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HKLA
Newsletter
Hong Kong Library Association.
Issue No. 68 November 2004.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
As my second year of serving as the President of HKLA comes to an end, I want to simply
thank everyone who has helped make this past two years a joy to work with all of you.
I would like to thank all of the officers in particular:
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Mr. Lee Yuk-man for serving so ably as the Vice President. We could always rely upon
him for good advice and hard work.
Ms. Lucinda Wong. Honourable Secretary. Lucinda is marvelous. There was nothing
that she couldn’t do and did it with such great style. I simply would have failed without
her help and guidance.
Ms. Sandra Mow. Honourable Treasurer. Whether investing our funds, keeping track of
our bank accounts, or settling restaurant and hotel bills – Sandra is formidable. The
Government would do well to appoint her as Treasury Secretary.
Mr. Owen Tam.
Membership Secretary.
Owen is another super capable
person. Whether it was developing new guidelines for membership, giving statistics, or
giving talks in putonghua, he did a wonderful job.
Ms. Agatha Yuen. Minutes Secretary. Minutes for a group like HKLA make the difference between chaos and
success and she was fabulous.
Our committee chairs and liaison officers were also super:
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Ms. Annabelle Pau took over from Mrs. Lucia Tsui and did a great job of representing the universities and
adding drama and life to everything.
Ms. Sintra LF Tsang is a real professional in the education and training area. HKLA and HK’s library science
students owe her a big thanks.
Mr. Jim Chang as IT Liaison Officer whipped our web page into shape and when he was last year’s programme
coordinator, did a wonderful job of finding fun things for the membership to do.
Ms. Julia Chan represented the Medical Libraries for the past two years. It was clear that her group was active
on their own and Julia deserves much of the credit. We’ll all do well with her at the helm of HKLA – assuming
she is elected at the AGM.
Ms. Agatha Yuen represented the public libraries this year, but her sound counsel at our executive meetings
was always a delight.
Ms. Amanda Harizan joined our group as the chair of the Publications Committee this year and with the help of
Pansy Lo raised the reading enjoyment level of our newsletter several notches.
Ms. Ellie Cheung assumed the job of representing school libraries this year and was a great source of
information about what is happening in the schools and is such a nice young professional.
Ms. Monita Yeung showed everyone that special librarians are a classy group and she added to the fun of our
local excursions as well as our two trips to China.
Ms. Iris Sin was totally too good at developing and carrying out our many programmes during the past
year. Give Iris three days of your life and she will arrange 5 library visits, 10 photo opportunities, two banquets,
shopping and exhaustion each and every day. She was great.
I can’t say I will miss our monthly leadership meetings, but I will miss the personal relationships I
developed with each of these great librarians. I will look forward to taking part in next year’s events
but without needing to worry about all the work that is taking place before and during each of them. I
encourage the Association’s membership to volunteer to take part in YOUR professional
organization. It is important work and can be fun.
A rare shot of Tony wearing a
SF baseball cap, Vancouver
Tony Ferguson
FROM THE RAMBLING EDITOR:
Chemical Warfare and Frog Soup
2004 HKLA Editorial Buddies:
Pansy Lo (left) and Amanda
Harizan (right)
What have chemical warfare and frog soup got to do with a HKLA newsletter? Nothing. I have shamelessly pilfered the title
from Tony’s article (http://www.against-the-grain.com/backtalk15_3.pdf). If you are not already aware, Tony loves to write
so much that he once woke at 4 am to make every sentence of a speech funny and Tony is a regular contributor to Against
the Grain’s BackTalk To write humorously is easy - just say unbelievable things.
There are two totally unrelated things (maybe four) I would like to say here. Firstly, editorial work is challenging, much more
than making cataloguing sounds easier than nuclear physics. But I would like to thank many who have given me so much
amusement when I was editing their contributions to newsletters. They wrote to announce that the library has recently
placed two new potted plants near the stacks and repainted the shelves in nice lacquer. They wrote to tell users they have
moved 231 or 10 linear meters of books from first floor, left corner, second bay to fourth floor middle section near the two
potted plants, third bay. They wrote to inform that they have successfully conducted a gazillion Library tutorials and they
have a brand new CD player to replace a terrible one since 1976. THEY are convinced that library users would surely
NEED this type of information in a newsletter. So, when a user wanted one of those 231 books, they knew exactly where
it would be without having to ask one of those friendly librarians and because they REMEMBERED they have read it in
Volume 23, Issue 10, Oct-Dec 2004, page 7.
