Library Retreat
On July 12 and 13, the Library organized a 2-day Retreat in the Learning Commons for its staff. This is an initiative by the new Library Director, Ms Diana Chan, who assumed duties on July 1. Taking this opportunity, she introduced her vision and strategic directions for the Library in the next two years. The forward-looking Strategic Planning was the theme on day 1, while the operational 334 Scenario Planning with high impact on front-line staff was the focus on day 2.
In the Strategic Planning Day, Diana shared with staff the Redefining the Academic Library document by the University Leadership Council, highlighting worldwide trends in the information landscape, digital collection, scholarly publishing models, repurposing library space and re-deploying library staff. She also shared the strategic goals she envisioned for the next two years. They can be viewed at http://library.hkust.edu.hk/about-us/mission/.
Library staff were assigned to each 
strategic goal in the group discussion session, when they deliberated on the objectives, reviewed on-going projects and continuing challenges, and proposed new initiatives for the next 2 years. Practically, they also developed action plans with timeline, specified measures of success, mapped the goals with the University’s strategic priorities, and identified resources and training implications. After much brain storming in the morning, all staff enjoyed a relaxing lunch at the G/F Chinese Restaurant. A second group discussion in the afternoon repeated the same pattern, and was followed by a tea break in the Refreshment Zone. After the break, each group presented their discussions and initiatives.
In the 334 Scenario Planning Day, Diana shared what the University and the Library have prepared for 334. Staff were divided according to their functional units for group discussion. They worked on the likely scenario of 20% increase of services and workload and the worst scenario of 30% increase. Each unit identified what services and operations would be affected and came up with action plans in different situations. They were very resourceful in identifying potential problems and creative in finding solutions and contingency plans. For example, there will be higher demands on course reserve, general education and common core titles, popular media, discussion rooms; more questions, photocopying, defects, noise, broken furniture, seat hogging, food and drink problems, theft cases; even longer waiting for toilets, more garbage, etc. Staff came up with back-up plans and suggestions on how to alleviate bottle-necks. One unit manager in the presentation session admitted that she was not willing to make a forecast for the 30% increase, as she reasoned “I will be totally exhausted. So hire another me.”
The 2-day Retreat provided Library staff a good opportunity to collectively engage in 
progressive planning and problem solving. All staff participated and contributed ideas, insights, initiatives, action plans, and back-up plans. At the end, every staff has an overview of all initiatives proposed from the presentations on different strategic goals.
We all grasp the overall picture of potential problems in 334 and understand different contingency plans put forward. It was a wonderful channel to do team building, brain storming and socializing across functional units. An evaluation survey was completed by 48 staff (a 56% response rate) with a rating of 4.17 out of 5 on the success of the Retreat. We appreciate the sponsorship from the new Staff Activity Budget. More photos are available from the Library Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/hkust.library)
Facilities Updates / 334 Initiatives
In anticipation of the increased needs upon the Library with the expanded student body, several improvements and initiatives are being implemented.
Extended Hours
The Learning Commons hours will be greatly increased. Starting in October, the Learning Commons will open for 22 hours per day, every day through the end of exams in December. If this proves helpful, the same hours will be in effect for most of the spring term.
E-Learning Objects
In view of the intensive development of online learning aids in University, in this summer, the Library had embarked to establish an e-learning objects repository to support Library information literacy instruction. The establishment of the repository will enable students at different levels and in various subject disciplines to find online instructions suitable for their study and research needs, and to learn at their own pace. The design of these e-learning objects are particularly effective in instructing students on how to find and use Library resources to augment their chosen course of study and in helping students become information literate.
Facilities Improvements
In the past year, the size of the Library has increased almost 20%, with all of the extra space devoted to learning space, enabling a 45% increase in study seats and a wide array of facility types in the new Learning Commons. With the addition of another 100 seats this Summer, the Library now provides over 3,100 study spaces. And that does not include the outdoor seating available on the new terraces and rooftop garden.
With the opening of the Learning Commons, almost 50 user-bookable group study rooms are now available, and half of them will be available 22 hours per day for most of the year.
You Can Help
At times the Library will be very crowded. Help your fellow students and yourself – please be considerate and observe the guidelines on Library Behavior (http://library.hkust.edu.hk/about-us/policies-and-rules/user-behavior) and use of study rooms (http://library.hkust.edu.hk/about-us/policies-and-rules/study-rooms-rules/), and follow the direction of Library staff as needed.
