3D Scanning Service
After launching our 3D Scanning Service, the Library held two demonstration sessions on September 26 and October 4. 53 students and staff joining us for introducing this new technology and service in more detail. The demonstrators showed the whole process of texture scan (producing a 3D image in color) and non-texture scan (for monochrome display). They also provided helpful tips on how to ensure the target objects can be scanned successfully.
Attendees were impressed by the fast scanning speed and high resolution of 3D modelling. They were also interested in the latest applications and trends of the technology. The Q&A session was a good opportunity for fruitful communication and idea exchange.
The 3D Scanning Service ( https://library.hkust.edu.hk/services/facilities/3d-scanning/ ) lets you practice the scanning process without charge. You can adjust different settings and try different options freely. The output can be used in 3D modelling, 3D Printing, Virtual Reality, Artificial Reality, etc. Together with our 3D Printing Service, users can reproduce a desired object at one-stop in the Library. Book a session and enjoy!
Library Highlights 2018-2019
Visit https://library.hkust.edu.hk/achievements/ to look over some of the Library’s main accomplishments last year. Library programs, Linked Data projects, increased usage, gamification, Research Bridge, Chinese Names authority expansion, and more!.
Supporting Teaching and Learning (Part 2)
Each year schools and academic support units file a report to the Committee on Teaching and Learning Quality. For four consecutive years, the Library’s reports showing our services have been identified as exemplary in supporting teaching and learning. In the September Newsletter, we shared with you some of our Quality Assurance mechanisms. In this second part let us focus on some Best Practices.
1. Placing Students at the Center
We put students at the center. We make space appealing and conducive for study and learning. We provide students with experiential learning. Students are trained as volunteer exhibition tour guides, to serve at help desks, and receive customer service training.
We make learning visible by displaying student-led exhibitions. Art Dimensions is a joint initiative with the Undergraduate Core Education Team, to exhibit selected artworks by students in the Library and on an online platform. Learning objects designed by students are also on display. They include robots from competitions, 3D models, design posters, and final projects from IELM 4320 Design Thinking course.
2. Deepening Collaborations with Academic Departments and Campus Units
On top of organizing classes and events with departments and campus units, we also collaborate on exhibitions, related talks, gallery tours, book talks, and art demos.
The Course Enhancement Fund projects are new initiatives where librarians and faculty embed information skills training in classes. Each project is different and may consist of face-to-face sessions or flipped learning, poster design, research consultation, faculty-librarian collaborative assessment of student work, and a demonstration and celebration of student learning and achievement via mini-conference and awards.
3. Collaborating with Counseling & Wellness Center for Student Support
During the exam period, the Library works with the Counseling & Wellness Center to provide emotional support for students. Snackbreaks@Library is organized by the Library with co-sponsorship from SAO. The Counseling & Wellness Center regularly operates an Assessment Counter at a prominent spot in the Learning Commons. Additional talks and activities for stress management are also held.
4. Organizing Scholarly Communications Workshops for PGs
To expose our PG students to scholarly topics, the Library organized many seminars, integrated with the PDC 6770 series, with several hundred attendees. Speakers from publishers, government, and our own faculty gave presentations. These included: How to publish in academic journals, Tips to succeed in publishing, Peer review process, Copyright in education, Research data management, and How to resolve conflict in workplace through mediation.
5. Offering Out-of-Class Learning Opportunities
E-Discovery Week promoted awareness and better use of quality subscribed e-resources among students and staff via workshops and the E-Discovery Challenge game with prizes. This bi-annual event raises students’ awareness of and skills with research tools and resources. This helps them go beyond basic Googling for information and develops their capacity for university-level scholarly work.
6. Reading with Joy
Each year, we introduce several reading programs to enhance the joy of reading for the HKUST community. We have displayed books and media items on different themes by the entrance, such as Discover & Enjoy Hong Kong, Eight Minutes Reading, Pop Book Buffet, Watch a Novel, Award Winning Book. These displays have been well-received with a high checkout rate.
