FACULTY OF INFORMATION STUDIES

MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Diploma in Information Management

(IS110) Foundamental of Information Study
(IMD 102)

HOW INFORMATION AGENCIES WILL HELP ME

FINISH MY FOOTBALL ASSIGNMENT

Prepared by :
Fatin Hazwani Bt Zaini (2009285518)
ISD1E5

Prepared for :
EN. MUHAMAD ISMAIL BIN PAHMI

Date of submission : 9 September 2009

 INTRODUCTION

Based on the LONGMAN (2005), football is a game played by two teams of

11 players who try to kick a round ball into the other team goal. A lot of people were

confusing between football and soccer while the fact is, football and soccer is the same

thing.

According to the FIFA Museum Collection (2005) , football began somewhere

in the mists of antiquity with glimpses of an ancient game in China, among the Toltecs, the

Ancient Greeks, the clans of Scotland.

The rules, if there were any, varied from nation to nation, region to region,

village to village but the common elements were in place an age ago – a ball, men and the

desire for play and competition.

There are many signs in history of the importance of football. An English king

banned the game because he feared his bowmen were spending too much time away

from archery practice in preparation for war against France.

Oliver Cromwell played football at Cambridge University in the early 1600s

and said the only man he feared on the football field was one John Wheelright – who later

took his family and his game to America, where his potrait now hangs in the State House ;

looking down on Boston Common where the first football game was played in the New

World.

But it was not until the 19th century that a group of men met in London to bring

some order to the varieties of football being played and set down the Laws of the Game of

Association Football. Others, then and later, preferred a different game and so began

Rugby Football, divided later into Rugby Union and Rugby League, and leading, through

time and adaption, to American Football and Australian Rules.

However, according to FIFA.com (retrieved:8/9/2008),The contemporary

history of the world's favourite game spans more than 100 years. It all began in 1863 in

England, when rugby football and association football branched off on their different

courses and the Football Association in England was formed - becoming the sport's first

governing body.

Both codes stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately

branched ancestral tree. A search down the centuries reveals at least half a dozen

different games, varying to different degrees, and to which the historical development of

football has been traced back. Whether this can be justified in some instances is

disputable. Nevertheless, the fact remains that people have enjoyed kicking a ball about

for thousands of years and there is absolutely no reason to consider it an aberration of the

more 'natural' form of playing a ball with the hands.

On the contrary, apart from the need to employ the legs and feet in tough tussles for

the ball, often without any laws for protection, it was recognised right at the outset that the

art of controlling the ball with the feet was not easy and, as such, required no small

measure of skill. The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence

was an exercise from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC

in China.

This Han Dynasty forebear of football was called Tsu' Chu and it consisted of

kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair through an opening, measuring only 30-

40cm in width, into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes. According to one variation

of this exercise, the player was not permitted to aim at his target unimpeded, but had to

use his feet, chest, back and shoulders while trying to withstand the attacks of his

opponents. Use of the hands was not permitted.

Another form of the game, also originating from the Far East, was the Japanese

Kemari, which began some 500-600 years later and is still played today. This is a sport

lacking the competitive element of Tsu' Chu with no struggle for possession involved.
Standing in a circle, the players had to pass the ball to each other, in a relatively small

space, trying not to let it touch the ground.

The Greek 'Episkyros' - of which few concrete details survive - was much livelier, as

was the Roman 'Harpastum'. The latter was played out with a smaller ball by two teams on

a rectangular field marked by boundary lines and a centre line. The objective was to get

the ball over the opposition's boundary lines and as players passed it between

themselves, trickery was the order of the day. The game remained popular for 700-800

years, but, although the Romans took it to Britain with them, the use of feet was so small

as to scarcely be of consequence.

In this new century, football has created its own phenomena. Each game that

was held will attract everybody to know its result. In fact, football also has created its own

legacy by having a lot of giant football club Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea,

Liverpool, Real Madrid, Aston Villa and Manchester City is some of top football club that

has its own fans that is not just from its own country, but from the whole world.
 INFORMATION AGENCIES

Information agencies is the agencies that provide us an information that lead

us in what we research. According to Abdul Razak (2008) , information agency is an

agency that specializes in those information works like creating, collecting, consolidating,

packaging, storing, processing, managing and preserving and also disseminating

information and knowledge.

There are a lot of information agencies in this world. Here are some of it.

Libraries Archives
MuseumArt Galleries
Resources centreRegistries
Community Information AgenciesRecord Management
Sections
Information Technology UnitsTourist Bureau
Welfare OrganizationsGovernment Dept.
eg:Social Security
Non-government OrganizationsElectronic Information
providers
eg:Internet

There are three main information agencies that is preferred by the researcher which are

library, museum and archives.

