Statement and Policy on Management of Information Technology:
Goals and Objectives of the University Library System

Goal 1: To provide electronic information resources to support teaching, research and administration.

1. to acquire necessary electronic information resources;
2. to build up electronic reserve on lecture notes, study materials;
3. to filter, evaluate and select internet resources to meet the special information and curricular needs of the University community. The Library has long taken the initiative to lead and introduce users to the vast reservoir of valuable information resources over the internet, e.g. our Medical and Architecture libraries web sites have served as a tool and road map for navigating around the respective specialized resources.
4. to fill in the gaps in essential information by developing databases internally, e.g. the CUHK Examination database, the Hong Kong Newspaper Full-text database and the Hong Kong Chinese Journal Index Database.
5. to digitalise books and journals for ease of use if there is no infringement of copyright.

Goal 2: To promote efficient, effective use of information; to provide training to improve on information literacy; to assist teaching and research staff with its exploitation.

1. to train students to acquire the necessary skill to select, evaluate and apply information; resources effectively to their course work; hundred of seminars have been organised each year for students;
2. to co-operate with academic departments to conduct advanced training for students;
3. to provide advisory and user support service.

Goal 3: To provide the necessary library network infrastructure and computer facilities for ease of access of information either on campus or remotely.

The Library is currently providing six library networks for the main library and five branch libraries, a CDROM network, an electronic reference network and other supporting networks.

Goal 4: To maintain adequate budget and space for IT development in the Library.

Within the University Library System, on top of the investment on IT hardware and software, for the current academic year alone, about 15% of the Library Book Fund or about HK$8M is spent on electronic resources and databases. (This trend of investment will accelerate in the future. Therefore, efficient and well-coordinated development planning is necessary.)

Goal 5: To hire, retain and to provide sufficient training for skill enhancement of library staff to keep up with cutting edge IT development.

Goal 6: To ensure legal, acceptable and secure use of information, to protect personal privacy, copyright, and at the same time, easy access to information.

Goal 7: To cooperate with other units of the University to provide a comprehensive information management, dissemination and support service. To provide impetus and leadership for the academic community.