FIELD TRIP REPORT TO TUNKU TUN AMINAH

LIBRARY UNIVERSITY TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

1 NOVEMBER 2022

Attendees:

INTRODUCTION

Since May 2010, University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) has been recognised
as having the largest library in South East Asia. Many studies and innovations have
been performed to improve the surroundings and resources of the UTHM library. On
October 1, 1993, when UTHM was still known as Pusat Latihan Staf Politeknik, the
institution's first library opened for business. At the time, it was a two-story structure
with only 5000 books left over from Politeknik Batu Pahat, which can only
accommodate 120 people. The library structure was later expanded in 2000 to
accommodate the growing number of patrons, and in 2004 UTHM has opened a
branch library which is situated at the town campus.

The Tunku Tun Aminah Library now consists of a five-story structure with a floor
space of 16,000 square metres. It is large enough to support at least 3000 users. In
addition, this library has enough books to fill 300 000 volumes. Currently, the UTHM
library has around 182 000 copies of reference books in a variety of areas, 8000 titles
of theses, 150 titles of printed journals, 180 titles of electronic journals, 40 titles of
magazines, and 22,000 copies of audio-visual resources.

Objective:
1. To gain knowledge of the library's operations and to learn more about the facilities
and services that are available to them
2. To raise public awareness of this library, as the UTHM library is the largest in
South East Asia.
3. To tell all students about the UTHM library's general environment.

Field Observation
A library that is a part of a college or university is called an academic library. Its goal
is to support faculty research while also assisting students in their academic
endeavours. It serves as an archive for the school's past, holding things like
dissertations and academic writings. They frequently play a key role in the college or
university's teaching and research missions`
Except for the 24-hour room, the UTHM library is open from Sunday through
Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. It is accessible every day and night. According to
observations, the UTHM library receives a wide range of visitors from midday till
after 6 o'clock in the evening. However, majority of these visitors are UTHM
students. The library has a librarian on staff to help visitors get the information they
need.
Since the library has an online system to help students discover any journal, books,
and other materials, in our experience and observation during the field trip, it is
simple to find any information or academic material needed. Both the self-checkout
machine and the circulation counter are available for borrowing library materials.
Users are not permitted to use another user's card and must provide their own student
or staff card. A borrowing slip will be provided to users for each transaction. To
prevent paying late fees, users are recommended to double-check the due date on the
slip or in their library account. The Circulation Counter or the book drop are also
available for returning the items. The slip should be kept by the user, and they should
check their library account to make sure the records have been updated.
Last but not least, one of the significant issues noted is weekend library hours. As
previously mentioned, the UTHM library is closed on weekends, which prevents
students from finding the necessary academic materials there, especially final-year
students. Given that the majority of students are preoccupied with their classes,
projects, lectures, and other obligations, this issue merits the management's immediate
attention. They only have free time on the weekends as a result.

CONCLUSION

We learned a lot during this field trip to the UTHM library that we couldn't have
learned in a lecture. We are incredibly happy that our university had a top-notch
library. I hope that students would take advantage of these chances to utilise all the
resources effectively.