Ikura sushi, 256MB, kudasai!
Secondly, I would like to see librarians write product reviews
and user experience of technologies. And I am not referring to
heavy intellectual stuff about RFID and applications in libraries.
Since I have an unfair advantage of being the editor of this
newsletter and almost have the prerogative to write anything,
about anyone, I would like to write about SUSHI.
If you look closely, you will see familiar steel-like stick protrusion. You stick this sushi into your laptop or PC and it stores
128MB or 256MB of data. Well, the Japanese have “built” the plastic sushi around a regular USB memory stick. Aren’t the
Japanese clever? But I am sure the Hong Kong people are equally creative and soon I will be able to find a “Siew Mai” or
“Har Gau” USB memory stick in a Wanchai computer market. My colleague warned that a “Spring Roll” USB stick may be
too clumsy to carry around.
USB sticks are so convenient to use if you do not need to “burn” your life history on it. If you ask “Won’t a CD-R or RW
do?” My answer would be “Yes, but you need to manipulate a burner software, you cannot re-use it unless it is a rewriteable, and if it is not, it is a waste to burn 1.4MB file on a 700MB CD-R”.
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HKLA Newsletter
Tales of a Librarian
Last Christmas, I received a CD (not Collection
Development, I am referring to the round shiny disc
with sound tracks on it). I was ecstatic with the gift for
two reasons. It was by one of my favorite female rock
singers, Tori Amos; and the CD is curiously titled
“Tales of a Librarian”.
If you go to HMV, take a look at the titles of the sound
tracks. Each song is classified according to the
Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system. On the
inside flap is a brief biography of Dewey himself, a
lengthy Online Computer Library Center (OCLC)
copyright notice, plus a credit to the degreed librarian
who did the classification. Please don't buy it if you
are wondering what has the song “Snow cherries
from France” got to do with the title of her album. The
truth is, nothing. You have been warned.
If you have the TNT channel on your cable TV, you will soon be able to watch a new film “THE LIBRARIAN” this
Christmas. You have probably seen movies with a librarian in it. This movie breaks the librarian stereotype of a meek
bespectacled woman with her hair in a bun, this LIBRARIAN is a brainy drop dead gorgeous MALE. He is ER star
Noah Wyle.
THE LIBRARIAN tells the story of a repository for
the greatest secrets in human history, all hidden
beneath the monolithic New York Metropolitan
Public
Library.
The
irreplaceable
priceless
treasures, from the Golden Fleece to the Ark of
the Covenant, every enigma and artifact from
every known and unknown civilization is protected from the evil hands who would use the treasures in their devious
plans. Only one man can keep them safe: The Librarian. Or should I say, The Preservation Librarian? Well, I
personally don’t care much about librarians in movies; I am watching Noah Wyle even if he plays … dead.
The Badly Butchered “Librarian”. Here’s the bare truth. I do not speak fluent or impeccable English, I am the only
one in my family who has a spastic tongue – I can’t roll my tongue and my pronunciation of words that contain “r” is
atrocious. But I do attempt to pronounce “brar” in “Librarian”. I have heard so many librarians say the word by dropping
the first “r” making it sounds like “Lye- BARE- rian” with a strange emphasis on the BARE. If you do not believe me, the
next time someone say “Lye- bare –rian”, send me a dime.
My editorship comes to an end with this issue, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the newsletter.
Have an enchanting year ahead,
Amanda Harizan
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IF THERE IS ONLY ONE ANNOUNCEMENT YOU MUST READ,
IT’S THIS!
The 46th Annual General Meeting of the Hong Kong Library Association will be held on 14 December 2004, Tuesday,
at 6:45 p.m. at the Beijing Suites I-III, 3/F of the Marco Polo Prince, Harbour City, Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon,
Hong Kong.
