Browse Search the Library Catalog
There’s a new search function in the Library Catalog part of PowerSearch: Browse Search. This provides more structured search results and a browse screen for HKUST Library catalog items.
After an initial search for authors or titles, you can see the numbers of results and variant of the name, and a more clear distinction between people with the same name. The Browse by Author and Subject searches include “see also” information, for more precision searching. For example, a Browse by Author search for Stephen Chow also brings his “official name”: 周星馳, 1962-, leading to 10 of his videos.
In Browse by Subject, results are numbered and organized in a structured way.
Browse by Call Number is particularly useful. By entering a call number, you can find items with that call number, plus other physical items that would be near it on the shelf. For example, a “regular” search of HF6105.C5 returns three items, while the browse search displays those, plus more in a related area.
We hope you like this useful new search function.
Developing E-Learning for Information Literacy
In 2015, UGC approved and funded a three-year JULAC (Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee) Project to enhance Information Literacy in Hong Kong Higher Education. In 2016, HKUST hosted the project’s Capacity Building program for instruction librarians. In fall 2016, we started partnering with faculty members to embed information literacy into the curriculum in new ways via Course Enhancement Fund projects, which will continue through 2018.
This spring, the project will release a new phase: multimedia courseware for information literacy, available on the HKMOOC platform: InfoLit for U, led by Hong Kong Polytechnic University Library. The courseware includes a core module of general skills, with special subject modules. Students can sign up and use it as non-credit online course and proceed at their own pace. Librarians and faculty from across the eight UGC-supported universities can also embed elements in their teaching materials, including the videos in a YouTube channel.
We hope this phase will give librarians and faculty new tools to help students develop expertise in searching for, finding, evaluating, using, and creating information effectively and ethically.
Collection Spotlight: New Journals and Databases
CDMNext: Indonesia Premium Database
CDMNext now includes the Indonesia Premium Database with more than 100,000 macro-economic time series in a wide range of topics: national accounts, demographics and labor, foreign trade, inflation, various industries, and lots more.
Statista
This brand new service is a statistics portal which provides fast and reliable access to over a million market data series on 80,000 topics from 18,000 individual sources covering roughly 170 industry sectors. Data are from well-known market and media institutes and are accompanied by detailed source citations. Statista dossiers compile the most important statistics and forecasts on one specific topic, and can be easily incorporated into your own reports or presentations. You will also find Industry Reports, Digital Market Outlook and Forecasts which give detailed analysis of market structures and development, consumer behaviors and demographics, and market and economic trends in the next five years. Data can be exported in popular formats: PowerPoint, Excel, PNG or PDF. And don’t forget to explore the attractive infographics available to brighten up your reports.
Wiley Online Library
Have you noticed a difference searching on the Wiley platform? This major journal package has now been upgraded to their “database model”. The immediate benefits are that 360 titles previously excluded from our subscription are now available, in various relevant disciplines. The long-term benefits will be that whenever Wiley publishes a new journal or it has acquired new titles from third parties, these titles will be automatically pooled into the Wiley journal database and available to you. This upgrade was triggered by a persistently high level of attempted access to unavailable Wiley journals in the past few years and was achieved through lengthy negotiation with the publisher.
“I Love Reading” Corner
The first thing that meets your eyes once you step into the Library is likely to be the “I Love Reading” display, nicknamed the BookWorm Corner due to the eye-catching poster on the big wall. Last year, three thematic displays were arranged: Eight Minutes Reading, Pop Book Buffet, and Book and Media Award Winners. Those three displays led to 998 book and 311 media checkouts. Quite a high volume of traffic!
The current display is Travel Writing. We have handpicked around 250 book and media titles for your enjoyment. Travel writing appeals to many who are not just interested in the pleasures of traveling, but also in the history, politics, sociology, or geography of a place. From the Arctic to down under Australia, the Far East to the Americas, you are invited to embark on journeys crossing cultures and continents, hassle-free.
When the big wall is taking a break and enjoying fresh paint, move into the far end of the ground floor where the newest bestsellers and leisure reading are beckoning. This may well become one of your best loved Library spots.
Thank You, Donors!
