CUHK Library E-newsletter

The CUHK Open Access Publishing Plan

Open Access (OA) is a publishing module that makes journal articles and books immediately available to anyone for free. At CUHK, you can access most of the materials you need. Often, this is not because these materials are OA but because the Library pays expensive subscription fees to publishers on behalf of the CUHK community. However, not everyone is so fortunate. Many people can only use OA materials for their work; therefore, OA publishing can lead to a wider readership and more citations.

Although researchers increasingly favour OA publishing, they may not have funding to support the Article Processing Charge (APC) that publishers request in compensation for lost subscription income. To assist CUHK researchers, the Library launched an Open Access Publishing Plan in 2021 and entered into transformative agreements with publishers, in which subscription payments are partially allocated to settle their APC. Two big-name publishers, Springer and Taylor & Francis, recently joined the plan. The number of participating publishers has increased from two in 2021 to 17 in 2024, covering more than 7,000 journals.

The CUHK OA Publishing Plan has received a very positive response from CUHK researchers. As of 16 January 2024, 453 articles have been published through the Plan with the APC fully waived. For details on the Plan, please refer to https://libguides.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/openaccess/cuhk.

Joint School Literature Day Camp

The Joint School Literature Day Camp was held at the Hong Kong Literature Hub of 1/F University Library on 3 February 2024. The event was organised by Heep Yunn Secondary School and supported by the CUHK Library with the aim of increasing students’ understanding of and interest in local literature. A total of 70 teachers and students from seven secondary schools participated in the event, which included sharing Xi Xi’s works during the reading session, visiting the Hong Kong Literature Collection at the Library, and unleashing literary creativity in a workshop conducted by the local writer Wong Yi.

Mr. Lau Chi Yung, teacher of Heep Yunn Secondary School, introducing the “Joint School Literature Day Camp”.

Literary creativity workshop conducted by
local writer Wong Yi

New Online Course for Postgraduates

To achieve academic success, postgraduate students must equip themselves with essential research skills. The CUHK librarians developed an online course, namely Discovering Research Information Skills Online Course, for postgraduate students. As part of the Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) programme, this online course plays a crucial role in equipping postgraduate students with necessary research skills.

This online course consists of four modules. After completion of this course, students will be able to:

identify keywords associated with topics and formulate a search statement for searching for resources;
use LibrarySearch to search for resources, particularly theses;
understand different types of library databases and use Scopus to discover quality research information; and
locate a suitable journal for publication and increase the visibility of a published article.

Additionally, the Library is currently being developing a new self-paced online course to cater to the needs of both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The course is scheduled to be introduced in the first term of the 2025–26 academic year.

E-Resources in January 2024

With the goal of supporting CUHK students and staff in unleashing the power of Library E-Resources for learning and research, the E-Resources event in January 2024 incorporated searching and research information skills workshops with database skills workshops. A total of 460 CUHK students and staff participated in 19 online workshops. The event was positively received, with 98.25% of the participants expressing their desire for the Library to host more e-resource workshops to aid their learning in post-workshop surveys.

Event participants were entered into a lucky draw for fabulous prizes, and a prize ceremony for the lucky winners was held in February 2024.

Automatic Door at the University Library

An automatic door suitable for wheelchair users has been installed at the main entrance/exit of the University Library. This is part of our commitment to provide an inclusive and barrier-free environment to the University community. This feature will be installed in more library locations in the future.