The Honourable Albert Cheng King-Hon（鄭經翰）, Legislative Councilor, will be our Guest of Honour at the AGM. Hon.
Albert Cheng will deliver a speech and present prizes and certificates to a number of HKLA members and award winners.
This year, Ms Lisa Song is the recipient of the Heleni Linton Bursary Award and Ms Tina Tam is the recipient of the
Shirley Sin Humanitarian Service Award.
Ms Lo Ming Yan (English stream), Mr Tam Fu Wah (Chinese stream) are
recipients of the H.A. Rydings Award for their academic achievements in the Certificate for Library Assistant Courses; and
Ms Wong Tsz Kwan will receive H.A. Rydings Award for achieving excellence in the Diploma in Librarianship Course.
The Certificates, Awards and Bursary will be presented at a ceremony during the Annual General Meeting to be held on 14
December 2004.
A buffet dinner will follow the meeting.
A full set of the AGM documents has been mailed to members. If you do
not receive the package on or before 11 December 2004, please contact
the Honorary Secretary, Ms. Lucinda Wong at 2859-7009 or
[email protected]
We look forward to seeing you there.
Group Photo (back left to right): Iris, Annabelle,
Jim, Agatha, Julia, Sandra, Monita, Owen; (front
left to right): Yuk-man, Tony and Lucinda
SPECIAL REPORT:
Every year end, HKLA newsletter publishes the report by the recipient of the Heleni Linton Bursary of the previous
year. Here is the report “A big change- Being from a student to a library clerk” by Ms Rebecca Tam Shuk Ying,
recipient of the Bursary 2003.
Reasons for studying the Higher Diploma for Library Technicians
3 years ago when I was still wondering what courses I would take after finishing the HKALE (The Hong Kong Advanced
Level Examinations), I came across a new series of Higher Diploma Programmes introduced by HKU SPACE. One of
the programmes was the Higher Diploma for Library Technicians (now called the Higher Diploma in Library and
Information Studies). After considering my personality and the promotion prospect of the career, I finally made up my
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HKLA Newsletter
My college life in HKU SPACE
The programme offers both library specific as well as generic subjects. Amongst all subjects I took, I found cataloguing
most difficult since we have to follow many tools like AACR2, DDC etc. to catalogue materials. This course not only
provides theoretical knowledge, chances of library visits also broaden my horizons to the practical aspect of the field.
Our group have visited different kinds of libraries, such as international school libraries, TDC Business InfoCentre,
university libraries, the Central Library, etc. I benefited a lot from every visit, for example, I was able to observe different
types of library systems.
Many library institutions offer attachment schemes for the students of our program to work for a period of time. In Years
2 and 3, I had placements in one of those library institutions. My first work placement was in a branch library of the
University of Hong Kong Libraries. In the third year, since I was already working as a student helper in a department of
the same university library, I chose this as a substitution for the placement. Both placements were a good experience to
me as I could practise what I have learned during lessons and I obtained more practical skills in the workplace.
Time passes by quickly, and soon I have completed the 3-year HD programme and started to find a full-time job.
Finding a job is no easy task, especially in the library field with the comparatively limited job vacancies. Fresh graduates
are even at a disadvantage because of the lack of practical work experience. I had interviews in some school libraries
and library-typed organisations. Finally, I got a job in a secondary school library in Tseung Kwan O.
Challenges I face in my current job
Working in a school library is challenging. Although the school librarian and I are working in the same library area, we have
different job duties and so both of us are busy all the time. The school librarian is mainly responsible for the administrative
work and organising library activities, my job duties are to monitor the daily operation of the library and input data for new
materials. So I have to be very familiar with all the task procedures in the library. Besides, I should cater the various needs for
my clients – teaching staff and students. Every day many teachers and students come to me for different kinds of enquires or
needs. They think that I am the only person who can help them with their questions because I am supposed to be an authority
in the library area. Therefore once my work starts, I pay full attention to it because my carelessness in the job will certainly
cause inconvenience to my clients and even affect the running of the library.