Over the years, the Library has been fortunate to have generous support from donors to fund various projects which would not have been possible otherwise. We are extremely grateful to them. Recently, two new donations were successfully solicited.
Donation from Dr Ko Pui Shuen
Using a donation from Dr Ko Pui Shuen, last year the Library completed two projects for our University Archives & Special Collections. Deeply impressed with our efforts, Dr Ko just made a second donation to support a Library project on Western Maps of China. This is a 3-year project with the following deliverables:
- Publication of a reference book on the Western Maps of China
- Creation of an interactive website to explore the antique maps
- Hosting of two international workshops on the cartography of China
- Acquisition of additional maps of China
- Organizing exhibitions to feature the Western maps of China
The project has received full support from the EVPP Office. We are very excited about this and have already began working with a prestigious book publisher in the field.
Donation from Dr Lau Wah Sum
To thank Dr Lau for his generous donation to the University, the Refreshment Zone in the Learning Commons was officially named Dr Lau Wah Sum Refreshment Zone (聚誼閣). The donation will be used to support Chinese medicine research to overcome abuse of antibiotics in fish and livestock.
Officiated by EVPP Prof Wei Shyy, the Naming Ceremony was attended by Founding President Prof Chia-Wei Woo, VPIA Dr Sabrina Lin, Director of the Center for Chinese Medicine R & D Prof Karl Tsim, Acting University Librarian Mr KT Lam, and other senior management. Dr Lau has long been associated with the University as he was the Founding Treasurer of HKUST and Chairman of the HKUST Education Trust from 1986 to 2000.
Joining hands with the Development & Alumni Office and other units, the Library is pleased to be able to contribute our efforts to help solicit donations to support the University’s missions and goals.
Join Us in the “Making of Happiness” Exhibition
Some of you may have seen some stout ceramic figurines outside an MTR station or in the airport, and been fascinated by these funny men and women. After more than two years of preparation, Ms Rosanna Li, the artist who created these chubby sculptures, will showcase her works at the Library and share with us her joy in ceramics making.
Titled “Happiness in the Making – An Exhibition of Works by Rosanna Li Wei Han”, the exhibition will focus on the signature features of Rosanna’s art and her concerns about local issues – especially on housing problems. There will be three parts to the exhibition: the signature chubby ceramic pieces, a new series of works resulting from an artist-in-residence program at Shigaraki in Japan, and a gallery space named “Gallery Mirage”.
Rosanna studied ceramics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic, and received a Master’s Degree in Educational Management from the Cheltenham & Gloucester College, and a Master’s Degree in Cultural Studies from Lingnan University. From 1990 to 2010 she taught at the School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and worked there as a visiting lecturer from 2010-2016. She has won many awards including the 1985 Hong Kong Urban Council Fine Art Award in Ceramics, Sculptor of the Year Award in 1999, the 2005 Commendation Medal for Achievements from the Secretary for Home Affairs, and the 2013 Hong Kong Federation of Women Hong Kong Women of Excellence in the Six Arts Award. She was a finalist of the 2016 Sovereign Asian Art Prize Competition.
The Opening Ceremony will be on 7 February at 3:30 pm in the G/F Library Gallery. Guided tours and a talk/demonstration by the artist will be organized. Come and join the Making of Happiness!
Picturing Hong Kong – Best Student Essay Awards
As with other Library exhibitions, “Picturing Hong Kong: Ink Paintings by Contemporary Hong Kong Artists” supported two HUMA courses taught by Prof Flora Fu in last fall. Students were required to focus their studies on the exhibits and to research the artists’ works.
A Presentation Ceremony was held on 14 December to honor HUMA3660 students who produced the best catalog-entry essays after studying the paintings in the Exhibition. The winners were thrilled to receive the awards and prizes directly from the artists they researched.
Visit the Library Website (https://library.hkust.edu.hk/exhibitions/chinese-ink/) to read these essays, and see how well the students analyzed these wonderful paintings.
Water Fountains – New Campus Look!
The Library is pleased to be the first place to show off the results of the University’s Water Fountain Art Project.
