New Series. Volume 1, Number 2
September 2001
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嚙瑾 |
Notes from the Librarian
Libraries Strategic Directions
Dr Anthony W. Ferguson
Each fall when I see the new batch of students arrive, I think back to my own university days. New students come with all sorts of hopes and dreams for the future and I was much the same. First year students are excited to make new acquaintances and to at last be university students. They are looking forward to graduation and getting a job, but at the same time know that to make that happen, they have to do their daily reading assignments, prepare for periodic tests and take the final examinations for each class.
As the newest librarian I find that I have some of the same feelings. Like our freshmen I am proud to be here, have all sorts of expectations, but know that to be successful I and my staff will have to pay attention to the daily details of running today's library while at the same time developing a new library designed to meet the needs of future generations of faculty and students.
During the summer, the Libraries' staff have been hard at work moulding a strategic plan, deciding where to focus our energies. We know we need to expand the breadth and depth of the collections, improve access to our collections, provide even better user-friendly services, improve the physical facilities and technical infrastructure, communicate with all of you better, make sure our resources are preserved for tomorrow's users, and analyze how we are expending our resources. We have also reviewed our organization, the kinds of staff support programs in place, and the kinds of collaborative activities in which we are involved. All of this is exciting "stuff" as students on the other side of the Pacific Ocean would say.
We concluded our planning work with a retreat on Cheung Chau island and you can see some pictures of those activities later in this issue. I am looking forward to the new academic year and would like to hear from any of you about ideas you might have for making this the finest academic library in Asia.
Audio-Visual Department
Lorraine Lok
AV Librarian, [email protected]
Foreign language treasures
The Main Library's AV Department is a treasure house of media materials. Many of these are in foreign languages. They have been recommended for purchase by faculty members to support their teaching needs. But because of the lack of subtitles many of these foreign language items sit on the shelf without further use after the courses are over. In order for library materials to reach a wider audience and to maximize usage, faculty members are encouraged to select for purchase foreign language materials with English subtitles whenever possible. If you have difficulties finding subtitled titles, or if you have other suggestions to improve our collection, call me at 2859-7006 or email [email protected].Longer opening hours
After a three-month trial period, we are pleased to announce the extension of our opening hours to 7.00 pm on weekdays during semesters. The opening hours for Saturday, Sunday and public holidays will remain unchanged.
The new opening hours are:
Monday - Friday 9.00 am - 7.00 pm
Saturday 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Sunday & Public Holidays ClosedFor enquiries, please call 2859-7007 or email [email protected].
Special Collections
Iris Chan
Special Collections Librarian, [email protected]
& Sam Lee, Assistant Librarian
Collection news
The latest acquisitions of the Special Collections include 106 reels of microfilms for The Chronicle and Directory for China, Japan & the Philippines (1846, 1859, 1861, 1863, 1866, 1867, 1872-1941) from the Public Records Office of the HKSAR (http://www.info.gov.hk/pro/). These microfilms are a welcome addition to the many historical resources already available in the Special Collections and should prove particularly useful for researchers interested in the history of China and the Far East in the nineteenth century.The Hong Kong Newspaper Clippings file, compiled for the Dept. of Political Science by Dr. Norman Miners, has been digitized and can be viewed under the Libraries' Digital Library Collection (http://www.hku.hk/lib/dlc.html). In order to accommodate the increasing number of Hong Kong books and journals added to the Hong Kong Collection, the hard copy of the Hong Kong newspaper clippings has been moved from the open shelves to the compact storage behind the Circulation area in the Main Library. Books and journals have been rearranged to accommodate more incoming new books and journals.
Finding the right book, in the right place
Ever wondered how the Library makes sure the right book is shelved in the right place every time you look for it? With the increasing use of resources in the Special Collections, many books and journals get misplaced. During July and August, staff at the Special Collections conducted a thorough shelf reading exercise to make sure all books and journal issues were shelved properly.
