When you use study carrels in the Library, you might have experienced this situation: you leave the seat but use your belongings to keep it occupied; when you return, someone else take your seat, and you see a notice to claim your stuff at the G/F Service Counter. How did that happen? Yes, library staff takes regular actions to reduce "seat hogging". We conduct "in-depth patrol" to clear study carrels and make them available for library users. How does "in-depth patrol" work? When we see a carrel occupied by unattended belongings, we leave a paper slip noting the time. After 30 minutes, if the belongings are still there, we would put them on the side so that the seat is available for another user. Valuables will be sent to G/F Service Counter for keeping your belongings secured. In this Fall term, we did such patrol between 26 September and 1 November; and we cleared a total of 316 carrels, averaging 12.6 carrels per day. That is a 43% increase from last year!

You might have heard the Italian name Ricci – perhaps Ricci Hall, one of the oldest residential halls at HKU. But do you know who Matteo Ricci was? The man who made this Italian name famous in China. Who was Matteo Ricci? Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was one of the first Jesuit missionaries who tried to spread Christianity in China. He was born in Macerata, a small town in central Italy with a population of just under thirteen thousand. At the age of 20, Ricci was admitted to the Roman College, a Jesuit university renowned for its expertise in natural philosophy. Hmm, what exactly was natural philosophy? Mathematics, astronomy, music, geography, and more technical disciplines like mechanics and architecture. For example, how to craft a globe?

Launched in June 2024, the Research Horizon Navigator is the latest module in Clarivate’s Incites Benchmarking & Analytics platform. This powerful tool is designed to empower researchers by highlighting emerging research trends with significant potential for breakthroughs.

As ChatGPT celebrates its second birthday, we thought it was a good time to showcase our comprehensive collection of AI-related books that capture this transformative moment in history. Introducing our new book display: “Popular Readings on AI”—a curated selection of around 380 books, available in both print and e-format. From the latest in technology and education to the impact of AI on business, medicine and beyond, this collection is now on display at the G/F of the Library, ready for you to explore. Selecting the Books: A Fun Challenge Curating this display was both fun and challenging. We started with a giant list of over 6,000 AI-related books published after 2020, aiming to narrow it down to the best mix of popular, accessible, and informative reads—not too technical, not overly academic. As the subject librarian responsible for book selection, I spent quite some time digging into bestseller lists, reviews and recommendations from Amazon and other trusted sources. It wasn’t just about picking the top-rated books, but to represent a variety of perspectives and topics. Whether you are a tech newbie, a business leader, or interested in AI ethics, we wanted to make sure there’s something here for you. Setting Up the Display: A Team Effort Bringing this display to life was truly a collaborative effort, with colleagues from multiple teams in the library to make it happen. It all started with our Collection Development team, who compiled a comprehensive list of AI-related books from our collection for me to select the most relevant ones to feature.

Recently, we conducted a poll of potential monitors on the G/F to see which model you preferred. The Battle: October 28th – November 5th, 2024 On one side, a 34-inch curved monitor; on the other, a 32-inch 4K flat monitor. Both offer larger screen size, higher resolution, and USB-C connectivity. But which shape would dominate? Library users voted for their favorite monitor model using colorful stickers. After a few days, a clear preference began to emerge. AI Assisted Vote Tallying Visually, we could see there was a preference for curved monitors, but what were the exact numbers? It would have been tedious to count them individually. We turned to POE. The results: curved = 314; flat = 166.