Automation system for MARDI research information dissemination

Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development was established in 1969 to conduct study in every agricultural and food scopes except for rubber, palm oil and cacao or cocoa. Until 2020, most of the generated research information was distributed to the public in the form of hardcopy which limits the excess of it. Hence, along with the development of information technology, the information needs to be digitized for automation purposes in order to ensure the effectiveness of dissemination. This paper reports on the automation system for distribution of MARDI research information using a selected system known as Electronic Library System (ELIB). All hard copies of research information were undergone digitalization procedure using a dedicated scanner before being transferred to the system. Later, the produced data in the form of digital softcopy was further combined using Portable Document Format (PDF). The digital data was further converted to electronic publication (ePUB) format and uploaded to ELIB system that consist of several main technical features which include system overview, core functional modules, analytics and reporting engine, infrastructure and deployment, optional add-ons and custom modules. Since the system operated in the year 2021, until May 2025, more than 1500 visitors were recorded as registered users with total spending time up to 6,076 minutes and a total flip of 44,104 pages. The total borrowed books from the year 2021 until May 2025 were 1,239 which could represent 79% of registered users. Based on the data obtained, the automation system which contains MARDI research information has gained interest by the public and is useful for dissemination of it.