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This investigation deals with the use of orange peel (OP) waste as adsorbent for removal of nitrate (NO3) from simulated wastewater. Orange peel prepared in two conditions dried at 60C° (OPD) and burning at 500 °C (OPB). The effect of pH: 2-10, contact time: 30- 180 min, sorbent weight: 0.5- 3.0 g were considered. The optimal pH value for NO3 adsorption was found to be 2.0 for both adsorbents. The equilibrium data were analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Freundlich model was found to fit the equilibrium data very well with high-correlation coefficient (R2). The adsorption kinetics was found to follow pseudo-second-order rate kinetic model, with a good correlation (R2 > 0.95 and 0.94) for the orange peel adsorbent at 500 °C (OPB) and at 60 °C (OPD), respectively. The results showed that the orange peel was found to be an attractive low cost adsorbent for the treatment of wastewater.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to relate the problems identified about scholarly journal publishing in Malaysia to establish motivation for the system development; to describe the design of MyCite, a Malaysian citation indexing system and to highlight the added value to journals and articles indexed through the generation of bibliometrics performance reports. Design/methodology/approach: The system uses a rapid prototyping method, modeling the functions identified in the Web of Science databases and Scopus, as the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia requires the system to be ready within a year, mainly to help improve the quality, accessibility and performance of Malaysian scholarly journals. Findings: The paper shows the relational tables and module functions in MyCite; highlights the value added to bibliographic data through performance reports of authors, journals, institutions, country and bibliographical control of Malaysian journals; and provides performance tables of top authors, rank list of 75 journals by yearly impact factor, and other bibliometric indices. Research limitations/implications: The paper highlight the problems in gaining access to full contents of journals, authors' adoption of variant names, and the vast variations in referencing style adopted by publishers, which may result in inaccurate counting and lost citations. Originality/value: The strength of MyCite is in its reference editor module, which is a programme that segments article references into manageable chunks that helps speed up the data preparation for citation counting. MyCite improves the availability and visibility of Malaysian journals, enriches national research content, and provides better knowledge of national research outputs funded by universities and research institutions. (Contains 10 tables and 6 figures.)

This paper presents findings from a case study investigating secondary school teachers' understanding of the term digital libraries and their relationship with learning. The study addresses two research questions: (1) How do teachers conceptualize digital libraries, their relevance and issues relating to their integration into the curriculum? and (2) What are the teachers' perceptions of the initiative to develop a collaborative digital library for school projects? A series of interviews were carried out on six History subject teachers which provide a detailed and succinct information on their understanding of digital libraries, their knowledge and use of the Internet and digital resources, their perception of the possible impact of digital resources on teaching and learning, the benefits teachers seen in digital resources and the problems they have in using them. It also offers important insights on History subject teachers' perceptions of the initiative to develop a collaborative digital library for History projects, perception of its potential use, pointing out the conditions that facilitate its use in the classrooms. The paper also points out the relevance of digital libraries to the History curriculum which will make readers understand that using the technology is relevant to the teaching of all subjects. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

Pomegranate peels were chosen for the ability to adsorption of lead ions from the simulated wastewater. It has been tested under various experimental parameters such as pH, contact time, weight of sorbent, and concentration of metal and effect of temperature. The outcomes indicated that adsorption of Pb (II) ions on the pomegranate peels can be appropriated with the Langmuir adsorption model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Result showed that the Pomegranate peel was found to be low-cost adsorbent for the removal of contaminates. A good efficiency to remove toxic metal ions was achieved by usage of such by- product.