If you have any suggestions for building or facilities improvements, please let us know at library@ust.hk
Collection Spotlight
Popular Books
The Library has been building its popular book collection for a while, in response to many calls for more leisure reading. The Popular Books corner on Library G/F has been up and running since June, with an inviting sample of general fiction, biographies, picture books, bestsellers, award winners, etc. Do drop by and dig up a good read. If you search SmartCat, pay attention to the Location filter. You can easily identify which of your results are popular books. Due to space constraints, many popular titles are still kept on LG3/4. If you have a favorite author or book that we do not already have, please send your recommendations to lbcoll@ust.hk.
More and more users prefer to read books on a portable device; it is a much lighter option and the device will support some nice and useful functionalities. This Fall, the Library will be circulating Kindles with preloaded popular books. Stay tuned!
Naxos Music and Naxos Video Library
For classical music lovers, HKUST Library has subscribed to two online streaming services: Naxos Music Library (NML)and Naxos Video Library (NVL). Naxos, a Hong Kong based record label, is renowned for providing a broad repertoire of CD and DVD in good quality. Streaming services now make their music accessible from anywhere, anytime.
Available for HKUST since 2006, NML is a musical treasure trove for listeners to explore. It provides access to nearly 75,000 CDs from the catalogues of over 400 independent labels. Every month, over 1,000 CD-length recordings are added, mostly in classical music with some jazz, world, and classic rock.
A newer service, NVL provides over 1,400 concerts, operas, ballets and documentaries on music from labels such as Opus Arte, Arthaus, Dacapo, and EuroArts. Videos are streamed at up to DVD quality. Subtitles and libretto are included when available.
Streaming Video Collection
Videos are leaving discs and heading towards “the cloud”! No longer subject to the constraint of physical form, HKUST Library now provides thousands of documentary and news videos in streaming format. This means no check-out and no need for a special player. The streaming documentary and current affairs video collection has 3 major sections.
Hong Kong Current Affairs TV programs
Since the mid-2000s, HKUST Library and other JULAC libraries have cooperated to record and share cataloing for licensed local television current affairs shows from ATV, RTHK, and TVB. Where once it was difficult for instructors and students to find material about local issues, we now enjoy a wealth of topical material usually available within a month of broadcast. Browse @ http://catalog.ust.hk/stream/, or see the latest additions via RSS feed at http://catalog.ust.hk/stream/xml/stream.xml
World History in Video
With 1,000+ hours of streaming video from 1,750 critically acclaimed documentaries, it provides a global survey of history from the earliest civilizations to the 21st century. The videos incorporate primary sources, like archival images and documents, and (in the modern era) interviews with participants.
Filmakers Library Online
This collection has ~900 documentaries from around the world, covering a broad range of humanities and social science issues. Learn more in the April 2012 issue of Library Notes @http://library.hkust.edu.hk/newsletters/april-2012/#6
Information Literacy / Center for Language Education Collaboration
The Library has engaged in different initiatives to build up students’ information literacy competencies in 2011-2012.
Since spring 2011, 2 reference librarians attended lectures and group discussions of a new engineering common core course ENGG 1110, working closely with students on finding solutions to real world challenges. This partnership strengthened our relationship with faculty and students, and also helped us better understand the learning and information-seeking behaviors of our students.
Collaboration with the Language Center (now the Center for Language Education) to pilot an instruction program for 1st and 2nd year students of the four schools started in fall 2011, with 52 Library sessions given to over 700 1st year science and engineering students studying LANG 1001. In spring 2012, 54 sessions were given to around 1,200 students who took discipline-related courses LANG 2070, LANG 2030, LANG 2049 and LABU 2052.
Starting fall 2011, selected Library workshops such as Classification of Library Materials, Copyright, E-Books, Introduction to University Archives and Special Collections were included in the “Wellness & Personal Enrichment” elective of the Healthy Lifestyle (HLTH1010) Course for 1st year undergraduates.
In this wide variety of Library instruction activities, students were introduced to organization and preservation of information, subject specific literature and search tools, effective search skills and responsible use of information to avoid plagiarism and copyright infringement. The skills they learnt will be useful for personal and professional development.
Scholarly Publications Database
It was mentioned in the April issue of this Newsletter that the Library was in the process of creating author profiles in the Scholarly Publications Database (http://spfind.ust.hk) for our current faculty. We are delighted to report that the launching of the profiles (http://repository.ust.hk/ir/AuthorProfile/List/) has been completed and it was extremely successful.