Library is a place that provide info to the users by obtaining, organizing,

making available and preserving print and non-printed materials required to meet user

needs. It is like a warehouse of information since most of the information needed is in it. It

also designed to meet the informational, educational and recreational needs of a given

user population. This will make the user to feel comfortable in it and in order to make all

the information is received by the user. This is why library has become the main

information agencies in gaining any information or doing research. In fact, if there is any

information needed, library would become the first choice in looking for the information.
there are 5 types of library which is National Library, Public Library, Special Library,

Academic Library and Resource Centre or also known as School Library. All this type of

library has its own speciality and each of it has its own materials but National Library is the

main library. It is because, in each country, they should have their own National Library in

order to preserve the materials on their country.

However, it does not mean that other libraries is not important. All libraries

has its own users and has its own materials and specialities. Public Library itself is a

library that provide service to anybody and it also allowed its user to borrowed books while

Special Library is a library where an organization built that library for its own use. It is

being conducted by that organizations and only the member of the organizations can use

the library. Academic Library is in the other hand, It is a library that is provided by the

academic institution and it serves more to the students while resource centre is a library

that is located in the school. In Malaysia it is being conducted by the teacher but in US, it is

being conducted by the librarians.

According to Abdul Razak (2008), museum stem from the age-old human

desires to preserve cultural identity and gain social, political, and economic status and

pursue knowledge. The word “museum” is first used in English in the 17 th century and

derives from Greek mouseion , meaning “of the Muses”. Museum is a place where we

collect all information objects of scientific, aesthetic, or historical importance. It is also a

place for studying, interpreting, and exhibiting the materials in order to advance knowledge

and educating the public. Meanwhile, according to the Dictionary.com (retrieved : 7/8/09),

museum is a building, place or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study,

exhibition and educational interpretation of a objects having scientific, historical, or artistic

value. It help public to understand and appreciate the natural world, the history of

civilisations and the record of humanity's artistic, scientific, and technological

accomplishments. The scope of materials in the museum is include the quality and

quantity of the collections. This is why there are five major types of museums which is art,
history, natural history and science and technology. However, in certain museum, it

combines these disciplined. In these new era, a lot of museums that can be found such as

National Museum, Gallery, Local History , Telecommunications and lots more.

According to Abdul Razak (2008) , archives is a place where we gather,

preserve and make available public records for reference by members of the public.

According to the Dictionary.com (retrieve:7/9/09), archives is a place or collection

containing records, documents or other materials of historical interests .It acts as sources

of reference for the future. The archives comprise all forms acquired from both official as

well as private sources. The materials acquired from government departments include

files, publications, acts and ordinances, photographs, microfilms, audio-visual materials,

treties, oral history recordings, maps, plans and etc will also being kept inside the archives.

Not just that, the materials from private sources include collection of private papers which

may contain government’s papers, photographs, theses and newspapers are also can be

found here. These archival materials are available for reference except for the following :

• Records in the form of less than 25 years old, that are yet to become archives.

• Classified archival materials which have not been down graded by the creating

agencies.

• Records containing sensitive issues which may threaten political and national

stability.

In Malaysia, each country has its own archives for keeping their information. It is important

in order to avoid information overload. This type of keeping the information also is good

because all the information is kept in certain places so it is easy to be referred.

 HOW INFORMATION AGENCIES

HELP ME?

Based on Whatis.com (retrieve : 8/9/09), an OPAC (Online Public Access

Catalogue) is an online bibliography of a library collection that is available to the public.

OPACs developed as stand-alone online catalogues, often from VT100 terminals to a

mainframe library catalogue. With the arrival of the Internet, most libraries have made their

OPAC accessible from a server to users all over the world.

User searches of an OPAC make use of the Z39.50 protocol. This protocol can also

be used to link disparate OPCS into a single "union" OPAC.

It is also a system contain all the cataloging information in that particular library.

According to the Dictionary.com (retrieve:7/9/09), OPAC is a computerised system to

catalogue and organise materials in a library (the kind that contains books).OPACs have

replaced card-based catalogues in many libraries. An OPAC is available to the library

users which is a public access. This system also provide access to the collections of other

libraries which help the students to find all the information needed easily because students

just need to key-in the title or author name or the ISBN number, then they would provide

us the info such as the call number, the author name and all related to that particular book.

This method of finding books really helps the students in saving time which everybody

knows that time is golden now, the accuracy whether that book exist or not in the library or

whether there is other books that can be used. As for me, there are some books that I

manage to find using the OPAC system which is FIFA Museum Collection (2005). This

books is so important to me as it shows the history of football in detail.

However, there is one more services that is provided by the library which is
known as WebOPAC. This system is different as OPAC since the scoop of WebOPAC is

much larger than OPAC. In WebOPAC, there are provided a lot of information such as

Past-Semester Exam Paper, Digital Collections, Article Browsing, Library Catalogue,

Reservation of Books and lots more. All these services help students to get information

easily. Plus, we also can open WebOPAC even we are not in the campus.