An academic library is a spiritual home to support users in their pursuit of lifelong learning. This study approaches the issues from the visually impaired students’ (VIPs) perspective towards librarians’ support. This study was conducted by using the qualitative approach. Data was collected through interviews and focus group discussions. For trustworthiness of data, member checking and audit from experts are also used. The participants of the study remarked that the librarians’ friendly behaviour provided them a sense of being accepted, valued, cared for, respected, and welcomed which fostered the creation of their sense of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the user evaluation to examine participants' acceptance of an e-workspace that has been developed to support the process of teaching, learning and researching manuscripts in the Malay manuscript community. This evaluation is conducted to answer the following research question: a) What is the perceived usefulness of the e-workspace in supporting transliteration work and collaboration from the Malay manuscript community? b) What are the usability issues highlighted regarding the Malay manuscript e-workspace? The evaluation is carried out based on five usability dimensions, namely, efficiency, effectiveness, engagement, error tolerance and ease of learning. A single case study has been employed in this evaluation which included lecturers, students, and researchers from the Academy of Malay Studies, University of Malaya as participants. These participants are directly involved in teaching, learning and researching Malay manuscripts. The user evaluation is carried out in two phases. The first phase involves a task-based approach where participants are given several tasks to perform while using the e-workspace. The second phase is a focus group discussion to elicit the participants' feedback on the perceived usefulness of the e-workspace after they have completed the given tasks. System evaluation of the Malay Manuscript e-workspace in serving the manuscript community has been reflected by the positive feedback from the 19 participants. The findings signify a positive reaction from participants towards the e-workspace. The e-workspace in general has been perceived as useful to support teaching, learning and researching manuscripts by providing a collaborative platform to conduct transliteration work electronically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the relative percentile of diffusion (RPDiF) and compares it with the results of the following indicators: synchronous diffusion factor (DiF), synchronous relative diffusion factor (RDiF), and the five years impact factor (5IF) scores -- to assess the influence of journals. The approach involves collection, analyses and comparison of bibliometric data for42 Malaysian journals that have garnered citations in the Web of Science (WoS) during 2006 to 2010.Findings show that it is important to read the RDiF with the RPDiF because RPDiF shows that journals with high RDiF and low RPDiF do not possess strong quality profile like those with both high RDiF and RPDiF. The paper concludes that a journal can be said to demonstrate high quality impact and influence if it achieves a high DiF, RPDiF and 5IF. This study contributes in providing an additional quality indicator to evaluate journals not indexed by mainstream citation databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores visually impaired persons' (VIPs) sense of belonging in a university library context. It focuses on their perceptions of and experiences with study carrels located in the university library. Data were collected during interviews and focus group discussions. Participants consisted of five female and thirteen male students between the ages of 20 and 37 years. Participants considered their carrels as second homes where they felt safe, comfortable, and accepted. The carrels gave them a sense of belonging. The carrels also served as social places where the VIPs could interact with peers, volunteer readers, and other sighted students. The VIPs viewed their carrels as quiet havens where they could study and learn. They felt they belonged to the library community and were proud to be accepted as students at the university. The findings may increase library managements' awareness of the need to include these types of spaces in future design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines Nipah virus publications retrieved from SCI-Expanded and SSCI database (Web of Science) for the period 1999-2010. Performance indicators used are: total publications, total citations, the activity index, the attractive index and the publication efficiency index. Yearly publication and citation trends indicated an exponential growth. The most active countries involved are USA, Australia, Malaysia, France, Germany and the UK. The USA produced the most papers, has the highest average citations per article and highest h-index. Australia is the most productive country based on per capita followed by Malaysia. The relative citation impact in Nipah virus research by these countries surpassed the world's average. The most active institutions are the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia (18.73%); Center for Disease Control and Prevention, USA (14.94%); and University of Malaya, Malaysia (12.41%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There are several ways for the international scientific community to recognize the quality of a scholarly journal. Although controversial, the most widely used and reliable methodology to identify the importance of a journal is through the citation it receives. This paper identifies the performance of scholarly journals published by Malaysian publishers in the Web of Science and reports the number of citations to Malaysian journals in terms of the cited and the citing journals. A search using the Thomson-Reuters citation database (Web of Science) was performed to identify highly cited Malaysian journals from 2006 to 2010. We identified 212 cited journals that received 9675 cited-papers, and a total of 9427 articles contributing to the 3184 journals citing Malaysian journals. More than fifty percent of all the articles that cited Malaysian journals were published in journals ranked in the first or second quartile by the Journal Citation Report. Further analysis was done on the top 50 cited and citing journal titles. A steady growth of citations with a total increase