7. Driving Decisions With Data
The daily headcount of users provides an indicator for our data driven decision making approach. When a certain threshold is reached, we will kickstart more in-depth patrols to reduce seat hogging. We will adjust opening hours, extend the opening of the overflow area in the Media Area, and trigger our opening on public holidays during non-scheduled periods in response to great demand in a more flexible and responsive way.
8. Lending of Technology Items
The Library lends tech items to users at multiple service desks (~12,000 loans per year). These include: USB thumb drives, VR Goggles, whiteboard kits, converters and cables for notebooks, tripods, webcams, USB power chargers, new adaptor cables, etc. We actively observe checkout figures, closely watch for changes in latest notebook models for new accessories and listen to feedback from users.
9. Improving on Learning Space
The Library carried out enhancement works during term breaks to improve the environment, and in response to users’ feedback. Our staff handle 800-1000 defect reports per year – or 3-4 per day. We routinely re-upholster worn-out chairs, add power outlets, and make other improvements
Research Data Management with Experts from IQSS Harvard
Research data is a valuable resource driving scholarship forward. To help HKUST researchers improve their research data management (RDM) skills, the Library is organizing a 2-day program in November with two RDM experts from the Institute of Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University. There will be a seminar on November 14 and two hands-on workshops on November 15 for you to learn how to handle your own data and archive it in the data repository DataSpace@HKUST.
The speakers are Ms. Sonia Barbosa, Manager of Data Curation, IQSS Dataverse, Harvard University; and Mr. Danny Brooke, Program Manager, Product Development, IQSS, Harvard University. IQSS is the developer of Dataverse, an open source application to build research data repositories. Dataverse is widely used by institutions worldwide; our DataSpace@HKUST is based on Dataverse. Sonia and Danny are both experienced in offering RDM and Dataverse training.
Research Data Curation and FAIR Data Support Using Dataverse
Nov 14, 9:15-12:00, Lecture Theatre F
The FAIR principle is about making research data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. In the seminar, Sonia will introduce RDM best practices to make your research data FAIR; Danny will tell us more specifically about Dataverse.
Research Data Curation Workshops
Nov 15, 9:30-11:30; 2:30-4:30 (2 identical sessions), LG4 Multifunction Room, Library
The two speakers will guide participants to curate their own datasets and put them in DataSpace@HKUST.
Collection Spotlight : New Platforms, Better Experiences
Several databases have received major facelifts, delivering more powerful functionalities and user friendliness.
Refworks Legacy has been running in parallel with Refworks (new interface) for almost two years. Consider taking the plunge and migrating to the new Refworks by the end of the year. All citations and styles can be imported to the new Refworks in a few simple steps – See https://libguides.ust.hk/newrefworks/import.
LexisNexis Academic was recently replaced by Nexis Uni. You are encouraged to create a personal account in Nexis Uni, which allows you to store documents and searches, and set up alerts. Simple Search is like Google while Advanced Search is best to narrow down your search scope to specific content types such as News, Law Reviews, or Cases from desired common law jurisdictions.
HyRead ebooks now adopts a responsive web design, which should improve the browsing experience on mobile phones and tablets. Take advantage of 推薦書籍 (Recommended Books) on HyRead’s homepage and happy surfing.
Try out the crisp new look of Digital Dissertations Consortium, which holds tens of thousands of full-text ProQuest dissertations from 2007. Its intelligent search engine will suggest context-sensitive search terms in a pull-down menu.
Maintenance of Subscription Resources (Print & Electronic)
You may have noticed that the G/F Reference Collection has been reduced to one third of its original size. Our print journal collection has been trimmed and will be further reduced – as print collections require regular maintenance. So do electronic resources, even though they do not take up shelving space.
Whenever a subscription is due for renewal, the Library will assess the resource based on a number of factors. The main ones are relevance to current teaching and research needs, usage, cost-effectiveness, inflation rate, and InCites impact factor. In 2018/2019, over 160 low-use journals were cancelled. The savings realized were used either to absorb inflation costs (~5% per year), or were channeled to support new subscriptions. Rest assured that before any cancellations are made, the Library communicates with appropriate faculty to solicit feedback.
