The Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Sultan Abdul Samad Library has recorded an increased number of online users of its virtual services in the last three weeks.
Head librarian Muzaffar Shah Kassim said this was an indicator that continuous teaching, learning and research activities were taking place during the Movement Control Order (MCO).
“There has been an increase of 11.21 per cent in the number of virtual visitors and access to information portals developed by the library. For instance, there were 104,252 visitors in March, compared with 93,743 in the previous month.
“The number of hits rose 50.93 per cent from 1,161,897 in February to 1,753,617 hits in March.”
Muzaffar added that although all library services were physically closed during the MCO, students and faculty members could access the information that UPM subscribed to online through the EZAccess portal at ezaccess.upm.edu.my using their UPM identification number.
“We ensured that the library’s online services were functioning well and accessible to all UPM residents without interruption.
“The number of virtual visitors accessing the portal to access articles, journals and content materials subscribed by UPM also displayed a 22.05 per cent gain in March, an increase of 26,039 visitors, compared with 21,335 in February.
“The number of hits also showed a 63.83 per cent increase in March (1,499,820 hits), compared with February (915,461 hits).”
The library also developed Discovery@Lib, an information search portal to enable students and lecturers to find information and library materials in a variety of fields at discoverylib.upm.edu.my.
“The Sultan Abdul Samad Library also has various electronic information sources accessible through its website, such as databases, UPMIR portals, the UPM eThesis portal, agricultural information resource portals (AGRIS and MyAGRIC) and open access journals. Information links and virtual exhibits about the Covid-19 outbreak can also be found on the website,” said Muzaffar.
He said the information literacy programme regularly run by librarians was one of the main factors that made UPM students and lecturers information-literate and gave them the ability to access a wide range of scientific information online.
“At present, students and faculty members can receive the help of librarians through the Live Chat Reference Service in the library’s mobile application, WhatsApp and phone calls that operate daily from 9am to 6am.”
Through this application, students and lecturers could communicate directly with librarians on any issues related to information seeking.
“During the MCO, library users do not need to worry about late return fine charges. Users only need to return books when the library is reopened.
“Most importantly, all users are encouraged to stay home and access information virtually.”