of 56.9% was evident between the five year period examined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examines 462 papers on Nipah virus research published from 1999 to 2010, identifying the active authors, institutions and citations received. Data was extracted from SCI-Expanded database, (Web of Science) and analyzed using descriptive figures and tables. The results show the growth of publication is incremental up to 2010 even though the average citations received is decreasing. The ratio of authors to articles is 1330: 426. The active contributing countries are USA (41.0%), Australia (19.3%), Malaysia (16.0%), England (6.5%) and France (5.6%). The productive authors are mainly affiliated to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, USA and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Australia and University of Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia. A total of 10572 citations were received and the ratio of articles to citation is 1: 24.8. Collaboration with the bigger laboratories in USA and Australia is contributive to the sustained growth of published literature and to access diverse expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem with the identification of Malaysian scholarly journals lies in the lack of a current and complete listing of journals published in Malaysia. As a result, librarians are deprived of a tool that can be used for journal selection and identification of gaps in their serials collection. This study describes the audit carried out on scholarly journals, with the objectives (a) to trace and characterized scholarly journal titles published in Malaysia, and (b) to determine their visibility in international and national indexing databases. A total of 464 titles were traced and their yearly trends, publisher and publishing characteristics, bibliometrics and indexation in national, international and subject-based indexes were described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the use of an assessment instrument based on a model named library information systems security assessment model (LISSAM) to assess the ISS status in special and public libraries in Malaysia. The study aims to determine the implementation status of technological and organizational components of the LISSAM model. An implementation index as well as a scoring tool is presented to assess the IS safeguarding measures in a library. Data used was based on questionnaires distributed to a total of 50 individuals who are responsible for the information systems (IS) or IT in the special and public libraries in Malaysia. Findings revealed that over 95% of libraries have high level of technological implementation but 54% were fair poorly on organizational measures, especially on lack of security procedures, administrative tools and awareness creation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Library anxiety is manifested in the form of negative feelings, fear, stress, distress, confusion and has debilitating effects on students’ academic performance, which makes it a serious phenomenon for investigation. This study explores library anxiety amongst Sudanese university students and identifies factors that contribute to this phenomenon. The factors were identified using the diary approach collected from 51 third year undergraduate students who were taking the research method course at the Sudan University of Science and Technology for the first time. The analysis of diary entries revealed eight library constructs named Sudanese Library Anxiety Construct (SULAC). The constructs comprises Negative perceptions towards academic library environment, Negative perceptions towards library staff, Affective barriers, Negative perceptions towards peers, Negative perceptions towards library services, Negative perceptions towards library collections, Negative perceptions towards library regulations, and Cognitive barriers. Details of factors underlying each construct are described. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article proposes a model for developing a collection security management assessment instrument for university libraries. The model is made up of five elements that include collection security governance, operations and processes, people issues, physical and technical issues and the security culture in libraries. The model was tested in four university libraries in Nigeria and was shown to be reliable based on all five elements, with reliability values ranging from 0.7 to 0.9.

It is difficult to determine the influence and impact of journals which are not covered by the ISI databases and Journal Citation Report. However, with the availability of databases such as MyAIS (Malaysian Abstracting and Indexing System), which offers sufficient information to support bibliometric analysis as well as being indexed by Google Scholar which provides citation information, it has become possible to obtain productivity, citation and impact information for non-ISI indexed journals. The bibliometric tool Harzing's Publish and Perish was used to collate citation information from Google scholar. The study examines article productivity, the citations obtained by articles and calculates the impact factor of Medical Journal of Malaysia (MJM) published between 2004 and 2008. MJM is the oldest medical journal in Malaysia and the unit of analysis is 580 articles. The results indicate that once a journal is covered by MyAIS it becomes visible and accessible on the Web because Google Scholarindexes MyAIS. The results show that contributors to MJM were mainly Malaysian (91%) and the number of Malaysian-Foreign collaborated papers were very small (28 articles, 4.8%). However, citation information from Google scholar indicates that out of the 580 articles, 76.8% (446) have been cited over the 5-year period. The citations were received from both mainstrean foreign as well as Malaysian journals and the top three citors were from China, Malaysia and the United States. In general more citations were received from East Asian countries, Europe, and Southeast Asia. The 2-yearly impact factor calculated for MJM is 0.378 in 2009, 0.367 in 2008, 0.616 in 2007 and 0.456 in 2006. The 5-year impact factor is calculated as 0.577. The results show that although MJM is a Malaysian journal and not ISI indexed its contents have some international significance based on the citations and impact score it receives, indicating the importance of being visible especially in Google