What’s new at Perdana Library: January & February 2012
March 29, 2012 in Articles, Books etc, Perdana Library, PLF News, Resource Centre
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The Telegraph – British Library newspaper archive puts 300 years of history online
February 10, 2012 in Articles, Books etc, Perdana Library, Resource Centre, Spotlight
A front page from 1887 of the Police News is now available online. Photo: POLICE NEWS
November 29, 2011 | By Emma Barnett, Digital Media Editor
Sixty-five million historic newspaper articles, covering the most significant events over the last 300 years, are now fully available online from today in a new archive created by the British Library.
People will now be able to search the ‘British Newspaper Archive’, which is made up of four million pages – containing articles from local and regional papers going back to 1700, for details about members of their family who may have been eminent in their local communities hundreds of years ago.
The launch of the archive is the first time people will be able to digitally access and search through millions of newspaper articles from the comfort of their homes. Up until now, people have had to travel to the British Library newspaper depository in Colindale, North London, to access the entire collection of 200 local and regional newspapers.
Highlights of the vast collection include gems such as vivid accounts of General Garibaldi’s UK visit to a “magnificent reception at Crystal Palace”, published in the Dundee Courier on April 18 1864, and the creation of the phonograph by Thomas Edison, in the North Wales Chronicle on December 1, 1877.
Ed King, head of the British Library’s newspaper collections, said: “People will find this archive extraordinary on both a personal and historical level. For the first time people can search for their ancestors through the pages of our newspapers wherever they are in the world at any time.
“But what’s really striking is how these pages take us straight back to scenes of murders, social deprivation and church meetings from hundreds of year ago, which we no longer think about as we haven’t been able to easily access articles about them.”
The archive also features hundreds of letters from soldiers in varying war zones, which were published in local papers as a way of bringing attention to their needs and informing people about life at war. One such letter, published in The Reading Mercury on January 27, 1855, was from a soldier fighting in the Crimean War begging for food to be sent to him as the British army’s supplies had dwindled to record lows.
However, anyone wishing to fully access the newspaper archive will have to pay to do so. People can search the site for free but will need to pay either £6.95 for 48 hour access; £29.95 for 30 days or £79.95 for an annual subscription. Once logged in, users can download a pdf of a particular page to keep forever. The archive can be accessed for free in the British Library’s Reading rooms.
The digitisation project, which started last year, will take 10 years to complete, with a total of 650 million articles on 40 million web pages expected to be in the finished archive by 2020. British company Brightsolid, which also owns Friends Reunited and Genes Reunited, is responsible for digitising the archive – a painstaking process as much of it needs to be done by hand as so many of the pages of the newspapers are too fragile to be processed by machines.
Ed Vaizey, the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, praised the project, saying: “The British Newspaper Archive is a rich and hugely exciting resource, packed with historical detail. It’s a great example of the public and private sectors collaborating to deliver something that neither party could have delivered by themselves. I searched for my own constituency of Wantage and within seconds had 42,000 results – an indication of the breadth and variety of material featured. I’m delighted that the British Library and Brightsolid are working together to transform access to the nation’s published memory.”
What’s New in the Library: December 2011
January 18, 2012 in Books etc, Perdana Library, PLF News, Resource Centre, Spotlight
IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2011
Author : Prof. Stephanie Garelli
Publisher : World Competitiveness Center
ISBN : 9782970051459
Year : 2011
For over 20 years, the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) has benchmarked the performance of the world’s most competitive economics. In its 2011 edition, the WCY includes 59 economies, extending its coverage in emerging markets by adding the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The WCY is recognized as the leading annual report on the competitiveness of nations and has been a pioneer in competitiveness since 1989. It measures the different facets of a country’s competitive environments: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. The WCY contains a detailed profile for each of the 59 economies as well as en extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 300 indicators. The data are primarily hard, measurable statistics to provide the most objective assessment of countries’ competitiveness in today’s global world. This hard data is complemented by perceptions of competitiveness by the business community from our Executive Opinion Survey. As the world enters a new era of globalization, nations are increasingly competing to gain access to, develop and manage resources and competencies worldwide. The WCY thus ranks and analyzed the ability of nations to create an environment and formulate policies that lay the foundations for future prosperity – the ultimate objective of national competitiveness.