My school library has different functions in different time slots. Generally the ‘peak hours’ of the library are recesses and
lunchtime. Many students are queuing up at the library counter for borrowing and returning books. In class periods, it
functions as a place for self-studying. Senior form students who have free lessons should come to the library and do
homework or revision on their own and I need to act as a ‘discipline assistant’ and help look after them at that time.
Reflection on my job
Despite the heavy and exhausting workload, I actually enjoy and feel pleased to meet and help the students and teaching
staff. Within two months, I have already made friends with many of them. I gain much satisfaction if I can answer their
enquires or solve their problems about searching for books. Their sayings like “Thanks a lot!” or “It’s so nice of you to help me
with this.” expel all my unhappiness. What’s more, the student librarians do assist me a lot in the circulation desk and reshelving. They are cooperative and well disciplined. I am also very happy and lucky that I can get along with my school
librarian well. She is very helpful and teaches me a lot about the running the library. I am willing to seek for her help when I
have questions and I have benefited a lot from her ‘tips’. So far I think I have already adapted to the school life and I started
enjoying being a library clerk.
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Expectations
Continuous learning is a trend and seems to be a ‘must’ today. I understand that only obtaining a Higher Diploma Certificate
may not be competitive enough in the library field. With the rapid growth and changes in the library industry, librarians
should be better equipped so that they are not easily substituted. At the present moment, I think I still need to gain more
work experience and sharpen my skills. I also have to keep up with the global trend and changing needs in the library field.
After possibly two to three years, I think I will go on pursuing a degree course in the related subject in order to enhance my
competitiveness. If possible, I will try to change the working environment, as I believe working in different types of libraries,
especially the academic libraries and special libraries can enrich my career life. I am deeply convinced that being a
professional librarian is a life-long commitment and so I need to develop and plan well for my career path. Continuous
enrichment is no doubt a good choice for achieving my goal.
It’s our graduation ceremony!
Ms Rebecca Tam Shuk Ying, the
recipient of the Heleni Linton Bursary
2003 is on the first left, front row.
Hong Kong Library Education and Career Forum 2004
The Hong Kong Library Education and Career Forum held on Saturday, 30th October at the Lecture Theatre of the Central
Library, was well received by the 130 participants. This annual event, co-organised by the Association and the Hong Kong
Public Libraries, targets a diverse group of people seeking information on educational courses leading to careers in various
types of libraries.
The first session of the Forum introduced 12 local
librarianship study programs (part time and full time). The
programs, leading to master's degree, diploma or
certificate, were introduced by representatives from:
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Caritas Francis Hsu College
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Charles Sturt University
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CUHK School of Continuing Studies
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HKBU School of Continuing Education
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HKU Faculty of Education
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HKU SPACE
HKLA Newsletter
The second session of the Forum presented information on the job nature and the diverse career options in different types of
libraries. Faced with a sluggish economy and a shrinking education budget, our speakers admitted that there were limited job
openings in the market; employers were requiring new entrants to be equipped with higher qualifications and better skills. Dr.
Anthony Ferguson, the University Librarian of HKU said relevant experience and an energetic personality were essential
qualities for a career in an academic library. He advised that while a Masters degree in Library Science is a prerequisite, a
second Masters degree will be an advantage. Mr. Ernest Liu, Senior Librarian of Hong Kong Public Libraries gave the
audience an overview on the functions, structure and services of Hong Kong Public Libraries.
Ms Lau Po-shan shared with us her experience of working in a primary school library. In addition to a two-year teaching
experience, patience was very crucial as school librarians needed to interact with students. Ms Shareen Ng presented a
different picture with special challenges of working in special libraries in the business and corporate business world. Ms Ng
is a Senior Manager of KPMG, a top 6 in the accounting industry. To meet the corporate needs of users in the business
sector, the librarian has to shift from a technical oriented role to more service oriented one. A librarian trains and liaises with
her corporate users. Very often the librarian has the added responsibility of a webmaster.
