New Study Carrels are Almost Here!

For several years the Library has been working to upgrade all the aging wooden study carrels on LG3 and LG4. This Research Carrels Replacement Project has had a number of unforseen delays. In some ways the Covid-19 situation may have allowed us to accomplish more on the project during 2020, and we have reached the final stages.

The most recent LibQUAL+ survey includes quite a few requests for additional individual study spaces, along with complaints about furniture and spaces looking old and tired. Student focus groups discussing furniture found you want more carrels, each being larger with more work surface, and more features, and bright colors with an emphasis on wood and natural tones. As you can see, desires were often conflicting. Most feedback did stress the need to maintain the numbers of individual study spaces even if other desires could not be met.

Library staff worked with the design firm Studio Plus to develop a fresh new look for individual research and study furniture, and a layout plan which achieves a good compromise between these desires.

As you can see from the mockups currently on the ground floor, there are two main types of furniture in the new design – ‘carrels’ and ‘pods’. Carrels are much like our existing ones, with most being slightly larger. The Pods are substantially larger although in smaller quantities (~25% of the seats), with much larger work surfaces in a less traditional layout. Pods also allow the user to feel more enclosed in their own space.

Each carrel/pod will also have a unique number, which will be helpful for reporting problems, and could be used in the future for individual bookings. The height of both carrels and pods is the same as our current furniture, with part of the upper partitions being frosted glass instead of wood, incorporating a flying book design taken from the University logo.

A number of users provided helpful feedback on the mockups, using the nearby white boards and an online survey. The final results will be slightly different, incorporating small improvements and design modifications identified.

There will also be a zone of two-person pods (‘Buddy Pods’) in the far corner of LG4 in front of the four group study rooms there, allowing this to become a somewhat more social space. The design also incorporates zone colors – with LG3 carrels and the carpet under them following a blue theme, LG4 being orange, and the buddy pods area being green.

Most of the noisier construction, including changing the carpeting and cutting the flooring for new wiring, occurred during Winter Break. The first large batch of new furniture should arrive before Chinese New Year, with the remainder coming in the weeks following the holiday. The entire project is scheduled for completion in late April.

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Collection Spotlight: New WiseNews Interface and Expanded Statista

Try out the New WiseNews Interface – Into the new year, WiseNews has migrated to a new platform with improved user friendliness. The default landing page for browsing articles by subjects or news categories has been renamed from WiseNews to WiseObserver. To switch to the search mode,simply choose the menu icon in the top left corner and choose WiseSearch. An online user guide is available at the bottom of the WiseSearch page, in case you need to learn more advanced features.

Statista now with Global Consumer Survey – Are you looking for detailed consumer and market statistics for your research or course assignment? Statista is a web portal which brings thousands of diverse topics of data at your fingertip.
Major sources of statistics and information include market research, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.

In 2021, the Library’s Statista subscription has expanded to include Global Consumer Survey which gives insight on worldwide consumers. The survey is conducted regularly in 55 countries and territories with up to 25,000 respondents per country; it provides a global perspective on consumption and media usage, both online and offline. Survey data also includes attitudes and behaviors of consumers regarding different topics including social media, eCommerce, digital media, smart home, eServices, and lots more. The Global Consumer Survey also covers 25 product and service categories with over 1,400 international brands such as Amazon, Apple, Nintendo, Adidas, Sony, Twitter, Huawei, and Booking.com.

The data is available on an interactive browser-based platform which allows users to create in-depth analyses based on individual target groups. Customized target groups can be organized by different dimensions like demographics, values & attitudes, and living situation. Users can export the data directly for further use in CSV format.

To access WiseNews or Statista, visit Library Homepage (http://library.hkust.edu.hk) > Databases > W or S. If you have any questions using them, email LBREF@ust.hk or call ext. 6760, or WhatsApp 9701-1055 to contact a librarian.

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Cambridge Read and Publish Agreement Signed

After prolonged negotiations, the Library recently signed a Read and Publish ejournal agreement with Cambridge University Press effective from January 2021. Traditional licenses provide access rights to subscribed content only for authorized users, primarily current staff and students of HKUST. This new Read and Publish model includes a new component to support open access (OA) publishing, which effectively removes paywall restrictions and raises the visibility and impact of research content.