Other than that, library also provides circulation services. This department is

responsible in providing services to users. Based on Dictionary.com (retrieve:7/9/09),

circulation means an act or instance of circulating, moving in a circle or circuit or flowing,

and service means an act of helpful activities. According to Che Zainab Abdul, (2008), this

department responsible for book reservation, lending books, counter services, inter-library

loans, self-check machine, and membership registration. In other words, this department is

the department that deal the most with the user. In some places, this department also

plays roled as reference centre. This is because, usually this department is near to the

user and user will be more comfortable to deal with them. As for me, by using this service,

I manage to borrow a book which is FIFA Museum Collection books (2005). This books

talks about the history of football and it also shows me everything about football. It is like I

have been visiting the real museum of football by reading it.

Another service in the library is the book that has been provided. As we all

know, books is the main reference materials in the library. All the books will be arranged

systematically according to their call number and its category. All this books will be kept

and arranged in its alphabetical rack. All the books can be searched using the OPAC

system or manually. It is depends on the user on how to searched it but as for students, it

is encouraged to used OPAC system since it benefits a lot to the students. What kind of

books in that library is depend on the type of library it is. In academic library, the ratio of

book to students is 20:1 which mean in that library, one student should have 20 books at

one time. In every library, its ratio of books per the user is different. The larger the library,

the many people used that library, the more books that it needs to have. As for me, I
manage to read a book that is related to football that is in the library, which is Soccer:

Competitive Sports Series by Mike Yaxley (1982) and Soccer Rules Illustrated by George

Sullivan (1981) .Both books talks about football. It talks about the rules of football and the

way in winning in that game. This book also teaches me the way how to be a good football

player.

Other reference that has been provided in the library is the newspapers. We

might not notice about this services but this service is so important and help others so

much especially if it is related on searching news. What makes the newspaper in the

library is easy to find and read, all the newspaper has been compiled together according to

the dates of published and put in its own rack. In fact, almost all newspaper in this country

would be kept in the library such as The Star, Sin Chew Daily, Berita Harian and lots more.

However, in order to maintain its news and to give the entire user the same priority for

getting the news, nobody is allowed in tearing the newspaper. The rule has stated that

nobody is allowed to tear it off or cut it off. This is important because every news in the

newspaper might be the one everybody was searching for. As for me, I manage to find the

The News Straits Time newspaper which has Beckham urges England to keep eyes on

prizes , article on it. This article talks about how David Beckham, ex-leader of England

team, wants the entire England player to be focus on winning, not focus on getting the

prizes that they would get if they win.

As time changing, the role of library has been wide. Since internet is so

important in this new global era, most of the library has been provided the usage of

internet. In fact, it is one of the services that attract students to use library as their

reference centre. Moreover, not everybody has an internet line or as a student, not all of us

are capable to have a broadband. Internet is important because by using the internet

provided, we can search any article in it. The important of finding article in the internet is

that it would save the time and variety of article that can be chosen according to our

needed. We also can search any website that has been provided in making it our
reference or in getting more input or understanding in that particular subject or topic.

However, in searching the information in the internet, we must to make sure that the

source that we use is a reliable source. This is important so that we would not get any

wrong information. As for me, by using this services, I manage to find the website that

suite my topic which is http://www.fam.org.my and http://www.thefa.com . Both the website

makes me understand more about football in Malaysia and the other country. The website

also shows the hot news in the football arena.

Other than all of these services, there is one more service that has been

provided by the library management. It is online database. According to the

Dictionary.com, online database is a database that can be accessed by computers. It also

provide the digital collection in the library such as articles, books and journals which is so

reliable. It is like an online library. This service is so important especially to the student

since it contains all the materials that is needed. For me, I managed to find an article that

is related with my assignment which is Dietary Intakes of Greek Professional football

players in http://www.emeraldinsight.com

Besides library, I also referred to one more information agencies which is

museum. Museum is a place that provides the history of that particular thing. In museum

there is more materials which is an artifacts, objects or we could say that it is more

towards a prove provided in the museum. As for me, museum help me in getting know the

real football is by its history facts and its materials.

 DIFFICULTIES & EXPERIENCE

In making this task become reality, I had to admit that there are a lot of

difficulties that I had to face. At first, I can not understand the task given to me eventhough

my lectures had taught me the way in doing it. I just search the information for the task

based on what I understand which then lead me to an overload information. There is just

too much of information that I had till I can not differentiate which one is reliable and which

one is a non-reliable information. However, this problem has been solve after Sir Ismail

taught us again for the second time about this assignment. Only that time I really know

what kind of information I should have. In facing this overload information, I had to search

the correct information wisely and I had to choose which article is better and which item is

not used or in other word, which article I should throw it. This is important so that I would

not get confused with all the materials that I had. Not just that, I also had to find all the

information that is reliable which mean that no you tube and wikipedia that is allowed to be

used. According to Sir Ismail, The main reason it is non-reliable information is that You

tube and Wikipedia can be edited by others.