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We are very enlightened by the speakers and their sharing. You can revisit their presentations at the HKLA Archives at
http://www.hklib.org.hk/archive.htm. Summary of local education programs is also available at the Education section of the
HKLA website: http://www.hklib.org.hk/education.htm
LOCAL RESEARCH:
Theses and Dissertations in Academic Libraries in Hong Kong
City University did a great job on their “Locating Theses and Dissertations” page by providing links and search strategies to
theses and dissertations. The page is value-added by the icons with links to the theses and dissertations database catalogues
of the Julac Libraries.
This list is based on CityU’s effort at URL: http://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/instruct/vli/disserthome/index.htm. I hope this simple
quick guide will make locating theses at local libraries an easier task.
City University of Hong Kong Theses Online (CityUTO). The abstracts and table of contents of CityU postgraduate
research postgraduate theses, dating back to 1990 is freely available to all users while access to those of taught postgraduate
dissertations in full text is restricted to the CityU members.
You may search the citations and abstracts of Chinese University of Hong Kong doctoral dissertations since 1997. If you
are not a CUHK member, you can still benefit from a 24 page preview of the dissertations instead of the full-texts.
URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/cuhk/main
Starting September 2004, the abstracts and tables of contents of all the Hong Kong
Baptist University theses and dissertations are available to all users. In addition, on site access to e-full texts for all M.Phil. & Ph.D. theses submitted to the Library after
March 2004 is also freely available.
URL: http://lib-nt.hkbu.edu.hk/avs/dissertations.asp
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The Hong Kong University Theses collection comprises more than
11,280 titles of theses and dissertations submitted for higher degrees
to the University of Hong Kong since 1941. The database of titles,
abstracts and table of contents is searchable by everyone. There is a
restricted access to the full text of 399 records in the HKU Full-text
“HKUTO” collection. The HKUTO is also OAI compliant.
URL: http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/index.jsp
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology online
collection contains full images of the doctoral dissertations and
master's theses of HKUST postgraduate students. Many of the theses
in this collection are accessible to users outside of HKUST, except
where access is prohibited by the author(s).
URL: http://lbxml.ust.hk/th/th_search.pl
Lingnan University Theses and Dissertations are searchable online.
Most of the full text of theses is available provided that the owners
allowed their use. Julac Card holders can borrow the physical copies
for in-house use.
URL: http://www.library.ln.edu.hk/ethesis/
The Polytechnic University provides access to the full-text images
of the doctoral dissertations and master's theses of the postgraduate
students of the University, comprising works in both English and
Chinese. It contains citations with abstracts and full-text images of the
theses and dissertations. While the full text database is accessible by
PolyU library users only, the abstracts are available to all non-users.
URL: http://elink.lib.polyu.edu.hk/thesis/init.do
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HKLA Newsletter
LOCAL HISTORY:
Tuen Mun Heritage Image Database
In September, the Lingnan University Library launched an in-house
image database “The Tuen Mun Heritage Image Database”. You can
now discover a part of Hong Kong history by exploring the images in
this database. http://www.library.ln.edu.hk/projects/tmheritage/
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LOCAL BANKING RESOURCE:
Not for the batophobia sufferers
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority Information Centre consists of an Exhibition Area and a Library, on the 55/F of Two IFC.
The Centre introduces the HKMA and houses books, journals and other texts on central banking and related subjects. HKMA
is excellent educational and research facility for the public interested in the local banking and finance industry. Enquiry about
the Information Centre: 2878 1111.
URL: http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/info_centre/index.htm
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CYBERPORTING:
Visit to The Hong Kong International School Upper Primary
Library and iResource Centre/Digital Media Centre and Yu Chun
Keung Medical Library
The Libraries visit to Hong Kong International School Upper Primary
Library and iResource Centre/Digital Media Centre on 25 September
was a great learning experience and an enjoyable event. It ended with
a delicious lunch with a spectacular view of the Lamma Channel from
Cyberport
the HKU Faculty of Medicine Restaurant.
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A special after lunch guided tour was arranged for 11 members who
have not visited the Yu Chun Keung Medical Library before.