scholar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Library anxiety is one of the psychological barriers that encounter students when they are performing a library task. This study explores library anxiety among 51 Sudanese university students using diary method for data collection. The finding indicates that library anxiety among Sudanese university students are manifested into five dimensions, namely; (a) Negative perceptions towards library environment, (b) Negative perceptions towards peer students, (c) Negative perceptions towards library staff, (d) Negative perceptions towards library services, and (e) Psychological barriers. Details of statements under the dimensions highlight the issues that are unique and not covered by previous studies in library anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a common fallacy to assume that undergraduates are skilled in finding and evaluating resources for their various learning needs. Information professionals need to find out strategies and courses of action undertaken by undergraduate students in order to perhaps improve information literacy skills or user education programmes. This qualitative study uses the diary, emails interaction and in depth face to face interview approach involving 14 final year Computer Science and Information Technology undergraduates whom shared their information search and use process. The objectives of this study are to find out the followings: (a) the decision on deciding research topics by final year students; (b) the sources and channels of information they use and prefer; (c) the utility of libraries and librarians; (d) the use of the Internet; (e) the search strategies adopted; (f) their thoughts on intellectual property and ethical issues. Among the main information sources used were the Internet, books and previous final year project reports. They also seem to rely a lot on their friends and lecturers as their source of information. Very few used journal articles, seminar papers or other sources. An understanding of their information seeking behaviour patterns is the focus of this paper. Informants' thoughts and feeling on the library services and the ethical use of information will be shared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes an exploratory needs analysis for a digital library of Malay manuscripts. The manuscripts are facing several problems, including (a) the lack of trained manuscript librarians; (b) budgetary constraints in manual and digital preservation initiatives; (c) the problems in storage and maintenance of the collection; (d) restricted access for users, (e) the need to preserve the fragile manuscripts, (e) the difficulty of undertaking collaborative transliteration work because of the access problems; (f) the dispersal of titles at several repositories which exacerbates the access issue; and (g) a lack of detail in the description in the manuscript library catalogues. The objectives of this study are: (a) to find out the current state of manuscript collection management and practices in selected libraries; (b) to identify the problems faced by manuscript repositories; (c) to study the meta data schema used by repositories to describe their manuscript collections, and (d) to identify a suitable open source digital library software to support a digital library of manuscripts. The study gathers qualitative data from an open-ended questionnaire distributed to five manuscript librarians in Malaysia. Cataloguing practices in manuscript repositories were observed and the open-source digital library software Green stone was studied for its suitability. The information gathered and observed which helped determine the requirements of a digital library that empowers repositories in building, storing, preserving and disseminating information about manuscript collections is presented. The design and modules of the digital library are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper covers a total of 82 bibliometric studies on single journals (62 studies cover unique titles) published between 1998 and 2008 grouped into the following fields; Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (12 items); Medical and Health Sciences (19 items); Sciences and Technology (30 items) and Library and Information Sciences (21 items). Under each field the studies are described in accordance to their geographical location in the following order, United Kingdom, United States and Americana, Europe, Asia (India, Africa and Malaysia). For each study, elements described are (a) the journal's publication characteristics and indexation information; (b) the objectives; (c) the sampling and bibliometric measures used; and (d) the results observed. A list of journal titles studied is appended. The results show that (a)bibliometric studies cover journals in various fields; (b) there are several revisits of some journals which are considered important; (c) Asian and African contributions is high (41.4% of total studies; 43.5% covering unique titles), United States (30.4% of total; 31.0% on unique titles), Europe (18.2% of total and 14.5% on unique titles) and the United Kingdom (10% of total and 11% on unique titles); (d) a high number of bibliometrists are Indians and as such coverage of Indian journals is high (28% of total studies; 30.6% of unique titles); and (e) the quality of the journals and their importance either nationally or internationally are inferred from their indexation status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single journal studies are reviewed and measures used in the studies are highlighted. The following quantitative measures are used to study 272 articles published in Malaysian Journal of Computer Science, (1) the article productivity of the journal from 1985 to 2007, (2) the observed and expected authorship productivity tested using Lotka's Law of author productivity, identification and listing of core authors; (3) the authorship, co-authorship pattern by authors' country of origin and institutional affiliations; (4) the subject areas of research; (5) the citation analysis of resources referenced as well as the age and half-life of citations; the journals referenced and tested for zonal distribution using Bradford's law of journal scattering; the extent of web citations; and (6) the citations received by articles published in MJCS and impact factor of the journal based on information obtained from Google Scholar, the level of author and journal