information Services
duplication;
* Manager of Information Centers
* Verifying facts for external and internal
* Director of Information and
reports and publications;
Communications
* Creating databases for organizations to
* Director of Information Services
access their internal information;
* Searching patents and trademarks;
Responsibilities
* Evaluating and comparing information
software and sources of data prior to
• Adding Value to Information
purchase;
• Marketing
* and Training other staff to efficiently and
• Collaborating
cost-effectively use online databases.
Internet Usage and Population Growth

(http://www.internetworldstat.com/asia/my.htm)
YEAR Users Population % Pen. Usage Source

2000 3,700,000 24,645,600 15.0 % ITU

2005 10,040,000 26,500,699 37.9 % C.I.Almanac

2006 11,016,000 28,294,120 38.9 % ITU

2007 13,528,200 28,294,120 47.8 % MCMC

2008 14,904,000 25,274,133 59.0 % MCMC

27.73
million

5 September 2008
http://www.statistics.gov.my/eng/index.php?option=com_
Visual Resources and Image Management:
a new course for LIS students

Iyer, H. (2009). “A profession in transition:

towards development and implementation of
standards for visual resources management…”
Information Research, 14 (4) paper 413
(http://InformationR.net/ir/14-4/paper413.html)
Keperluan Sumber Manusia dalam Bidang Perpustakaan dan Perkhidmatan Maklumat di Malaysia,
Dato’ Dr Zaiton Osman (et.al.) Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia, 2004

Bilangan Keperluan Jawatan Tambahan Kepada Gred Sedia Ada Dalam Tempoh 2004–2008
bagi perpustakaan akademik, perp. khusus, perp. Negeri, dan perp. Negara

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 JUMLAH

TAHUN
S54 3 6 3 1 4 17

S52 14 7 6 7 8 42

S48 21 22 18 22 18 101

S44 57 30 27 24 32 170

S41 116 55 60 45 64 340

S27 80 61 48 31 50 270

S22 22 6 3 5 3 39

JUMLAH 313 187 165 135 179 979

Competencies Needed in Malaysian Libraries
(Zaiton et al. 2004)
I. MANAGERIAL frequency / respondents
Strategic management 68.6
Holistic views / knowledge 54.3
Networking skills 51.4
II. PROFESSIONAL
Metadata 76.4
Benchmarking 63.2
Performance measurement 55.3
III. ICT ASPECTS
Desktop 73.5
Web design & development 58.8
Software applications 50.0
IV. COMMUNICATION
Creative thinking skills 68.8
Consultative & Negotiating skills 53.1