Living Library Webinar Held Successfully
The Living Library Webinar were successfully held by XJTLU Library on June 7 and June 10. In a new form different from the previous activities, there were four wonderful Living books communicating with XJTLU students online via Zoom.
In the webinars, the living books told their own stories about study and career as well as the changing thoughts during this period. They had had confusion and doubts, but they kept exploring and pursuing dreams. With their own experience, they answered the students’ questions and tried to guide them to the right directions.
Ziyu Wang works at Aurora Innovation in the US. He shared how he met with autonomous driving and how it became his dream. He looked back on the ups and downs during his transition from a NYU student in the Robotics to an Aurora Innovation employee in Silicon Valley including his personal experience during the pandemic. He encouraged the audience to explore their interests, to do what they desire the most and to solve the uppermost problems. Fangyuan Liu, who is going to further her study in Cambridge University, shared her study method of setting phased goals and her internship experience in the Marketing and Communication Office. She believed that the SURF project had greatly inspired her. She became more interested in journalism and had a clearer plan for her academic development through this project.
This event has attracted more than 100 XJTLU students and highly praised by the participants. Chengxi Xu, a year one student in XJTLU, took part in both webinars. He said, “Thanks to XJTLU Library for providing a great sharing platform. I was able to connect with outstanding schoolmates in foreign countries while I was staying at home. Their interesting stories and patient answers have brought me a clearer goal and greater motivation for my future study.”
2020 XJTLU Library Reading Month
On the advent of the 25th World Book Day, XJTLU Library held the “2020 XJTLU Library Reading Month”. The theme of this year is “stay curious, stay healthy”, demonstrating our sincere wish for everyone's health and spiritual prosperity in this difficult time. There are three parts and fourteen happenings in the reading month, including online events, book cover design contest and training courses.
A wide variety of activities has attracted many readers to participate. Book cover resign contest encourage readers to redesign the cover of their favorite books, so that they can stand out from the similar books and catch the reader's attention. Reading Together online salon helps readers find the most like-minded reading partner from the different themes reading groups and start a new reading journey.
Due to the special situation of these days, all the training courses were held through online meetings and playback sharing. It is a new challenge for librarians to ensure the quality of online training courses. These training courses are assisting readers to unlock XJTLU Library's e-resources and improve their personal skills.
The series of reading month activities lasted for a month. Many readers opined that the various online activities and training courses organized by the Library had enriched their life and also provided support for their learning and researching at home.
The Library Excel and PPT Online Training Courses were Successfully Completed
The Excel and PPT online training courses for all students held by XJTLU Library were successfully completed. From 25th March to 2nd April, 2020, the library held a total of four lessons on Excel data analysis and PowerPoint slide design; engaging 120 students in the courses.
In the EXCEL data analysis training, the lecturer Sunruo Wu explained in detail how to make a pivot table and the data management method in practical work. In the PowerPoint slide design training, the lecturer Li Lu taught skills required for cover design and explained in detail the PPT styles and designs for graduating students’ thesis defense.
Despite the on-site teaching could not be conducted during the epidemic, the Library broken through the traditional training model and realized a face-to-face live teaching model relying on network information technology. The innovative model has set a good example for future Library training.
The Library Photoshop and Tableau Online Training Courses were Successfully Completed
The Photoshop and Tableau online training courses for all students organized by the XJTLU Library were successfully completed. A total of four sessions were held on 22nd, 23rd, 29th and 30th April, 2020, respectively. In which 45 students were engaged in the courses.
In the Photoshop training, the lecturer Sunruo Wu explained the use of PS common tools in detail and took making posters as example to explain the use of PS layers and channels. Beginners who participated were able to master the basic operations in Photoshop and make simple posters through the two courses.
The Tableau training courses were included in the Introduction of data types, Data analysis framework, Tableau operation interface, simple interactive charts and some visualization operations with Tableau. During these two courses, students learnt the concept and the meaning of data analyses, also got familiar with the elementary operating system of Tableau.
Due to the special situation of these days, all the training courses were held through online meetings and playback sharing. It is a new challenge for librarians to ensure the quality of online training courses. These training courses are assisting readers to improve their personal skills.
XJTLU Library's Defeat the Epidemic Events through Accompanying Readers During the Difficult Time
With the continuous spread of the epidemic and inevitable anxiety experiences among public, XJTLU Library launched the ‘Defeat the Epidemic Events’ on social media, advocating teachers and students to share their favorite books and music. The events included three themes - Defeat the Epidemic by Reading, Defeat the Epidemic by Voice and Defeat the Epidemic by Music. The events received continuous attention and good feedback from readers.
In "Share Your Reading Notes", the Library collected a total of 26 outstanding works, reading notes from teachers and students throughout the university. The content of reading notes involve classics which comprises fiction, poetry and prose, and academic works in sociology, psychology and medicine. The forms include annotation, outline, excerpt, review and other note-taking methods. When taking notes, some people use traditional handwritten manuscripts, others use new electronic manuscripts, and many of them use exquisite illustrations and photos to make the final presentation of the notes pleasing to the eye.
In the events of "Listen to the Classic Melodies of Spring" and "Listen to the Soulful Soundtracks", the Library recommended classical music by great composers such as Beethoven and Vivaldi and Soundtracks from classic movies such as The Legend of 1900 and The Chorus, hoping that these warm melodies could accompany readers through the difficult time. In the comment area of the posts, the readers also shared their favorite music, forming a good interactive atmosphere.
Half-day Library On-site Circulation Service During the Campus Temporarily Closed Period
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the campus was temporarily closed from February to April, 2020. In order to better support the teaching and research work of the XJTLU staff, the Library was opened for half a day every two weeks to provide circulation service for the staff who reserved books via email, and collect them at the Library Main Entrance Hall after getting permission from HSC.
During the half-day on-site circulation service, the Library also focused tightly on epidemic prevention measures. All visitors must have their body temperature measured and wear medical masks. The service location was in the Main Entrance Hall on the 1st floor of Central Building and the reserved books were packed in bags for each patron in advance, so the patrons could pick up the books in a very short time, thereby reducing the risk of contact.
The timely launched of this service satisfied the requirement for print book circulation during the campus closed period and achieved continuous support for teaching and research.
Book Sterilizers Used at XJTLU Library
Due to the high circulation of the books in the library, it is possible for books to be infected with viruses and bacteria during the borrowing and returning. In order to do a better job in COVID-19 prevention and control, ensure the health and safety of readers, and continue to provide thoughtful services to readers, the library installed 3 book sterilizers. Two of them are UV sterilizers located on the first floor of the library. These sterilizers are specially designed for killing germs with UV. Up to six regular-sized books can be sterilized at one time in each sterilizer and it only takes 30 seconds to sterilize each time. In addition, another large-capacity book sterilizer is located next to the library circulation desk on the third floor of the library. Librarians will sterilize a large number of returned books together every day. The book sterilizers allow readers to use the printed books in the library without worry.