Paradise Found: Journeys through Noble Gardens of Asia
Author : Princess Soraya Dakhlah, editor
Publisher : Tourism Malaysia
ISBN : 9789833214037
Year : 2008
This extensively illustrated volume presents 40 of Asia’s gardens with summary accounts written by distinguished and knowledgeable garden-lovers. Some of the gardens, which are of course important components of national heritage, are also of great horticultural, architectural and historical significance. Proceeds from sales go to the charitable Royal Hospital, Chelsea (where the annual Chelsea Flower Show takes place).
Tourism Research in Malaysia: What, which way and so what?
Author : Kadir Din
Publisher : UUM Press
ISBN : 9789675311567
Year : 2010
This collection offers a sample of contemporary works on tourism and its impact on the Malaysian environment, written by academics from a variety of perspectives. Given the growing body of literature on different aspects of the industry the coverage is by no means representative, let alone exhaustive, of the current discourse. Nonetheless the nineteen chapters cover a range of interests and concerns which have emerged as a consequence of spectacular growth in tourist arrival which currently places Malaysia as one of the most popular destinations in Asia. Recent forecast indicates that the growth trends will continue for at least another decade before the country as a destination approaches maturity. This volume would be a useful reference for students, academic and other researchers who are looking for detailed information to enable them to analyse the impacts and implications of tourism development on the host society.
Gelagat Organisasi: Satu Pendekatan Strategik
Author : Ab. Aziz Yusof
Publisher : UUM Press
ISBN : 9789675311307
Year : 2010
Buku ini disediakan khusus kepada pelajar-pelajar dalam bidang pengurusan untuk memaham i, mendalami dan mempraktikkan amalan pengurusan organisasi yang terbaik. Di samping itu, buku ini juga disediakan khusus untuk pentadbir, pemimpin dan pengurus yang sedang mencari kaedah terbaik dalam pengurusan organisasi. Anda perlu sedar, mengurus organisasi pada hari ini jauh berbeza dengan organisasi semalam. Organisasi pada hari ini kaya dengan kepelbagaian, terdedah kepada persaingan dan berhadapan dengan perubahan yang lebih cepat. Semua ini menyediakan peluang dan juga ancaman. Kebolehan anda mengurus organisasi secara strategik sajalah yang bakal membolehkan anda dan organisasi anda memperoleh kelebihan daripadanya. Oleh itu, anda perlu berperanan sebagai pemudah cara, pemangkin dan juga pendorong dalam mengurus aset utama organisasi iaitu manusia. Anda perlu pastikan sikap, nilai, personaliti dan juga tanggapan yang mereka miliki mampu memberi nilai tambah kepada setiap rantaian aktiviti pengurusan yang telah dipertanggungjawabkan kepada anda.
For more information, do contact our librarians.
(video) The Joy of Books
January 12, 2012 in Books etc
A video worth sharing, a whimsical and psychedelic take, on books.
There really is nothing quite like a real book.
Speaking of books, Perdana Leadership Foundation houses a library which is open for public.
To find out more about our library, please click on the link below:-
About the Perdana Leadership Foundation’s Library
Flavorwire – The 25 Most Beautiful College Libraries in the World
December 14, 2011 in Articles, Books etc, Perdana Library, Spotlight
December 13, 2011 | By Emily Temple
The college library, whether ornate or modern, digital or dusty, is in many ways the epicenter of the college experience — at least for some students. It is at once a shining emblem of vast, acquirable knowledge, a place for deep discussions and meetings of the mind, and of course, a big building full of books, which, as far as we’re concerned, is exciting enough.
Colleges and universities are understandably quite proud of their libraries, which can be a selling point for prospective students and donating alumni alike, and they often become the most well-designed and beautifully adorned buildings on campus.
To that end, and perhaps to inspire your studies a bit, we’ve collected a few of the most beautiful college and university libraries in the world, from Portugal to France to Boston. Did your alma mater’s library make the list? Or did we miss one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments.
The University of Coimbra General Library, Coimbra, Portugal
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT
To view more photos CLICK HERE