Other than that, I also had a problem in getting the books that I got from the

OPAC system. There is just too much number in the call number till I get confused which

one is the right books. Plus, I also had to face the problems where there are no books that

I want to search. It might because the books had been borrowed by others or it is at the

trolley where all the books that have been used are kept.

The problem did not stop there. I also had to face the biggest problems which

is the weakness of the wireless network. As we all know, internet is so important but due to

the weakness of wireless network, everything can not been done. Most of the things that

should be done at that time are hanging.

Making this task into reality also had taught me on how to be a university
student. Everything here we had to deal it ourselves. There is no more teachers that

always help us and there is no more someone who will assist us in doing that task until the

end. I, myself had to brave myself, to go and ask my lectures all the problems in order to

get the right information on how to complete the task. This is because there are just too

much people that giving orders on how to do it but they themselves unsure about it. So, by

asking the lectures itself, is the best thing for me to get the perfect way on how to do it.

However, my biggest difficulty is that I had to face the copy paste problem. In

a sudden, almost all of my classmates is having my assignment. Making it more worst, all

this person just copy paste my assignment which lead all of us to redo the assignment.

The problem did not stop there. Eventhough lectures has warned us for not having

plagiarism, all of them did not take it seriously. They still put my words, my sentences and

my idea in their assignment which make me the one who fear that my lecturers would

blame on me.

I also experience in using all the services in the library. Services like OPAC,

WebOPAC, online database, the newspaper provided magazines and everything that has

in the library makes me feel a little bit dizzy when I first entered the library. It is just too

many services provided in the library till I do not know to start with what first. However, with

the help of the librarian and all my classmates, I managed to overcome the problems by

using all the services one by one. Now, I managed to identify which information should be

getting at which services.

From a person who rarely goes to the library, I become someone who knows

all the services in the library. I also become someone who enjoys doing my assignment in

the library since it helps me a lot .

 CONCLUSION

Information agencies plays a big role in helping me finish my football

assignment. It is due to the roles of those information agencies, it really help researcher

and the user by obtaining, organizing, making available and preserving information for the

researcher and the user.

Library itself has help me a lot in completing my assignment. Those services

provided in the library have helped me a lot in obtaining the right information. It also helped

me from gaining a non-reliable information. Eventhough I had faced an information

overload problems, I managed to overcome it. All the services that has been provided

really help me in getting all the materials that I need in completing my assignment. The

OPAC service, WebOPAC, newspapers, internet and lots more are really helping me this

time.

From this, can be conclude that information agencies do help all its users and

the researcher gaining the information that is needed. Those services help us find the

information easily and effectively. Users should be inform widely on all the services

provided in the library. I believe that if everyone knows about those services in the

libraries, everybody would love to make libraries as their main information agencies.
 REFERENCE

• Abdul Razak Abu . (2008) . Foundation of Information Studies . Malaysia : UiTM

Shah Alam
• AFP (2009, June 12). Beckham urges England to keep eyes on prize. News Straits
Times, 43.
• Che Zainab Abdul, (2008), Information Skills , Malaysia : UiTM Shah Alam ,
• Football Association Malaysia. Retrieve 6/9/09
World wide web : http://www.fam.org.my
• Hassapidou,Maria N.,Grammatikopoulou,Maria G. & Liarigovinos,Theodoros
(2000).Dietary Intakes of Greek Professional football player, from Emerald . retrieve
2/9/09
World wide web: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/00346650010330234
• History of Football . retrieve 8/9/09
World wide webhttp://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/game/historygame/html
• Lennox,James W., Rayfield,Janet. &Steffen,Bill . (2006).Soccer: Skills &
Drills.United States : Human Kineties
• LONGMAN: Dictionary of Contemporary English. (2003).4th edition.UK:LONGMAN
• Meaning of OPAC . retrieve : 8/9/09
World wide web : http://www.whatis.techtarget.com
• Meaning of words. Retrieve 7/9/09
World wide web : http://www.Dictionary.com
• Sullivan, George. (1981). Soccer Rules Illustrated .New York: Simon & Schuster.
• The Sun, London (2009, June 5). Don’t go to Real, Kaka: Carlo begs Brazilian star
to join Chelsea. The Sun,S62
• Yaxley, Mike (1982) . Soccer: Competitive Sports Series . : Batsford Academic &
Educational Ltd
• FIFA Museum Collection,(1996),edition q,Germany.