Annual Report 2004–05

Library Services I n response to requests f r om users for ema il notices alerting t h em that their checked o ut items w i l l soon be due, the C om i ng D u e A l e rt Service was launched i n A u g u st 2004. C U H K L i b r a ry is the first U GC l i b r a ry that p r o v i d es such a service. Similarly, users have asked for a list of books they have checked out. Starting Ma r ch 2005, users are able to v i ew their o w n reading history at the L i b r a ry On l i ne Catalogue. The Un i v e r s i ty L i b r a ry System decided, after r e v i ew i ng the need, to make the Inter-Branch Book De l i v e ry Service a regular service of the l i b r a ry i n July 2004. The n umb er of campus d o c ume nt d e l i v e ry requests s u bm i t t ed v ia the I L L i a d online system increased b y 29 per cent i n the year u n d er review. I n v i ew of the results of an i n t e r v i ew survey, journals i n any language of the Un i v e r s i ty L i b r a ry have been intershelved so that those o n the same subject can be retrieved at the same location. Responding to the survey results of s t u dy facilities i n A p r i l 2005, computers were installed i n the G r o up Study Rooms. Mo re library facilities for g r o up discussion and i n d i v i d u al quiet s t u dy were initiated. The l i b r a ry we b s i t e, the k e y access p o i n t to o v er 27,000 e-resources as w e l l as e x t e n s i ve i n f o r ma t i on about l i b r a ry services, was r e v amp ed to enhance its navigation, i mp r o ve ease-of- use, a nd reflect a consistent l o ok a nd feel. I n addition, the Library Newsletter was converted f r om p l a in text to a b i l i n g u al a nd illustrated web version for more effective dissemination of l i b r a ry news a nd pictures. Promoting Reading To p r omo te reading amo ng C U students, an e x h i b i t i on of over 200 g o od reads titles was h e ld i n all libraries f r om No v emb er 2004 to February 2005. I n line w i t h H o n g K o ng Reading M o n t h 2005, the Un i v e r s i ty L i b r a ry h e ld an exhibition f r om A p r i l to M a y 2005 entitled 'Reading the Ho r i z o ns of K n o w l e d ge — Bo ok E x h i b i t i on i n the Un i v e r s i ty L i b r a r y' of Chinese a nd English rare books, classics and best-sellers. The exhibition was w e l l received w i t h 80 per cent of the books displayed subsequently b o r r owed by library users. As part of the library's c ommu n i ty service, the exhibition was also offered to secondary school students a nd teachers along w i t h g u i d ed tours. A total of 16 schools w i t h 350 students were we l c ome d. I n v i ew of the v e ry p o s i t i ve response to the g o o d reads' i n i t i a t i v e, a p e r ma n e nt G o o d Reads Corner was set u p o n the g r o u nd floor of the Un i v e r s i ty Library. The h u n d r ed g o od reads titles at the corner include fiction a nd non-fiction, n ew releases and o l d favourites, and a w a r d - w i n n i ng titles. The books w i l l be replaced every half year so that a greater variety of titles can be included. Promoting Information Literacy A t o t al of 239 i n f o r m a t i on literacy p r o g r ammes we re c o n d u c t e d, r e a c h i ng 7,390 u n i v e r s i ty members over the year. The l i b r a ry organized a series of activities i n February 2005, i n c l u d i ng an online quiz, seminars, exhibitions a nd games, for students to learn more about the library's electronic resources. Over 750 students participated i n the online quiz contest a nd a r o u nd 700 u n i v e r s i ty members visited the game booths a nd v e n d or exhibits. New Special Collection and Exhibitions The first Chinese N o b el Laureate i n Literature, M r. Gao X i n g j i an has generously d o n a t ed about 300 i t ems, i n c l u d i n g ma n u s c r i p t s, p a i n t i n g s, p h o t o g r a p h s, posters, b o o ks a n d p e r s o n al belongings to the library. I n c ommemo r a t i on of his k i n d donation, the Un i v e r s i ty L i b r a ry hosted an ' E x h i b i t i on of Gao Xingjian: Sources, Literature a nd D r ama' i n December 2004. 敎 學 輔 助 設施 A c a d e m ic S u p p o rt Facilities 85