Under this agreement, all Article Processing Charges (APC) will be waived if HKUST authors choose to publish their accepted papers open access. There is no quota on the number of papers that can enjoy the APC waiver. The waiver is valid on any of the 370 plus Cambridge journals that are fully OA or hybrid OA (i.e., subscription journals with an option for OA), on condition that the acceptance date of the publications fall between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2023. Eligible authors should be the corresponding authors who handle the manuscript and correspondence during the entire publication process. For ease of verification, authors are encouraged to use their ITSC email accounts in the Cambridge publishing workflow.

For more detail, see Author Tips for HKUST Authors: APCs at https://libguides.ust.hk/author-tips/apc or contact LBKEVIN@ust.hk.

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Library Logo Contest

Creativity has no boundaries, let your creativity shine and join the Library‘s logo contest.

All HKUST students, staff, and alumni (except Library staff and adjudicators and their family members), are invited to showcase your talent by submitting logo designs for the Library.

The logo design should:

• help promote the HKUST Library’s mission (https://library.hkust.edu.hk/about-us/mission/) as a Learning Hub and Scholarly Gateway to support the University’s teaching, learning, and research.
• show originality, not having been published previously or based on any pre-existing designs.
• employ innovative/interesting colors, composition, drawings, objects, or texts, to deliver the message.
• follow the University branding guidelines.

All logo design entries will be posted on the Library social media platform with hash tag #hkustlibrarylogocontest for public voting for a “People’s Choice Award”.
    • One Grand Prize: HKD $2,000
    • Peoples Choice Award Prize: HKD $1,000

Contest details will be released very soon, stay tuned! We look forward to your participation!

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Self-service Lockers

We understand your need and have heard your survey suggestions. In order to help you not to leave personal belongings unattended, 32 lockers have been installed inside the Learning Commons on LG1 (in the back corridor near the washrooms). Library users who need to leave the building or their seats for a short period of time, can deposit their belongings in the self-service lockers. The locker system is Octopus-operated and this service is FREE OF CHARGE for the first TWO hours. From the 3rd hour onward, $2 will be charged per hour.

Two different sizes of lockers are available with the smaller ones tailor-made for laptop storage. Please clear the locker as soon as possible to avoid charges and to make room for others. When you return, take your belongings and leave the locker empty. To preserve lockers in good condition, unsafe, wet, staining, perishable and odorous materials including food and drinks should not be stored in the lockers. Any Library items stored must be checked out first.

Give them a try!

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Library iTalk

二月份的 iTalk 主題是「死亡解剖室：屍骨給我上的一堂課」。

講者李衍蒨女士是美國俄勒岡大學哲學學士及香港中文大學人類學文學碩士，於美國邁阿密殮房及相關機構完成實習工作。隨後於英國攻讀法證學及鑑證科學研究碩士，主修法醫人類學，期間於東帝汶法證科擔任法醫人類學家及顧問，處理無人認領的人體殘骸。她亦先後到波蘭進行生物考古學、法醫人類學及法醫考古學研究，以及於塞浦路斯項目擔任助理顧問。著作有木乃伊不容易: 那些木乃伊生前死後的奇情怪事、存骨房 和屍骨的餘音。

解剖室是法醫科人員經常要到的地方，在那裡不但可以看到人死後身體的變化，更可以了解到逝者生前的經歷。但對李衍蒨來說，除了這些，解剖室裡面的工作，就是她對生命及死亡體驗的一段修行，而教曉她的都是無聲證人、墓地裡面的每一塊骨頭、每一位亡者！

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Exhibition Celebrating HKUST Arts Festival 2021

In the spring, our Library will present the exhibition Between Europe and Asia: Traditional Music and Costumes from Central Asia, Caucasus and the Middle East, as an opening event of HKUST Arts Festival 2021. This will be another Library project with HKUST Center for the Arts and MTPC, following many previous successful collaborations.

Through the display of costumes, music instruments, and other cultural elements, the exhibition will feature the colourful and vivacious cultures along the Silk Road from Central Asia to Turkey in the west and Iran in the south. There will be multi-media presentations of the exhibits and the contents. Visitors will not only see the real objects, but also interact with digital images and hear pre-recorded music created by the instruments.