Last year, we acquired a broad range of key electronic resources. Some highlights include four JSTOR archival ejournal collections which support multi-disciplinary research; Nexis Uni for news, business and legal information; O’Reilly Safari for thousands of IT related ebooks; China Science Citation Database in Web of Science; and the Shen Pao newspaper archive providing valuable historical content for China research. The Library is working to deliver Faculty Select from 2020, a first-of-its-kind tool which aggregates a vast amount of Open Education Resources (OER) and a huge catalog of academic books for faculty to adopt for Course Reserve. Watch for its launch.
無言老師的生死學問
十月份的 iTalk 主題是無言老師的生死學問。「無言老師」是香港中文大學醫學院對遺體捐贈者的尊稱，他們的捐贈幫助促進發展醫學教育和改良手術技術。
中大醫學院解剖室經理及「無言老師」遺體捐贈 計劃發起人伍桂麟先生在講座中介紹有關計劃以及解釋了一般人對遺體捐贈的疑問，如死亡文化與忌諱，器官捐贈與遺體捐贈之分別，解剖教學與臨牀教學的遺體應用，登記遺體捐贈所需的家庭溝通，社會對遺體捐贈文化的轉變，並分享中大醫學院的理想和講者的生死反思。
為紀念「無言老師」的付出，中大醫學院和華永會合作推出「無言老師」撒放骨灰計劃，並於將軍澳紀念花園設立紀念牆壁，由大學為「無言老師」竪立紀念牌匾，表揚他們默默為社會作出的貢獻。
Your Library! Your Say! Take the Library Survey!
Can you find the Library materials you need for your work? Do you perceive Library space inspires your study and learning? Do you think Library staff are helpful and understand your needs?
The Library wants to hear your views to improve our service quality!
From October 28 to December 1, we are conducting a Services Quality Survey among all current faculty, students and staff.
The Survey measures three dimensions:
• Affect of Service
how you feel about Library services
• Library as Place
how friendly the Library is as a place for learning, research, and self-development
• Information Control
how well the Library organizes and provides information resources
Results of the Survey will give us information on how we can best tailor our services to your needs.
The Survey is a joint project among UGC libraries to collect comparable data using the LibQUAL+® survey instrument. The Survey is anonymous, and all results go directly to LibQUAL+® in the United States which analyzes and compiles individual reports for each participating library. This will be the fourth time such a joint project was held among libraries at UGC-funded institutions.
You can enter your HKUST e-mail address to be included in a lucky draw with great prizes, including Apple Watches, dining vouchers, supermarket coupons, Library coffee mugs, etc. Lucky winners will be notified by e-mail.
Take our Survey and win a prize NOW!
Cantonese Opera Education Enrichment Project 2019
From The Consoling Lotus to The Red Plum: The Legend of Tong Tik-sang’s Creative Career exhibition opened on November 19. The ceremony was officiated by distinguished guests, including Ms. Fione Lo, Museum Director of Hong Kong Heritage Museum, and President Wei Shyy. The program concluded with a wonderful performance by Miss Man Wah (文華) and Miss Ling Yan (靈音).
This exhibition is a part of the University’s Cantonese Opera Education Enrichment Project, jointly organized by the Library, the Center for the Arts, and the Division of Humanities. The project includes a credit-based course Cantonese Opera and Hong Kong Culture (HUMA 1672), a talk on Cantonese opera music and workshops for students and staff. A final performance by HUMA 1672 students and workshop participants will be held later to conclude the project. Through the exhibition and activities, we hope to enhance University members’ knowledge of and interest in this unique art form.
On November 15 at 7pm, Mr. Wong Shing Chuen (黃勝泉), a renowned musician, will give a talk at the Tsang Shiu Tim Art Hall on the music of Cantonese opera. He and some other instrument players will also perform some well-known pieces.
On November 21 at 7:30 pm, a performance of Tong Tik-sang’s masterpiece The Floral Princess (帝女花) will be held at the Tsang Shiu Tim Art Hall. This 1-hour opera is a condensed version arranged by Professor Chan Sau Yan. Performers include Miss Man Wah and Miss Ling Yan, together with 13 students and staff and accompanied by 7 professional musicians.
last modified 04 November 2019