As part of the campaign for a plastic bottle water free campus, more and better fountains are being installed on campus, and all fountains will be branded with this design and signage. This improves visibility and promotes the benefits of sustainability efforts. Use those 1-HKUST containers!
So Fun to Read – Library Book Talks http://lbcone.ust.hk/booktalk/
In the spring semester, the Library will present a number of book talks on diverse topics, from language and history to art and archaeology. Join these amazing talks, and you will certainly find something inspiring.
On 27 February, Alfred Tsang and Nick Wong, co-founders of Kongish Daily, will deliver a talk on their new book “港語日報: 溫故知新 (Kongish Daily: Old News is Still Exciting, and Perhaps Educative)”. Kongish Daily is a Facebook page created by three local English teachers. It shares news using Kongish – a mix of Cantonese and literal English translation. The page attracted over 30,000 likes in its first few months. In this talk, Alfred and Nick will define Kongish; explaining how it has been existing as a distinctive variety, and how it is different from Chinglish. Both Alfred and Nick are teaching staff at HKUST’s Center for Language Education.
On 2 March, Prof Liu Zaifu and Prof Yan Lianke will deliver a talk titled “文學人性論”, co-organized with HUMA and IAS. Prof Liu is a renowned poet, critic and scholar and is currently a HKUST IAS Senior Visiting Fellow. Prof Yan is one of China’s most renowned writers and a master of imaginative satire. There have been much dispute over his writing in China, and he has stood as a writer with deep conscience and great passion.
This March, the Library will collaborate with Center for the Arts to present four book talks on the Silk Road. They are part of the HKUST Arts Festival 2018. Taking you on an interesting and vivid journey to this ancient network of land and sea routes, the talks will cover the following:
- The Silk Road by Ms Gabriella Bonino on 15 March
- Maritime Silk Road and Zheng He by Ms Cheung Shin Yee on 20 March
- A Journey in the Footsteps of Xuanzang by Ms Mishi Saran on 22 March
- Islamic Chinoiserie by Ms Yuka Kadoi on 27 March
On 28 March, Professor Martin Jones from Cambridge University will give a talk around the theme of Early Cultural and Scientific Transmission across Eurasia with China. Professor Jones is the George Pitt-Rivers Professor of Archaeological Science at Cambridge and is a world renowned archaeologist. This talk will be co-organized by the Library and HUMA.
Save the dates and watch out for Library announcements! We look forwarding to seeing you at the talks!
Many Thanks President Tony F Chan
The first day of class in Sept 2012, President Tony F Chan came to my office and said, “Hey, let’s greet our new students and welcome them to UST”. Accompanied him around the Library, I was amazed at how good he could connect with our students. No matter where they came from, Tony could always open up conversations about their hometowns and fields of studies. Welcoming students on the first day became his custom for many years. Look at the long line; you know how popular he is.
He is present in the Library, to be exact, in students’ lives, not only the first day of class but throughout the year. “Meeting with the President” in the Refreshment Zone is a monthly event when he could heed students’ voices and followed up on their concerns. Towards the end of semester. He has always been our secret guest in the Snack Breaks during exam time. While we distributed fruits and UST wristbands as souvenirs together, his visit always turned out to be students’ precious moment. What could be more fun by having a snack and a warm chat with the President!
He is also a strong advocate to enrich university’s cultural and artistic life. He has helped to officiate many of our exhibition ceremonies. He championed for his student, Tin Man Lee’s exhibition. When Tin Man received the Nature’s Best Photography grand prize, he encouraged us to organize one exhibition for Tim. He offered us many ideas, and that exhibition turned out to be one of the most successful and popular exhibitions we had held.
Whenever we see him on campus, he is always smiling. He is pleasant, approachable and down-to-earth. We have never seen him frowning his eyebrows. The pressure of a university is never heavy enough to press him down. I admire his proximity to students, positive attitude in times of imperfect situations, and his far vision and high standard. Are these the attributes of a great leader?
President Chan, we are fortunate to have you these years! Your footprints in the Library may not be visible any more, but they are in our hearts, and in students’ memory.
– Diana Chan, the University Librarian
last modified 05 October 2018