Arts Festival events include music and dance performances, talks, a meditation workshop, and a music festival organized by SHSS.

This project is supported by many people and organizations without which it would not be possible. We are especially grateful to the Consulate Generals of Turkey, Iran, and Kazakhstan, Ms. Pasha Umer, Mr. Eugene Leung, and student representatives of different ethnic groups at HKUST.

The exhibition is scheduled to open in March in the G/F Gallery. It promises to be a new and excited experience for members of the University community. Stay tuned!

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2021 JULAC Libraries Online Forum

On January 21-22, over 350 library staff attended a Forum organized by the 8 UGC-funded libraries. The Forum was hosted by HKUST Library as a Webinar, in light of the COVID-19 epidemic.

President Prof. Wei Shyy, in his welcome address, complimented HKUST Library staff for their excellent support of the University’s mission and welcomed colleagues from our sister institutions to the Forum. Dr. Louisa Lam, JULAC Chair and University Librarian of Lingnan University, followed with an opening speech to set the stage for the Forum.

Kicking off the Day 1 program on “Open Access & Open Scholarship”, our Director Diana Chan, presented an “Introduction on the Latest JULAC Developments on Open Access and Open Scholarship” in her capacity as Chair of JULAC Consortiall. Other Consortiall members reported on JULAC’s efforts on Open Access. Tsang Wai Kit, Assistant Secretary-General (Research) from the Research Grants Council, also updated us on their Open Access Plan, its objectives, and implementation. Our Associate Director, K.T. Lam, discussed HKUST’s initiative on “Mapping institutional repository metadata to Schema.org vocabulary”.

On Day 2, librarians shared experiences around the theme “The New Normal? Library Services in the Post COVID-19 Era”. Directors of the 8 libraries also presented the JULAC Strategic Plan for 2021-2026 in a Panel Discussion. Library Staff were keen to discuss the Plan and provided valuable feedback.

The Forum is a good example of deep collaboration among UGC libraries. We look forward to our next Forum for more exchange and dialogue!

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Antique Maps and Book Plans

The exhibition China in Antique Maps is now open in the Hong Kong Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce Ko Pui Shuen Gallery, and can be visited until May 28.

The first European map of China appeared in 1584, in the first Map Atlas ever printed in Europe. Since then, maps of China appeared in many different forms in European printing: as loose sheets, in atlases, on frontispieces, or as playing cards.

Until now, there has not been any scholarly effort to collect and study these maps in a comprehensive work.

With the generous support of Dr. Ko Pui Shuen, the HKUST Library has embarked on a project to publish a new book which will give the first complete coverage of Western printed maps of China from the beginning to the age of the Enlightenment.

This exhibition shows the maps in the HKUST Library Special Collections that are featured in the book. They include precious items that have been in our legacy collection since it was founded; as well as a number of new acquisitions that were made possible by Dr. Ko’s generosity.

The curator of the exhibition, Dr. Marco Caboara, Digital Scholarship and Archives Manager, gave a talk featuring some of the maps in the collection on January 24, as part of the HKMoA Online Live Streaming Public Talks.

It can be viewed on the Hong Kong Art Museum Streaming Channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/iichongkong

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Security Improvement – Cameras

Security of belongings is often highlighted in responses to the Library‘s user surveys. You have especially been pushing the Library to add more security cameras in the building.

For several years, we have been exploring options for equipping the Library with an improved security installation. Initially such a system was cost-prohibitive, but as camera resolution has increased dramatically the number of cameras required to provide coverage has reduced in similar manner.

With generous financial and logistical support from senior administration and from the Security and Safety Office, an improved and more effective system of security cameras has now been installed throughout the public areas of the Library. The entire system will be managed and monitored by campus security staff.

Coverage includes all the large public areas of the Library, along with classrooms and other teaching spaces. Most group study rooms are not covered, so be especially careful to keep an eye on your belongings there.

Of course, the most important part of any security system is that you do not leave your valuables unattended. Most people are very honest, but there are always some who might take advantage if you are distracted or careless.