self-citation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study uses research-based resources listed in two published bibliographies on "Women in development in Malaysia" produced between the pre 1970 years and 2004 to describe the growth and pattern of women's studies in Malaysia. A total 4037 resources formed the basis of the study. Bibliometric measure are used to indicate the annual growth of literature over the periods, the preferred publication channels used by the authors, the subject areas of research interests, the active authors and the inference of collaboration based on co-authored works. The results indicate a growth in women's studies especially between 1990 and 2004 totaling 3346 publications, averaging about 258 titles per year compared to the average of 36 titles for the pre 1970 and 1989 years. There were heavier activities in economic studies, social-cultural studies, women's health and welfare and women in literature. The main types of publication produced are undergraduate academic research reports, master dissertations and doctoral theses. Conference presentations and journal articles are equally popular. Most authors in this field are one time contributors and only 18 authors produced 10 or more publications each. The majority of authors work alone indicating a low collaboration rate. The study proposes a collaborative e-bibliographic initiative to serve and sustain researchers' information needs in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the affordances that a collaborative digital library (CDL) can bring to bear on supporting information literacy practices in the digital information environment. It suggests that the digital library can contribute to student empowerment in information literacy practices while searching, using and collaboratively building the digital library resources. To illustrate this, the authors have been experimenting with the implementation of an integrated information literacy model based on Eisenberg and Berkowitz' Big 6 Model and describes the CDL features in association with the information literacy dimensions in this model. The CDL focuses on the project-based learning approach to conduct students' project, which supports specific information behaviors that underpin research and learning such as information seeking, browsing, encountering, foraging, sharing, gathering, filtering, and using. Findings regarding teachers' reception of the digital library are encouraging as they feel the relevance of the digital library to the current requirement of the students' project and its potential to entrench information and resource study skills through project-based learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper described 1. the investigation undertaken to trace the strategies used by children in selecting books to borrow, use or browse in two children's public libraries, and 2. map the information seeking patterns adopted by the selected children. The sample comprised 43 children who used the Bayan Budiman Children's Library, Petaling Jaya and the Kuala Lumpur Children's Library. The children were randomly chosen, aged between 7 and 12 and comprised those who entered the library with the observed behaviour of selecting books to browse, use or borrow. Two stages were used to collect data; 1. observing the children's behavior as they enter the library to the point when they pick up a book to browse, read or borrow for fifteen to twenty minutes and 2. interviewing those selected with a semi-structure questionnaire. Belkin, et al's (1993) information search strategy (ISS) dimensions were used to transcribe children's browsing and selecting behavior. Based on the observations and interviews respondent's behaviour was mapped to illustrate the children's choosing process. The findings indicated that 1. browsing was the most popular method used when choosing a book combined with various strategies such as looking for a book by an author or series, finding a book by subjects, visually or physically scanning and recognizing the physical composition of the book; 2. children based their selection on the storyline, illustrations, cover designs and typography of the books; and 3. the searching behaviour is likely to be non-linear in nature. The majority of the children faced no problems in choosing or locating a book as most are regular visitors. A few indicated being overwhelmed by the library's large collection or, face initial confusion before they started to browse and interact with resources. Children used visual cues rather from textual information when searching for books, inferring that children libraries need to be supported with adequate and visually stimulating environment to make book searching fun and fruitful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper attempted to provide a "picture" of Malaysian US research and publications. The study aimed to show (a) the total number and spread of publications produced by Malaysian authors; (b) the active authors; (c) the authorship pattern; (d) the affiliation status of the authors; (e) the main channels used to publish; and (f) the subject covered by the published works. The study confined its scope to the publications produced between 1965 and 2005 by Malaysian authors published in Malaysia as well as abroad. Bibliometric techniques and regression analysis were employed as the measuring instrument. The data was collected from seven online databases and seven well established library OPACs, which are expected to hold earlier and current US publications. A bibliometric toolbox was used to feed in text files which provided brief summaries of ranked results, a bibliograph and minimal Bradford zonal analysis. The subject categorization used by Gorman and Corbit's Model of core competencies for US was used to categorized entries by subjects. The results indicated that (a) Malaysian US authors preferred to publish in journals (511, 48.9%) and conference papers (474, 45.4%); (b) the publication distribution fluctuated over the 41 year period but the moving average depicted a steady incremental trend; (c) a total of 506 authors contributed to 1,045 publications and 309 are one-time authors' (d) the active authors in LIS are affiliated to 131 institutions and the productive institutions were the national Library of Malaysia, University of Malaya library and the academics at the MUS Programme, University of Malaya.; (e) publication productivity was related to institutional active involvement