A nine-member team from Petronas Petroleum Resource Centre (PRC) visited the main campus to explore the library facilities and services of Wawasan Open University.
According to PRC chief librarian & senior manager Azahar Mohd Noor, the visit sought to expose his librarians to the best practices of the various public and university libraries.
LEARNING & LIBRARY SERVICES DIRECTOR PN KAMSIAH MD ALI (3RD FROM RIGHT) OF WOU AT THE MEETING.
“The main purpose is benchmarking and a study visit for our younger librarians, most of whom are only 2-3 years with PRC,” he said, explaining they are all from the corporate library in Petronas Twin Towers, KLCC. Petronas also has a scientifc research and development library in Bangi.
Another objective for the visit is capability building and development, as Azahar believes his team will learn more from exposure to the real world than from attending workshops.
They covered seven libraries in their study trip up north. They visited the Kedah public library and Universiti Utara Malaysia on Feb 12, Universiti Malaysia Perlis and Albukhary International University, Alor Setar on Feb 13, Universiti Sains Malaysia on Feb 14 morning, and the Penang Public Library on Feb 15.
“Our younger set of people will be able to learn from other best practices,” he stated, adding that they will decide later on what to adopt and adapt for PRC. Azahar said one potential collaboration with WOU was in the management of e-resources. “We want to see how you manage your e-resources, as I believe this is the main backbone of your library.”
EN AZAHAR MOHD NOOR (FACING, RIGHT) OF PRC.
Director of Learning and Library Services, Kamsiah Mohd Ali, briefed them about WOU, its blended mode of learning, and programmes, and how the library develops its archive practices and open educational resources repository.
Meanwhile Asistant Library Manager Chew Bee Leng shared about the digital library, institutional repository and the Turnitin anti-plagiarism software.
Earlier, the visitors from PRC were given a tour of the Homestead and the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Digital Library.
A TOUR OF THE CAMPUS. LOOKING AT FLOORING AT THE HOMESTEAD HALL.
The PRC team comprised of two managers – Ismail Isa, Manager, Resource Development & Organisation, and Ibrahim Hj Mohamed, Manager, Information Research & Reference – while the rest were senior executives /executives.
The PRC acts as the corporate resource centre for information on the oil and gas industry, providing access to important research, journal articles, news and data to support the information requirements of all employees of Petronas, the national petroleum corporation.
