KUCHING: Eight hundred and seventy-seven (877) copies of a book entitled “Sarawak Book of Amazing Facts and Records” have been given to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) by a renowned author James Ritchie in conjunction with ‘Cinta Ilmu and Jom Baca 10 Minit’ nationwide programme and Unimas level World Book and Copyright Day 2017.
It is learnt that Unimas will distribute the books (at RM100 each and worth a total of RM87,700) to all its affiliates in Malaysia and associates throughout Asean and other regions.
“In order to cultivate the first class mentality, the support from the book industry is important because it is capable of lifting the societies’ mindset towards a better level through reading and knowledge,” UnimasVice Chancellor Professor Dato Dr. Mohamad Kadim Suaidi said.
“This year, Unimas Publisher will organise a seminar dubbed International Conference on Borneo Books Publishing and Borneo Books Fair 2017. Together with CAIS it will also hold a librarianship seminar this June,” said Kadim.
His text speech was read by Unimas Deputy Vice Chancellor (International and Academic) Professor Dr. Wan Hashim Wan Ibrahim at ‘Cinta Ilmu and Jom Baca 10 Minit’ nationwide programme held in conjunction with Unimas level World Book and Copyright Day 2017 at CAIS Auditorium yesterday.
The books received by Unimas will be added to CAIS collection and some will be distributed to the schools resources centre and mini libraries in the State, and also higher learning institutions throughout the country under a Book Donation Station organised by CAIS.
On the Copyright Act, Kadim said Unimas is serious on the matter and CAIS has taken a proactive step by providing information literacy classes through the ‘Citing References and Plagiarism’ Module.
Kadim said the reading trend now days have changed a lot as there are variety of reading materials such as in digital form that can be access through the mobile applications and internet.
“From here, the copy and paste activity exists, and if left unchecked it can contribute to the infringement of Copyright Act.
“Thus, the class main objective is to create an early awareness among the campus community, particularly the students and lecturers about the seriousness of the offence under the Copyright Act,” he said.
Earlier, five schools namely SK Tabuan Kuching, Sk Bako Kuching, SK Empila Kota Samarahan, SK Semaba Serian and SK St. Martin Kota Samarahan received the reading materials from Unimas.
On another matter, Unimas Publisher also launched nine books at the programme, namely ‘Manual Cepat Bertutur Dialek Jordan’ by Dr Roslan Ali, ‘Mikroekonomi Dalam Industri Seni’ by Mazdan Ali Amaran, ‘Teori Komunisaki Insan’ by Prof Madya Dr Mus Chairil Samani and Prof Madya Dr Jeniri Amir, ‘Potential of Road Subsurface On-Site Storm water Detention System’ by Darren Mah Yau Seng, ‘The Kejaman Language’ by Amee Joan and Jacquelyne Ekot, ‘Of Temple and Tatung Tradition in Sinkawang’ by Dr Elena Chai, ‘Mathematical Formulae Book’ by W.K Tiong, S.N Sze and K.L Chiew, ‘A Crododile Named Tom’ by Anthony Pine and ‘Life from Headwaters To The Coast Gunung Penrissen: The Roof of Western Borneo by Jayasilan Mohd Azlan, Andrew Alek Tuen and Indraneil Das.
Also present were Unimas Publisher director Prof Madya Dr. Jane Labadin and Unimas head librarian Margaret Simeng.
(Beginning from 20 April, 2017, New Sarawak Tribune has been publishing a series of articles taken from the book “Sarawak Book of Amazing Facts and Records”).