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Achievements

image of December 2004 conference poster

Second 10 Years: 2004 - Conference on Institutional Repositories (IR)

image of December 2004 conference poster

Library’s Second Ten Years: 2004 – Conference on Institutional Repositories (IR)

The Open Access Initiative (OAI) attempts to regain lost access to academic publications caused by skyrocketing journal prices. One OAI is for academic institutions to collect, disseminate and preserve their scholarly output in digital format: create Institutional Repositories (IR)

On December 9-10, 2004, HKUST Library held the “International Conference on Developing Digital Institutional Repositories: Experiences and Challenges”. Jointly organized with the California Institute of Technology Libraries, the conference attracted 130 local and overseas participants.

2001 - 2010 (Second 10 years)

image of HKALL and JULAC logos combined

Second 10 Years: 2005 - HKALL Launch

image of HKALL and JULAC logos combined

Library’s Second Ten Years: 2005 – Launch of HKALL

HKALL (Hong Kong Academic Library Link) allows faculty, students and staff to borrow books directly from any of the other JULAC Libraries. Starting in 2005-06 with less than 7,000 loans and borrowing; by 2009-10 HKUST was lending over 15,000 a year to patrons at other libraries and borrowing over 16,000 per year.

This service gives HKUST students, faculty, and staff access to ~ 8,000,000 volumes from universities across Hong Kong, arriving within 3 working days of request.

2001 - 2010 (Second 10 years)

photo of students in Information Commons on the Ground Floor

Second 10 Years: 2006 - Information Commons Opens

photo of students in Information Commons on the Ground Floor

Library’s Second Ten Years: 2006 – Information Commons (綜合資訊坊) Opens

22 September 2006 saw the official opening of the Information Commons, a library service facility for the University community that combined information services and technologies to support learning beyond classroom lessons.

It is a dynamic space where students and other library users inquire, research, and learn while being able to collaborate with each other and receive support from expert staff. It pioneered this type of information and learning space at HKUST Library.

2001 - 2010 (Second 10 years)

logo of the 2007 LibQual survet

Second 10 Years: 2007 - LibQual Survey

logo of the 2007 LibQual survet

Library’s Second Ten Years: 2007 – LibQual Survey

From 15 October to 8 December 2007, HKUST Library users responded to LibQual, a  web-based survey used by academic libraries across the world, designed to define and measure user perceptions of library services.

1,887 HKUST respondents filled-out the questionnaire, rating their perceptions of service quality. In this survey, HKUST Library received better average scores than the average JULAC group scores. But, the Library is not complacent. It used the LibQual data to improve services and facilities even more.

2001 - 2010 (Second 10 years)

image of bookplate for T.K. Lin collection and bookplate for John Dolfin III collection

Second 10 Years: 2008 - T.K. Lin and John Dolfin III Collections

image of bookplate for T.K. Lin collection and bookplate for John Dolfin III collection

Library’s Second Ten Years: 2008 – Professor T. K. Lin’s (林達光) & John Dolfin III Collections

On 29 October, 2008, Library celebrated the donation of Professor Ta-Kuang Lin’s (林達光) personal collection of 5,500+ items (manuscripts, books, photos, etc.). This collection illuminates the study of contemporary China, especially the Cultural Revolution.

More information is available: http://library.hkust.edu.hk/collections-resources/special-collections/lin/.

This year also saw the donation of John Dolfin III’s collection of works on ethnic minorities in China.

2001 - 2010 (Second 10 years)

2 photos of HKUST students - above, students in robes throwing hats in air; below students lined up in suits

Second 10 Years: 2009 - Library's Excellent Support to Students Recognized

2 photos of HKUST students - above, students in robes throwing hats in air; below students lined up in suits

Library’s Second Ten Years: 2009- Library’s Excellent Support to Students Recognized

In Spring 2009 the Postgraduate Studies Secretariat of the VPAA Office conducted a Research Postgraduate (RPG) Alumni Career Tracking Survey. 800+ alumni of RPG programs responded. One of the questions asked the respondents to rate their experience at HKUST with various support services.

On a 4-point scale (1 being poor and 4 being excellent), the Library scored 3.6 overall. This was the highest among all academic supporting services.

2001 - 2010 (Second 10 years)

image of 3 screen-shots of Library catalog via mobile interface in 2010

Second 10 Years: 2010 - Library Catalog Mobile Interface

image of 3 screen-shots of Library catalog via mobile interface in 2010

Library’s Second Ten Years: 2010 – Library Catalog on iPhone & other mobile devices

HKUST’s Library Catalog became searchable via the m.HKUST application http://mobileguide.ust.hk/.

A joint project of the Library and the Publishing Technology Center, this free mobile app was developed based on the RSS syndication features offered by SmartCAT http://catalog.ust.hk/

With this app you can search for library materials, see if it’s available, find out which book shelf it is on, and more. This was the first of many enhanced e-services for mobile users

2001 - 2010 (Second 10 years)

screen capture of bi-lingual Chinese and English online catalog

First 10 Years: 1991 - 1st Library Online Catalog with Full Chinese Capability

screen capture of bi-lingual Chinese and English online catalog

Ten Years of Growth and Achievement: 1991- First Library Online Catalog with Full Chinese Capability

HKUST Library was instrumental in bringing INNOPAC out of the USA and in providing expert knowledge to assist them in enhancing the system to support Chinese characters.

We also served as the only beta site for debugging and product testing. Since then, all academic libraries in Hong Kong and many others in Asia  adopted INNOPAC.