Between April and June, the Library sent 3 rounds of announcements with follow-up reminders to each school, seeking faculty’s help to review their profiles, report discrepancies and send us missing publications. As a result, we received and handled over 170 problem reports and 70 CV and publication list submissions. These interactive collaboration with faculty, together with the system demonstrations in school board and department heads meetings, have helped improving the quality of the database.
We have established a database of over 47,000 records of publications produced by HKUST researchers and have released 455 profiles of current faculty members for public access. Only two to three profiles remain in restricted access, awaiting cleaning up and more data input. We also removed the “Beta” label from the banner in July and the portal is now considered in full production.
The Scholarly Publications Database is instrumental in the University’s knowledge transfer initiative. It provides a one-stop portal for complete and accurate listing of research output produced by the HKUST researchers. It increases the visibility of faculty members’ publications and their expertise, by exposing them to Internet search engines. Together with the features in Author Profiles, such as bibliometrics and research interests, it provides a readily available infrastructure for the creation of added-value services, to be used by the University’s knowledge analysis and transfer projects.
Library Holds 1st Ceramic Exhibition
For the first time 
in HKUST Library’s history, we will stage a ceramic exhibition titled So-lan’s Totem · A Solo Exhibition of Chiu So-lan’s Ceramic Works (素蘭圖騰 · 趙素蘭個人陶藝作品展) this fall. Featuring over 270 pieces of Ms Chiu So-lan’s recent pottery works, the exhibition will be opened on 18 October by Dr David Mole and the ceramic artist.
Ms Chiu grew up in an artist family whose father is a Lingnan-style painter. She learned Chinese calligraphy, brushwork and seal engraving in her early age and was influenced by Western arts such as watercolor and oil painting during her childhood in Macau. In the 1990s, she moved to New Zealand where she engaged herself in ceramic arts and started to develop her own unique style embracing Chinese and Western inspirations.
Solan’s Totem (素蘭圖騰)” consists of 5 pieces, ranging from 6 to 7.5 feet tall, representing the artist’s new stage of style-and-concept transcendence. “Bing Ju Xing (兵車行)” is an installation created with Chinese seal cutting technique. This classic Chinese poem is carved in traditional seal scripts, Jin Wen (金文), onto clay seals, each carrying one word from the poem, and each seal has a unique form. Other pottery figures such as the Kafka Series (卡夫卡系列) carry the artist’s passion for this influential writer.
Don’t miss the opportunity to view this extraordinary exhibition in the Library Gallery!
Book Talk
Many dream of investing well, providing for their future or building a retirement nest egg. Today’s investor is faced with a myriad of investment opportunities and strategies. However, investing is tricky; knowledge, discipline and awareness are needed if one wants to make sound investments.
On October 11th, Professor Philip Cheng will give a talk on his new book, “鱷口下的賺錢術:8個股市投資致勝法則” (HG4551 .Z48 2012). Professor Cheng will dissect winning strategies for building wealth, and also address many of the common mistakes that individual investors make over time.
Professor Cheng is an adjunct associate professor of Finance Department at HKUST. Before he joined HKUST in 2007, Professor Cheng was the Chief Investment Officer at MetLife Taiwan.
The book talk will be hosted in the Library Gallery on Oct 11th at 6pm, and will be the tenth in an occasional series of the Library Book Talks (http://lbcone.ust.hk/booktalk/).
Farewell to Samson
After serving as the University Librarian for 9 years, Dr Samson Soong retired in June. The President and staff from the Library, departments and units said good-bye and wished him a healthy retirement in a farewell tea party.
Before his departure, Samson shared his thoughts about the achievements of these past 9 years. He was most proud of the increased user satisfaction and the enhanced Library reputation in the University community, as a result of collective and concerted efforts. Over the years, the Library received high ratings in both internal and external user surveys.
As to some 
difficulties he had faced in this period, he mentioned that upon his arrival at HKUST in 2003, the Library had to cut subscriptions to many journals due to a substantial collection budget deficit. Decisions on where and how to cut were very difficult, in addition to the strong resistance from departments and faculty.
“I treasure the HKUST Library staff I have worked with most.” Samson fondly remembered the times he has worked closely with his staff and would not forget the efforts we have collectively made.
“I simply follow one secret recipe: Always do what is best for the Library” was his answer about his secret in being the leader.
We all wish Samson to be happy, peaceful and healthy as he turns to a new chapter in his life.
last modified 09 December 2016