Members were introduced to the new facilities at the Knowledge
Navigation Centre which is equipped with computers, scanners,
software packages for class assignments, presentations and digital
publishing. We also toured other facilities such as the Computer
Assisted Learning Lab, Multimedia Centre, and an electronically
controlled compact storage. They were particularly interested in the
four multimedia workstations delivering streaming media on the Web,
providing convenient access to educational videos (with copyright
clearance) to faculty and students for teaching and learning. Visiting
members were impressed by the new and technologically advanced
facilities in the Medical Library and showed a particular interest in the
streaming media delivery via 4 multimedia workstations.
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NOTEWORTHY:
Irene Wong as a Visiting Archivist at Rockefeller University, USA.
Irene S. M. Wong, Assistant Librarian (Special Collections and Archives) from Hong Kong Baptist University, is
participating in a 4-week Visiting Archivist Fellowship program at the Rockefeller Archive Center of Rockefeller
University in New York City, USA. The program, which selects only one participant each year and carries a stipend of
USD5,000 plus airfare expenses, is designed to enhance the participant’s archival skills by working with the staff of the
Center and by undertaking an archival project with emphasis on the management of photographs and work related to
records on missionary endeavors in China.
Hong Kong Baptist University Library's Online Tutorial - PRIMO: Peer
-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online October 2004 Site of the
Month
An online tutorial developed by Alison Chan and Paul Lee, Assistant Librarians (Reference and User Education) with
funding support from Hong Kong Baptist University’s Teaching Development Grant has been selected as the October
2004 Site of the Month by The Emerging Technologies in Instruction Committee of the ACRL Instruction Section.
This project -- Library Online Tutorial: Foundations of Searching Library Resources was first accepted by PRIMO, a peer
-reviewed database of online instructional materials and is selected as the Site of the Month for October 2004.
See the description of the tutorial at http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/iscommittees/webpages/emergingtech/site/
october2004.htm
If your library has developed online tutorials, you can submit your site to PRIMO. The Submission Guidelines are
available at http://cooley.colgate.edu/dbs/primosubmit/
IT’S ABOUT YOU!
HKLA now has over 600 members! It is time to pledge your support to this unique community for the year 2005. Every
member receives a personalised membership renewal forms in late November. If you have any questions about
membership, write to [email protected] and visit http://www.hklib.org.hk/membership.htm for more information.
WRITE TO US!
We are always on the lookout for new contents and articles. Please feel free to send your articles, announcements,
photographs, features and opinions to the HKLA Newsletter Editor, whoever she or he is in 2005. Meanwhile, you may
contact HKLA at [email protected] .
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HKLA Newsletter
BEST MEDICINE
For him that stealeth a Book from this Library, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with
Palsy, and all his Members blasted. Let him languish in Pain crying aloud for Mercy and let there be no sur-cease to his
Agony till he sink in Dissolution. Let Bookworms gnaw his Entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not, and when at last he
goeth to his final Punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him for ever and aye.
— Curse Against Book Stealers
Monastery of San Pedro, Barcelona
Law #1 No cataloger will accept the work of any other cataloger.
Law #2 No cataloger will accept his/her own work six months after the cataloging.
— University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library Science. Occasional Paper #131, Dec. 1977.
Jesse SHERA
How many academic librarians does it take to change a light bulb?
At least eleven. One is assigned to change the light bulb. Five form a task force to
propose the change and another five form a committee to write a letter of protest to the
University Librarian, because after all, changing light bulbs IS NOT their job!
— AH, Nov 2004
november
2004
Editor
Amanda Harizan
Assistant Editor
Pansy Lo
Email: [email protected]
Address: P.O. Box 10095, General Post Office, Hong Kong
Web Site: http://www.hklib.org.hk/
Newsletter Archives:
http://www.hklib.org.hk/newsletter/newsindex.html
Contributors:
Sintra Tsang
Julia Chan
Annabelle Pau
Lucinda Wong
Ellie Cheung
Tony Ferguson
Iris Sin
Monita Yeung
Jim Chang
Sandra Mow
Owen Tam
Agatha Yuen
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