FIRST STOP: e-Learning Lab
Rebecca Yeung
Reference Librarian, [email protected]Orientations, workshops and many more
The first semester sees the Library's e-Learning Lab packed with courses to welcome new students and faculty members on board. In early September, a series of orientation sessions were organized to introduce new students and other library users to the Main Library's services and facilities. Several full-day postgraduate workshops also run from mid-August to October, to familiarize new postgraduate students with the library system and the research process. Individual library courses on the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) and on library research techniques will take place from mid-September onwards. For details of courses in progress, check out our website at http://www.hku.hk/lib/info_lib.htm.Looking for tailor-made courses?
To request courses on specialized subject areas, please fill in the Library Instruction Request Form at http://www.hku.hk/lib/LibInfo/Service/instructform.htm
IN BRIEF
EXHIBITION
A series of exhibitions has been planned for this year at the Main Library entrance foyer. The first exhibition of the semester, from 3 to 15 September, featured student services from the Student Affairs Office.
NEW ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
HOW TO ACCESS
AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE CATALOG (AFI)
Covering every feature length film produced in America or financed by American
production companies from 1893 to 1970 (except 1951-1960), the AFI catalog
provides information on over 45,000 films including more than 17,500 made
in the early years of film from 1893 to 1910 and approximately one million
personal name entries for cast and production credits, plot summaries, historical
and source notes.
CAMBRIDGE SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACTS: COMBINED ANNUAL CUMULATIVE INDEX
This annual cumulative index of 29 journal titles contains searchable author
and subject indexes for all titles. Some titles include a taxonomic index
or geographic index.
HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE PRESENT: A SELECTIVE ANNOTATED
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Included are 4,800 full bibliographic entries covering the history of mathematics
beginning with the ancient civilizations.
PACAP (PACIFIC-BASIN CAPITAL MARKETS DATABASES)
These databases track capital markets data for eight Pacific-Basin countries,
namely Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and
Thailand on a continuous and systematic basis. The extensive information
on all listed companies from each country's major stock exchange includes
daily security prices and returns, capital distributions, financial statements,
market indices and returns, and economic statistics. A useful source of
information for academic research, teaching, portfolio management, and capital
market development.
PAIS INTERNATIONAL
This index to political, economic, and social issues in current debate covers
the public and social policy literature of business, economics, finance,
law, international relations, public administration, government, political
science, and other social sciences -- with emphasis on issues that are or
might become the subjects of legislation. Dating from 1972 to the present,
PAIS International contains abstracts of journal articles, books, statistical
yearbooks, directories, conference proceedings, research reports and government
documents from all over the world.
POIESIS (PHILOSOPHY ONLINE SERIALS)
POIESIS provides full-text online access to a growing number of philosophy
journals, including articles, book reviews, footnotes, announcements, and
notices. More than 60 journals have been licensed for the project and the
database will ultimately contain 100 philosophy journals and UMI's collection
of philosophy dissertation abstracts
PREMISES AT LARGE
Shirley Sin
Sub-Librarian (Administration), [email protected]
During the summer months, renovation works of various scales were carried out
in the branch libraries to render their environment more conducive to study
and work. The Law Library's malfunctioning air-conditioning system was replaced
by a new one. Old ceiling tiles were removed and replaced in the Education and
Music Libraries. The counter area of the Dental Library was redesigned to yield
a better service point, and their staff office renovated.
In our continuous efforts to gain shelving space, compact shelves will be installed
in the Law Library in October. The same was planned for our remote storage at
Hing Wai Centre 31/F.
Journal use study
in collaboration with Medical Library, Law Library & Chemistry Department
Gayle Chan
Serials Librarian, [email protected]
The Main Library will carry out a usage study on journal titles that belong
to Medical, Law and Science Faculties. Apart from the Main Library, the study
will also be conducted in the Medical Library, Law Library and Chemistry Department
Reading Room.