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

First 10 Years: 1992 - Bringing Art to Campus

Ten Years of Growth & Achievement: 1992 – Bringing Art to Campus

To enrich the cultural life on campus, the Library organized the first art exhibition featuring art works of prominent artists Huang Miaozi (黃苗子) and Yu Feng (郁風). In the Library’s first decade, over 20 art exhibitions were held in the Library Gallery. These exhibitions represented various media and art forms including Chinese calligraphy and painting, watercolor painting, sculpture, oil, collage, photography, print, rubbing, and seal carving.

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

photo of server racks in the early 1990s

First 10 Years: 1993 - Introducing Cutting Edge Technology

photo of server racks in the early 1990s

Ten Years of Growth & Achievement: 1993 – Introducing Cutting Edge Technology

Through the years, the Library has introduced many new technologies to the Hong Kong Library Community. In 1993, the Library worked closely with a US-based system vendor to develop an innovative “Image Management System”. This system scanned faculty’s handwritten notes, images, assigned reading materials, etc; and provided sophisticated searching capabilities. It was the first of its kind.

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

photo showing compact shelves on LG4

First 10 Years: 1994 - Accessible Compact Shelving

photo showing compact shelves on LG4

Ten Years of Growth & Achievement: 1994 – Accessible Compact Shelving

The Library installed Compact Shelving on LG4 – a safe, elegant and user-accessible electronically operated mobile shelving system that was the first and the largest of its kind in Hong Kong.

In 1998, similar compact shelving systems were installed to hold the growing collection of microfiche and microfilm and for the University Archives.

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

screen dump of Library web-server use statistics

First 10 Years: 1995 - First Library Web Server in Hong Kong

screen dump of Library web-server use statistics

Ten Years of Growth & Achievement: 1995 – First Library Web Server in Hong Kong

When the web technology was first unveiled, HKUST Library responded enthusiastically by developing its website immediately. This server allows users seamless access to library information and collections and provides a gateway to electronic resources worldwide.

  • May 1995: 18,180
  • May 2001: 1,217,336

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

image of 1493 map of the then known world

First 10 Years: 1996 - University Archives & Special Collections Established

image of 1493 map of the then known world

Ten Years of Growth & Achievement: 1996 – Establishment of the University Archives & Special Collections

Functioning as the institutional memory, the University Archives was formally opened to the University community.

The Special Collections, under development since 1991, include Landmarks in Science and Technology, Antique Maps of China and other valuable items which became available for researchers for the first time.

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

screen dump of Ovid interface

First 10 Years: 1997 - Ovid Mirror Site

screen dump of Ovid interface

Ten Years of Growth & Achievement: 1997 – Ovid Mirror Site

The Library undertook the responsibility of providing efficient access and retrieval capabilities for a large number of premier full text databases via Ovid to Hong Kong libraries, including most UGC libraries, along with the Hospital Authority, Vocational Training Council, and some private companies.

As international network connections improved, the need for this service was reduced, and our access migrated from the mirror site to a direct connection to the United States in 2000.

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

image of the HKUST electronic library schema in the late 1990s

First 10 Years: 1998 - The Digital Library

image of the HKUST electronic library schema in the late 1990s

Ten Years of Growth & Achievement: 1998 – The Digital Library

The Digital Archives, Electronic Theses,  and the HKUST News Clippings were the first digital libraries developed in-house. They provide sophisticated searching and instantaneous full text display.

Digital Archives allows users to search and retrieve University documents and publications online; Electronic Theses contains dissertations of our graduate students; and HKUST News Clippings included University-related full text news online.

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

image of CD-ROM of 1999 Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index

First 10 Years : 1999 - 1999 - Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index Database (CSSCI)

image of CD-ROM of 1999 Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index

Ten Years of Growth & Achievment: 1999 – Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index Database (CSSCI)

HKUST Library partnered with Nanjing University in the production of the first electronic Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index Database (中文社會科學引文索引). China’s Ministry of Education in 1999 named this project as one of the most significant projects.

It initially covered 496 Chinese language periodicals with over 280,000 citations in the humanities and social sciences published in the mainland, and will grow to include another 100-150 periodicals published in Hong Kong and other countries.

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

photo of first University Librarian, Minmin Channg with mainland counterparts

First 10 Years: 2000 - Collaboration with & Honors Received from Mainland Universities

photo of first University Librarian, Minmin Channg with mainland counterparts

Ten Years of Growth & Achievement: 2000 – Collaboration with & Honors Received from Mainland Universities

The Library has close exchanges with many libraries in the mainland. In recognizing her contributions, our University Librarian was conferred Guest Professorship (客座教授) by Peking University (北京大學) in 2000, Nanjing University (南京大學) in 1999, and Jilin University (吉林大學) in 2001. She was appointed Library Advisor in 1996 by Tsinghua University (清華大學).

1991 - 2000 (First 10 years)

image from 3-3-4 Preparations website

Active Preparation for 334 Changes

image from 3-3-4 Preparations website

Active Preparation for 334 Changes

To meet the needs of the 334 curriculum changes and the expanded student population, the Library has undertaken various initiatives and projects which have succeeded in:

  • Increasing and Creating New Spaces
  • Expanding Collections
  • Enhancing Learning Support
  • Supporting General Education

The Library Extension, completed in spring 2011, added 1,800m2 of floor space. In February 2012, the Library opened a Learning Commons with a technology-rich environment. In addition to increasing user seats to 2,900, and adding new flexible and state-of-the-art facilities, the Library has begun to buy additional e-books and other materials to support common core courses and general education. During the spring 2012 examination period, the new Learning Commons stayed open 22 hours a day (until 6am) to support learning and study; while the two new E-Learning Classrooms, Tutorial Space, and multifunction room have already proven popular with students, faculty, and staff members. More information on the Library’s preparation for 334 changes can be found at http://334info.ust.hk/facilities_library_faqs.html

2011 - 2012