In the series of The Crystal of Knowledge Festival 2024, the Universitas Indonesia (UI) Library held a National Webinar “The Role of Libraries in Managing Publishing”. The event, held on Tuesday (7/5), aimed to provide insight into the role of higher education libraries in managing publishing, as well as exploring strategies and best practices to optimize publishing services.
Plt. UI Vice Rector for Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Ir. Dedi Priadi, DEA, said that publishing scientific works from the academic community is needed to disseminate knowledge to the public. Therefore, the library plays an important role in facilitating the publication of these works. “As a superior campus, we must see the library as not just a place to store books, but also the frontline in managing and disseminating valuable scientific works from researchers. In fact, the library must be considered the heart of the institution because from here all knowledge can be accessed,” he said.
In the webinar, three expert speakers were present, the Head of the Bibliography and Library Materials Processing Center, National Library of the Republic of Indonesia, Suharyanto, S.Sos., M.Hum.; Head of Diponegoro University Library, Suwando, S.Sos., M.Kom.; and Coordinator of Bibliographic Development and Supervision, BIN, and KIN of the National Library, Ratna Gunarti.
According to Suwondo, in today’s modern era, university libraries have begun to focus on education and research. The library’s role in book publishing is increasingly diverse, including publishing scientific journals and research reports. In addition to facilitating the publication of scientific works, university libraries also play a role in increasing the accessibility of scientific works and promoting them to the wider community.
“To fulfill this role, university libraries can implement several strategies. First, building competent human resources. Second, providing adequate infrastructure with an integrated system. Third, establishing cooperation with various parties, such as publishers, other libraries, as well as professional organizations Affiliated Publishers of Indonesian Universities (APPTI) and the Indonesian Publishers Association (IKAPI),” Suwondo said.
Meanwhile, Suharyanto from the National Library conveyed the anomalous growth of ISBNs in the 2018-2021 period. Unfortunately, the high number of ISBNs issued is not balanced with the acceptance and implementation of the obligation to hand over printed and recorded works. Therefore, in 2022 the National Library Regulation Number 5 of 2022 concerning International Book Standard Numbers (ISBN) was issued.
The ISBN service is a public service organized by the National Library, as well as a quick win program in supporting the implementation of Bureaucratic Reform. Throughout 2023, ISBN applications from university publishers amounted to 419 publishers with a total publication of 8,275 titles. Therefore, the ISBN service sets new policies which include single account, shared prefix, book category/criteria, KBLI 58110 and website, as well as links and dummy books.
Ratna Gunarti also added that currently the National Library requires a statement of the originality of the work as one of the ISBN requirements, including in the process of registering book title. The rule is based on Article 9 Paragraph 2 of the National Library Regulation No. 5 Year 2022 on ISBN Services. He explained, “The statement of the originality of the work is intended to reduce plagiarism and ensure that the book requested for ISBN is ready for publication, as well as an effort to avoid legal problems in the future.”
After the presentation of material from the speakers, the webinar was closed with a question and answer session from the participants. Head of UI Library, Mariya, S.Sos., M.Hum., said that after this webinar, there will be webinars with other interesting topics. “In this series of The Crystal of Knowledge Festival 2024, there are still national seminars held offline, 1 national webinar, and 2 international webinars. Further information can be monitored through the UI Library Instagram account @UI_Library,” he said.