in US journal publishing; and (/`) the main subject areas actively researched upon were collection development and management, information centres and services, and ICT applications US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports on a study that ascertains the factors facilitating students to utilize digital libraries for educational purposes. The study investigates students ICT readiness, usage of online resources and information seeking behaviour of secondary school students with the specific goal of applying the results to the design of a collaborative digital library for school projects. The digital library has been conceived to support resource needs of these students as well provide the space for them to publish their school projects, which are currently submitted handwritten. The study uses the case study approach and an urban secondary school in Malaysia is chosen as the case school. Findings from a survey and focus group interviews indicate that the students are ready to collaboratively build the digital library resources as evidenced by students digital library readiness score of 31.4/40. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an exploratory attempt to use a modified version of SERVPERF to assess user's satisfaction with the services provided by an ISO9000:2000 certified library at a private university in Malaysia where measuring performance would be an integral part to continuously improve quality of services. The services being measured are grouped as frontline, core and peripheral where staff and facilities interact with users directly and where user's opinions and expectations could be extracted. The clients are undergraduates and postgraduates who use these services and facilities. The results identify services deem important to users of the library as well as the problem areas which need improvements. A total of 274 students comprising 250 undergraduates and 24 postgraduates form the sample. The respondents' ratings range on average between 3.13 and 4.36 on a 5-point scale, implying that the library is performing at an above average level. From 59 service attributes, 2 are perceived as excellent, 20 attributes are considered good, 31 are average and 4 services are rated as poor. A total of 16 services are rated below 50%, which form the priority list of services given priority in the library's proposed action plan. The good and excellent services would continue to be monitored to maintain their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study focuses on identifying the usage pattern of e-books especially on how, when, where and why undergraduates at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FCSIT), University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur use or do not use the e-books service provided by the University of Malaya library. A total of 206 (82%) useable questionnaires form the basis of analysis. The results indicate even though the students are heavy users of the Internet, rate themselves as skilled in Internet use and have positive attitude towards the e-book service, the level of e-book use is still low (39%). The students become aware of the e-book service mainly while visiting the University of Malaya Library Website, or are referred to it by their lecturers, friends or the librarians. About 70% rate positively on the e-book service. Those who are users of e-books find e-books easy to use and their usages are mainly for writing assignment or project work Most respondents prefer to use e-versions of textbooks and reference sources. Generally, both users and non-users of e-books prefer to use the printed version of textbooks especially if the text is continuously used. There are significant difference between the frequency of e-book use and gender; between past usage of e-book and preference for electronic textbooks and reference books. The possible factors which may be related to e-book use are categorized into 4 groups and presented in a model, which comprises the ICT competencies of the students, their cognitive makeup, the degree of user access to the e-books and the functional or use factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese born in the Straits Settlements of Peninsula Malaya (Penang, Singapore, Malacca) are called Babas to distinguish them from those born in China. The Babas are rooted from three different races, Chinese, Malay and English and as such their lifestyles show a mixed blend of the Chinese, Malay and European cultures. Because of this cultural background, the Babas exhibited a unique cultural mix in the clothes they wear, their culinary skills, architectural styles, language and literature. The paper describes the characteristics of 68 Baba translated works published between 1889 and 1950; focusing on the publication trends between the period under study, the persons involved in the creative output, the publishers and printers involved, the contents of the translated works, the physical make-up of the works and the libraries where these works are held. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a framework for a Collaborative Resource Development (CoreDev) digital library for Malaysian historical resources based on the development of local historical digital content by collaborating partners. The environment would provide the platform for the educational community to participate in e-publishing of resources that can be shared by others. The desired outcomes would be an enriched local content of historical resources on the Internet and ICT-literate teachers and students. The prototype uses a biographical portal as the test bed, incorporating five main modules: (a) off site creation, indexing, searching and retrieval of historical resources; (b) a database that supports multi-format digital resources; (c) simple and complex searches; (d) varied resource display; and (e) basic security features for participating partners. CoreDev is ideal for introducing the use of ICT as a research tool. Teachers can also use it extensively to teach Internet searching skills and make the most of its flexibility to reinforce basic ICT skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that determined the types of access given to online databases by several private colleges and universities in Malaysia. Background of the study; Research methodology; Results of the provision of online databases, computer facilities and promotion of usage of the online databases; Conclusion of the study.

