Digitisation of Borneo island
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

A collaborative effort on a regional project to identify, acquire, maintain and make accessible all types of information resources, particularly about Borneo to the world is currently being developed at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak in Kuching.

The project invovled the joint cooperation of various parties in Brunei Darussalam, Sabah, Sarawak and West Kalimantan to develop Borneo bibliography - also known as 'K@Borneo' - to make its library as the prime research centre of Borneo.

The university is working alongside with the library of Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Museums Department, Sarawak State Library, Tun Fuad Stephen Library in Kota Kinabalu, the library of Universitas Tanjungpura in Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by relevant parties from Brunei Darussalam, Sarawak, Sabah and Kalimantan, Indonesia sometime last year.

The project has in its collection some 8,000 books, journals and articles - including contributions from Prof Marvin Rogers and the late family of Anthony Richards. Some of the collections were published in 1889.

The Borneo Bulletin has learnt that the vast natural jungle of Borneo has made the region a popular research site for world scientists. Batu Apoi Reserve Centre and Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre are among the few popular areas where researches are conducted.

The K@Borneo project is expected to be completed in about two-and-a-half years time, and comprises of three main phases.

The first phase consists of the compilation of Borneo bibliography which covers printed materials available on Borneo. The second phase meanwhile involves the publication of the first bibliography of Borneo and it will cover printed materials on Borneo.

The digitisation of materials and resources on local heritage comes in the third phase. The heritage includes unique or dying traditions and custom which are of interest to the local community. Other materials to be digitised include the current and retrospective items of research or administrative values, rare publications and deteriorating materials, which contain invaluable information of Borneo.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin