Collection Spotlight—What’s New
Airiti Library (華藝線上圖書館) strengthens the Library’s support for full-text Taiwan journals and conference proceedings. Over 2,800 Chinese journal titles from 1991- are available.
Gale Primary Sources is enriched with the addition of China and the Modern World. Hong Kong, Britain and China, part II, 1965- 1993, presenting valuable research materials for 20th century Hong Kong. Archives of the Times, Sunday Times, Financial Times and Independent are on extended trial.
Gartner offers specialized research and reports on a wide range of IT-related topics, including analyses, opinions, trends, leading practices, and case studies. It also provides a range of tools, such as Magic Quadrant and Hype Cycle, to help you identify market trends and emerging technologies across industries.
Nature Masterclasses delivers high-quality courses to enhance your research skills and expertise. Topics include grant writing, finding funding, designing experiments, data analysis, scientific writing, making presentations, and more. Make the most of this professional development opportunity!
Overton searches documents from government agencies, Think Tanks, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that have cited scholarly articles and other policies from all over the world. For details, watch https://help.overton.io/article/video-getting-started-with-overton/ or browse their Knowledge Base (https://help.overton.io/).
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global significantly expands the full-text coverage of doctoral and master’s dissertations and theses in the sciences and engineering fields.
Springer Protocols gathers a huge collection of biomedical and life sciences protocols for laboratory experiments. Its flagship series of Methods in Molecular Biology is supplemented by Methods in Molecular Medicine, Neuromethods and others. Each protocol is consistently documented in four sections: Introduction, Materials, Methods, and Notes.
You can access all of these and more from the Library Home Page –> Databases –> A to Z.
Join Our Library Team – Part-Time Student Helper Positions!
Are you in search of an exhilarating part-time opportunity right here on campus? Look no further than The Library! We are excited to announce diverse student helper positions that promise more than just a job – they offer a chance to contribute to your fellow classmates and embark on a learning journey. As we step into the new academic year, we’re on the lookout for fresh faces to join us in various sections:
1. Administration Office Team : Digitize photos/documents, input data into spreadsheets, and oversee building and facility inspections throughout the Library.
2. Exhibition Team : Assist in running our large-scale map exhibition, serve as exhibition tour guides, and manage counter duties.
3. Access Services Team : Become an Access Services Assistant and support your peers at the counter with tasks like book borrowing, returns, and access control.
4. Commons and Media Team : Help in space management, facilities, and equipment support, as well as user enquiry service.
5. Resource Management Team : Gain hands-on experience in new book arrivals, scanning, copying, and resource organization using pivot tables.
6. Research Support Services : Under the guidance of librarians, assist in managing HKUST Scholarly Publications Database. Tasks include record creation and updating, de-duplication of records, disambiguation of names.
7. Learning Support Services : Under the guidance of librarians, create e-learning objects/videos and empower fellow students in their academic pursuits.
As a student helper, you can tailor your working hours to fit your study schedule, all while acquiring:
- Communication Skills
- Networking
- Meaningful Contribution
- Personal Growth
- Financial Reward
The Library offers a competitive rate of $65/hour. During term time, you can work up to 10 hours/week, and up to 17 hours/week during breaks.
Join the Library and make a positive impact on the HKUST community! For details and to apply, please visit https://library.hkust.edu.hk/about-us/news/job-vacancies-student-helpers/.
Beyond the Library Collection : HKALL & ILL (InterLibrary Loan)
Library Access Services plays an important role in helping you find and access a wide range of resources and information – including materials which are not in our building or collections. Two vital services available to you are HKALL and ILL (InterLibrary Loan).
HKALL (Hong Kong Academic Library Link) is basically a book sharing service among the eight major government-funded university libraries in Hong Kong. If HKUST does not have a book you need, you can search the combined HKALL catalog, and if one of the other seven has it, you can request it from there. The book will be automatically delivered to our Circulation Counter in a few days for you to borrow.
ILL (InterLibrary Loan) is available when none of the Hong Kong libraries have the book you need. HKUST Library partners with overseas libraries and services so we can help you borrow the book you need from anywhere in the world. In addition to books, the ILL service can obtain journal articles, book chapters, theses, etc. More detail of the ILL services can be viewed at https://library.hkust.edu.hk/services/borrowing/interlibrary-loan/
If you have any questions about HKALL or ILL, please stop by the Circulation Counter or email us at lbcirc@ust.hk. We will work hard to get you what you need!
Researchers Series: Surfing the Rapids – Negotiating Change
White Water (2014). cjuneau, CC By 2.0
The philosopher Heraclitus (c. 535- 475 BCE) is credited with saying “everything changes, nothing stands still”. This is true throughout life; and at universities, the pace of change seems very fast indeed! Ideas, methods, and tools are in constant flux. The Researchers Series exists to help HKUST researchers negotiate – or navigate – the rapids of the river of changes you face every day.
This fall, the Library will help you with some new workshops and some revamps to existing ones:
Emerging AI Tools for Literature Review – This is a brand-new open workshop, which we plan to deliver in late fall. Research support librarians will share new tools such as Consensus, or older tools with new AI aspects, like Scite, to help accelerate part of your literature review process.
At the same time librarians will add some AI elements to existing workshops on Search Research Literature and Emerging Open Science Tools for Literature Research.
Web scraping for Non-Technical Researchers: Module 2 – In October, this popular workshop (using PowerQuery and Webscraper) will have a new module, where students will learn to use ChatGPT to help them with their Python coding. It is especially useful for those students without a strong technical background.
The overall structure of the Researchers Series has also undergone a slight change. In order to mirror the research cycle more closely, we have put the workshops into 6 new categories:
- Search & Discovery
- Data Collection & Analysis
- Data Management
- Writing
- Publishing & Intellectual Property
- Impact
We hope these changes will benefit all the researchers at HKUST: students, faculty, and staff. If you have any questions or ideas to share, contact us at lbref@ust.hk
Library Coffee Mug! $40
Get your own Library mug at the Circulation Counter!
You can warm your drink with hot water while studying!
Consider some for friends and family!
They’re perfect for studying or hiking, indoors or outside.
Tech Item Kiosk Usage
The Library launched a new self-service “Tech Item Kiosk” in March. The Kiosk is in the Learning Commons and holds 99 items – which you can borrow and return at any hour without needing Help Desk staff. Usage statistics show a tremendous increase of tech item loans in Spring 2023, compared to when it needed staff help with limited hours.
LG5 Project Status
Exciting news – there will soon be a new entrance to the Library from LG5!
As part of the major renovations of LG5, the University included plans to more directly connect the Library to the student residence halls and canteens. During the summer, a large hole was cut from the Library’s LG4 to LG5. In the fall, a staircase will be installed, and some space below the current Library will be fitted out as a classroom and event/study space. So in addition to the existing entrances on G/F and LG1, you will soon have this new entry on LG5.
While the noisiest work was done during summer, there will be some disruption during the coming few months. We apologize in advance for any problems you may encounter. While not ideal, disposable ear plugs are available from the G/F Circulation Counter if needed.
The new Library entrance will open in the Spring, with the new space open for use during the same hours as the rest of the Library. In addition to the open area with stunning views, there will be three new group study rooms on LG5, which will be reservable through the Library’s room booking system.
Due to scheduling demand on campus, most of the LG5 Library space will be reserved for courses – possibly all day monday-friday. At all other times, the space will be available for your studies.
We look forward to providing you this new space and to the opportunities it will bring.
Research Bridge – Growing & Changing For Your Needs
Our Research Bridge blog strives to provide a bridge of knowledge for researchers. It helps you stay up to date with the latest trends in research practice, scholarly communication, and research workflow.
During the past quite fruitful year, we have:
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- Published 31 posts, going beyond scholarly communication to a broad range of topics: academic publishing, research data management tips, research tools, digital humanities, HKUST research highlights.
- Created a series of posts on useful research data management tips (https://library.hkust.edu.hk/sc/category/research-data-management-tips/) covering data repositories, sensitive data sharing, data citation, data licensing, and the importance of metadata.
- Grown our subscriber base by 23%.
- Shared and promoted AI-powered research tools. Our most popular post of the year, about experimenting with ChatGPT to write scholarly articles, got over 4,000 hits! (https://library.hkust.edu.hk/sc/chatgpt-write-articles/)
- Introduced the Digital Humanities Initiatives (https://digitalhumanities.hkust.edu.hk/) with news of this exciting collaboration between the Library and the Division of Humanities.
- Opened the blog to student authors, bringing in fresh perspectives and unique insights. One guest writer shared their journey in preparing for the HKUST Three-Minute Thesis Competition, while another explored the valuable part-time student work experience at the library, involving cleaning research output records.
We look forward to your continued engagement with Research Bridge. If you are interested in writing a post, we invite you to visit: https://library.hkust.edu.hk/sc/call-for-guest-posts/. Current full-time students whose contributions are accepted will receive a HKD $500 gift coupon as a token of appreciation!
Study Pods – A New Option For You!
The Library is always looking for ways to improve the study environment for you. So we made some changes this summer which we think you will like – a lot!
Relocated Microforms Collection on LG4
As more of the microform collection could be replaced with electronic access, we found the reduced usage and smaller space required allowed us to relocate the microform cabinets to LG4. This allowed us to prioritize space in the Learning Commons extension for student study.
We looked through your feedback from prior surveys, and noted the constantly increasing demand for more study rooms. At the same time, with the expansion of remote learning and Zoom programs and interviews we sometimes see just one student using a large study room which is needed for groups.
So we explored options and created a Study Pod Zone where the microforms used to be. We acquired some standalone study pods – essentially mini group study rooms. Three different sizes of study pods have been installed – three for single-person use, four for one or two people, and two for groups of up to four users. The open space in between will be equipped with some smaller movable furniture.
Each pod is equipped with basic seating and a table surface, internal lighting and ventilation. They do not have separate air conditioning and will bring in air from the surrounding open space. While not soundproof, the pods are designed to reduce external noise as much as feasible. They are also designed with the two main walls being glass, to increase the sense of openness and immersion.
These pods can be reserved through the Library’s room booking system, under the new “Study Pods” category. The rules are the same as for booking other study rooms, and they are prioritized for student use.
We look forward to seeing how you use these new study options. Perhaps there will be demand for more in other areas of the building.
- Published 31 posts, going beyond scholarly communication to a broad range of topics: academic publishing, research data management tips, research tools, digital humanities, HKUST research highlights.
last modified 04 September 2023