The objective of the study is to give the faculty an indication of usage of
unbound issues by usage count. The survey will include unbound periodicals only.
Unbound journal issues are generally the latest year issues only, i.e. 2000/2001,
except in cases of publication delay.
The duration of the study will initially last for three months i.e. from 1
September 2001 to 30 November 2001. During this period, every surveyed journal
issue will be tagged. Whenever the issue is browsed, read or photocopied, etc.,
the user is asked to tick a box on the self-explanatory label provided. Signs
will also be put up to inform users of the survey.
Library staff will collect the usage counts periodically and incorporate in
the Serials Review List for review by faculties or departments.
We look forward to your participation!
ENQUIRY: TEL: 2589-2201
EMAIL: [email protected]
Dental Library
Irene Fung
Dental Librarian, [email protected]
Library Renovation
The counter area of the Dental Library was refurbished during this summer
to create a more effective working space and to increase circulation efficiency.
The new counter is now linked up with the staff office to provide a better service
point. A public address system was installed on both floors of the library to
make library announcements more effective. General lighting and the air-conditioning
system were also upgraded.
Summer projects
A weeding exercise was conducted in July. Almost 800 titles of low usage books
were relocated to the Libraries' Hing Wai compact storage. This released much
needed space for newly acquired materials.
Some 600 CD-ROMs were re-packed to make them more readily accessible to users on open shelves.
Facilities
Three workstations were added to the Dental Library's Knowledge Navigation Centre
(KNC). New software titles were also acquired including Dreamweaver, EndNote,
and CorelDraw.
Staff development & activities
A self-assessment exercise was conducted in July to help staff improve job effectiveness.
IN BRIEF
VISITORS
4 August 2001
Dr. Rai Rajarayan, Dean of Faculty of General Practitioners (U.K.), Royal College of Surgeons of England22 August 2001
A delegation of 29 students from Shanghai Second Medical University
Mimi Yeung
Education Librarian, [email protected]
Premises improvements
The renovation work on the Education Library was completed in August. Ceiling
tiles have been replaced and lighting upgraded for a more pleasant environment.
The air?conditioning system has also been improved for better air?circulation.
The Library now provides a more pleasant environment for study and research.
Library users will no doubt appreciate the improvements made to the library
surroundings.
Collection reorganization
During the summer, the Chinese collection was moved from the corner to a more
prominent location in the Library. Materials are now more readily accessible
and more space has been made available for accommodation of future stock. A
weeding exercise of the entire collection was also conducted as an annual project
to clear the main book stacks of less used materials to relieve the overcrowded
situation in the Education Library.
Journal subscription review
The journal survey conducted in July has now been finalized. The Faculty Library
Committee and staff have offered valuable advice on updating the Library's journal
collection. Many new journal titles have been recommended for subscription in
the new academic year.
Library orientation program
The Education Library staff is busy preparing orientation sessions for the faculty's
new students. A total of 6 library introductions and over 30 guided tours have
been arranged for the months of September and October to introduce new students
to the Library's facilities and services. Four bibliographic instruction sessions
have also been arranged to familiarize new postgraduate students with the online
library system and the research process.
Wan Yiu-chuen
Fung Ping Shan Librarian, [email protected]
China Journal Net Version 3.0 launched
China Journal Net (CJN 嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭嚙踝蕭Z嚙踝蕭)
is a multidisciplinary and comprehensive web-based full-text database of Chinese academic journals developed at
the Tsinghua University in Beijing as a key component of the
China National Knowledge
Infrastructure (CNKI). This online database holds the full text of more than 5,000 scholarly Chinese
journals which are used in many academic libraries
With the recent upgrade to version 3.0, CJN has a new interface with many new functions, including:
To access this excellent resource, search the Digital Library Collection at http://www.hku.hk/lib/dlc.html;
click Key Chinese Databases. Alternatively, point your browser directly to http://cjn.lib.hku.hk.
IN BRIEF
VISITORS
