Issue 5
Sep 2020
Editor’s Note
September has always been my favourite time of the year, as we welcome thousands of new members to the HKBU community. This has remained true this year despite the socially distanced start to the semester. HKBU librarians are now highly experienced at conducting online workshops, and we extended a warm welcome to thousands of new undergraduate and postgraduate students via our Zoom orientations. Skilled use of Mentimeter kept these sessions interactive, and we were pleased to receive good feedback from participants.
We have also been creative in finding ways to introduce the physical facilities of the Library to new students. Our first ever Facebook Live tours were held in the second week of September. In her article for this issue, my colleague Jennifer offers an inside look into the planning that went into these events. Links to the recordings are also provided.
The shows also goes on in the myriad other areas in which the Library is active. Our Fall Symposium on Digital Scholarship has long been a major event on the Library calendar, and this year will be no exception. My colleagues in the Digital and Multimedia Services Section have again done excellent work in putting together and attractive programme that is guaranteed to enlighten and inform. More details and the link to the registration form follow in the article immediately below this note.
Other articles in this issue highlight an enhancement to OneSearch that will make finding books on the shelf much easier, as well as the launch of the Library’s latest digital scholarship project created in collaboration with HKBU faculty. Last but not least, our new Liaison to the School of Business Ms. Maggie Wong has penned a short piece introducing herself. As you will find out, she is no stranger to us at HKBU Library, and I am pleased that she has returned to us in this new role. Welcome back Maggie!
I wish everyone a good start to the academic year, and continued good health. Enjoy the issue!
Christopher Chan
Head of Information Services / Newsletter Editor
Fall Symposium on Digital Scholarship 2020 (Webinar)
The concept and practice of scholarship has been constantly evolving since the advent of digital technology decades ago. The need for creativity, credibility, and collaborative efforts in advancing digital scholarship has never been so pressing, particularly in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Well into our 7th year, the Library is pleased to announce the 2020 Digital Scholarship Symposium. We have a superb lineup of great speakers this year, and our aim is to bring together researchers, scholars, students, and anyone else interested in learning about and advancing digital scholarship!
Details of the event as follows:
Date: 22 October 2020 (Tuesday)
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Format: Zoom Webinar
Broadcast: Facebook Live
Registration: https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/symposium2020/
Enquiries: libms@hkbu.edu.hk
Rebekah Wong
Head of Digital and Multimedia Services
OneSearch enhancement: Item location map
The Library has over one million printed books in its collections. We are also in the middle of transitioning our call numbers to the Library of Congress Classification scheme. In the long run, this will make it simpler to find books on the shelf, but in the meantime finding items in the Library can be a little bit tricky. This is especially true for new members of the HKBU community using the Library for the first time.
To help patrons more easily locate books on the shelf, OneSearch was recently enhanced with an improved location function. Previously you needed to refer to our location tables and then study the Library floor plans to figure out where to go. Now, for most physical items OneSearch can display a map showing you exactly which floor and shelving section that you need to go to for a particular item. You can see this in action in our new video that explains how to find books on the shelf:
This enhancement was made possible through a collaboration between the Systems Section and the Circulation and Interlibrary Loan Section, with assistance from the Marketing and Communications Team. We do hope that you find it useful – please do send us any feedback or suggestions that you might have!
Christopher Chan
Head of Information Services
Facebook Live Tours of HKBU Library
Since the COVID-19 restrictions made large in-person tours impossible this year, librarians experimented with using technology to introduce the Library to newcomers. During the first week of the semester, three Facebook Live Tours of the Main Library were conducted. Led by our Information Services Librarians Chris, Maggie, and Jennifer, a wide range of not-to-be-missed facilities and services offered by the Library in support of student learning were highlighted.
Around 70 people joined our tours online, and we appreciated their real-time reactions, comments and feedback on the tours. For our Facebook fans who stayed with us until the end, we provided a bonus 5-min “behind-the-scenes” tour of the Main Library basement (Level 1), where we keep our in-storage collections and other Library technical essentials. The recordings are available for viewing for those that did not attend the live sessions.
The tours were certainly not perfect. We were not able to use the mics in our Bluetooth headsets for the audio (apparently this is a known issue). This means that the built-in mic of the mobile device had to be used for the tours, and therefore you may find that our voices to be sometimes soft. The built-in mic was very good though at picking up the noise from the renovations on the Li Promenade! We also found several WiFi dead spots, where the Live tour was interrupted due to a weak internet connection. We’ll work on overcoming these technical hiccups for future live events, and hopefully they will be mask-free too!
Last but not least, be sure to follow us on social media to stay up to date with the latest happenings at the Library.
Jennifer Gu
Information Services Librarian
Venturing to the Unknown: Men’s Studies in Greater China
Among the many studies of specific social groups, there seems to be a relative lack of inquiry specifically about males. Discussions of gender in the context of social or personal problems tend to naturally gravitate towards the female group, since they have been and still are a disadvantaged group in many respects. However, this tendency can result in the practical needs of males when they are facing challenges being overlooked. By exploring men’s issues from different perspective, this website attempts to fill the gap.
The “Venturing to the Unknown: Men’s Studies in Greater China” website collects and shares research done by Dr. Simon Chan (Department of Social Work) and his co-researchers. Content is grouped under four main categories, each with an introductory video, a specifically designed infographic to sum up relevant research findings, and the full text of research papers. The four categories are:
- Trauma
- Men in Disadvantage
- Service Delivery
- Gender Difference
A large quantity of statistical data about men in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Mainland are also consolidated and presented on the website.
Rebekah Wong
Head of Digital and Multimedia Services
New Library Liaison to the School of Business: Maggie Wong
I am the new Library Liaison to the School of Business and SCE’s Division of Continuing & Professional Education. My role will be to work with the School and Division to develop the Library’s collections to meet their teaching and research needs while also providing learning support to build up students’ information skills.
Let me share a bit about myself:
My entire education has been in the library and information science (LIS) field, as I immersed myself in library and information management studies right after high school. After graduating from my Bachelor’s degree in Information Management at HKU, I worked for several years in libraries, and later obtained my Master’s degree in Information Studies from Charles Sturt University.
My career started here at HKBU Library as a research assistant, where I gained a deep understanding of open access, institutional repositories, and scholarly communication. After that, I worked at two other colleges with specialized disciplines, namely the Savannah College of Art and Design and the Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education. With much smaller student bodies and collections, the library teams in both colleges were tiny compared to HKBU Library. The experience working at smaller libraries exposed me to the many facets of librarianship and gave me a broad understanding of library management (e.g. budgeting, collection development, library systems) and library services (e.g. instruction, research support, alumni services). Basically, I learned how to run a library from top to bottom. Now I am excited to be back at HKBU Library focusing on liaison work and information services.
In my spare time, I play the bass guitar in a band that performs original music. I have been playing for over 9 years now with my band playing shows in Hong Kong and Mainland China. It has been a slow but rewarding journey learning an instrument and growing as a band. Here is a picture of my entry to the HKBU Library’s Book Face Contest back in 2016 with my bass guitar.
I will end my introduction with a quote that got stuck in my head after I have heard it on a German TV series called “Dark”. Attributed to Isaac Newton, it goes: “What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean”. I find it a good reminder to not be afraid of new things and to never stop learning. There is still much for me to learn in order to become a great liaison, but I am excited to be putting my studies and experience into practice while uncovering the ocean of knowledge and expertise that is yet to be discovered. The same goes for you, don’t be shy to ask a librarian if you need help.
Maggie Wong
Library Liaison to the School of Business
Last updated: 05 March 2025