Focuses on a study that revealed the availability status of quality journals in the field of computer science held in the libraries of selected universities in Malaysia. Determination of the status of availability of ranked journal titles listed in the Journal Citation Report; Assessment of the strength and weaknesses of journal collection in the field of computer science; Analysis of the cost involved in overlapping journal subscription; Suggestions to lessen the impact of rising cost of journal subscriptions.

This study describes the availability of quality journals held at the University of Malaya Library (UML) in the field of computer science and compares this to the availability of journal collections in four other university libraries: Science University of Malaysia (USM), University of Technology Malaysia (UTM), National University of Malaysia (UKM), and University Putra Malaysia (UPM). All the universities included in the study have been established for more than fifteen years and offer degree programmes in computer science. Quality journals refer to the 301 titles with impact-factor scores listed in the Journal Citation Report 1999 (JCR) in the field of computer science. The study also investigates the degree of journal overlap among the five university libraries. The UML was taken as a case study to show how overlap titles are ascertained and costs calculated. The results indicate that (a) UML holdings of quality journal titles is poor and that a similar pattern is indicated in the other university libraries (34.22% by UML, 40% by UTM, 16% by UKM, 31% by USM, and 23% by UKM); (b) for the five libraries, out of the 301 titles, 115 (38.2%) overlap, 96 titles (32.23%) are singly-held titles, and 84 titles are not subscribed to; (c) the percentage of overlap is related to the size of title availability; (d) the cost of journal title overlap for UML is estimated to be about U.S.$79,650.40, and the cost of the titles not subscribed to is U.S.$41,440.32. It is proposed that cooperative subscription ventures would help reduce costs and release monies to cover the other quality titles not subscribed to by any of the libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Renal stone is a major health problem with adverse medico-economic consequences. It cost the healthcare services a great deal of money without reaching any desired destiny. Objective: To describe the current prevalence, risk factors, manifestations, methods of diagnosis and treatment of renal stones in Arar city, Northern Saudi Arabia Method: Cross-sectional community based on survey applied to the adult of the general population of Arar city during the period from June to October 2017. The statistical significance level is made at less than 0.05. Results: Among 470 participants, 57.7% male and 42.3% females, 23% had renal gravel, 13% had renal stones. Only 15% complained from recurrent renal colic and 28% had family history of renal stones or gravels. Among the found cases of renal stones, 39.7% had family history of renal stones (P<0.05), 30% had other chronic diseases, 67% have renal gravels (P<0.05) and more than half (55.2%) of them had recurrent renal colic (P<0.05) and 39.9% were obese (P<0.05). The most common symptom is renal colic as it appear in 55% of cases and 82% of affected people are diagnosed by complete urine analysis and ultrasound examination. The most common type is oxalate stone 55.2%, uric acid stones 27.6% and mixed stones 17.2%. More than half (55.2%) of renal stones are small in size and 46% found in the kidney. Most (84%) of the cases get herbal treatment, 89% medical treatment and only 8.6% got surgical treatment but 46% had recurrent stones. Conclusion: The prevalence of renal calculi and associated renal colic in Arar city, Northern is considerable. Suggestions for health education about risk factors in addition to future researches are mandatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]