News > News Archive> Newsletter Number 3

Newsletter Number 3 (October 1997)

by Terry Webb
Library Director

Welcome

We're pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs. Ramona Harris to the Char Board of Directors. Besides the responsibilities associated with her role as the wife of the Mayor of Honolulu, she has been involved in numerous community activities and organizations. Recently, Ramona has been devoting much of her time and attention to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community on Oahu, learning about their history, language, and culture. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration and continues her life-long learning at Kapi`olani Community College studying American Sign Language.

Special Events

Korean Tea Ceremony

In February, the Library's Current Events Alcove was the setting for a demonstration of the rarely seen Korean tea ceremony by students from Pusan Women's Junior College. Afterward, administrators of Pusan College met with UH Vice President Joyce Tsunoda and Provost John Morton in the Char Room to sign a cooperative agreement. During their two weeks at KCC, the students from Pusan participated in several activities, including a folk dance performance, Korean language tutoring, and English lessons. As a gesture of friendship, they donated all of their tea ceremony utensils to the Char Room. They said they would use them when they return next year to repeat the demonstration. If you didn't see it this year, don't miss it next year. We should know the date of their visit in January. Call us then at 734-9259.

Kuei-kuo Tseng

In April, the Current Events Alcove was also the site for a martial arts demonstration by Kuei-kuo Tseng. A native of Taiwan, Tseng is the martial arts coach for the National Athletics Association of the Republic of China and a Chinese Martial Arts Referee for the Taiwan Provincial Athletics Association. His month-long visit to Hawaii was sponsored by the Overseas Chinese Commission of the Republic of China, and his appearance in the Library was arranged by Char Librarian K.T. Yao.

International News

Bin's China Trip

Thanks to a generous donation from the Char Board, supplemented with funds from the Chancellor's Office, our Automation Librarian Bin Zhang finally made the trip to China that has been in planning for almost three years. He visited our cooperating libraries at Peking University, Northeastern University in Shenyang, and the Yunnan Institute of the Nationalities in Kunming this summer. While there, he gave lectures on library automation, provided Internet and World Wide Web training, and discussed current and future cooperation projects. Bin was graciously received everywhere he went, and he reports that our partner libraries in China are intent on maintaining active cooperation with us.

PKU's 100th Anniversary and Library Conference

In October 1998, Peking University will celebrate two great events: the University's 100th anniversary and the grand opening of their new library. To officially open its new building, the PKU Library will host an international conference entitled New Missions of Academic Libraries in the 21st Century. KCC Library Director Terry Webb was among a select group of U.S. librarians who received special invitations to speak at the conference. This is quite a distinction for KCC, considering that the other invited presenters are from such places as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, Rutgers, and Cornell. Terry says the invitation reflects the close relationship that has developed between the KCC and PKU libraries in the last three years. Terry attributes the unusual closeness of this relationship to an ongoing series of cooperative projects, frequent Internet correspondence, a collaborative research and writing project now underway, materials exchanges, and periodic visitations. He says the most immediately apparent benefits of the cooperation for the KCC Library are an outstanding collection of Chinese materials, a growing knowledge among our staff of academic and library practices in China, and strong connections with China's foremost university.

Research

Telemedicine Conference

Char Board Chair Kendall Wong, who serves on the Hawaii State Board of Medical Examiners, was invited to speak at the Institute for Telehealth & Telemedicine: Mapping the Future of Hawaii. He was specially invited to discuss the legal implications of practicing "telemedicine," one of the world's fastest growing high-tech industries. The 3-day conference was held in September at the East-West Center, and has enormous implications for exporting health care services from Hawaii to Asia and the Pacific. The conference also has implications for KCC's strong Asian-Pacific and health education programs, and for the KCC Library because of our experience in Internet/WWW delivery of medical information to Asian and Pacific health care providers (see below). The text of Kendall's presentation and other conference proceedings as well may soon be available on the World Wide Web at
http://obake.peacesat.hawaii.edu/telemedicine.

New Library Buildings in China

Terry is completing a book about new libraries for the 21st-century. The book should be published sometime next year. It will include case studies of new library construction in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and will feature the new library at Peking University and the new Shanghai Library as well. These two chapters were written in collaboration with Dr. Zhu Qiang, Deputy Director of the PKU Library, and Dr. Wu Jiangzhong, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Library. Most of the correspondence and collaboration for these chapters were carried out via the Internet. The photos of the two libraries give us a peek at these beautiful and innovative libraries.

Model of Peking University Library

Shanghai Library

Donations and Acquisitions

Book Donations

The Library's Asian collections received notable materials from the Pusan Women's Junior College, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Lau, and several others.

A book exchange between Peking University Press and the UH Press was also completed. The KCC Library received over 90 important new books from Peking University Press, and the PKU Library received their choice of books from the University of Hawaii Press. Professor Lin Beidian, PKU Library Director, said in a thank-you letter to Terry that "the books from the UH Press are wonderful," and added "I am happy to know the books from the PKU Press arrived there...If you find some other books published by PKU Press that are useful to your library later, please mail us the list and we will try to locate them for your library...It is part of the cooperation between our libraries. I believe that our friendship and cooperation will continue in coming years." Special thanks for arranging the book exchange go to Professor Roger Ames, Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at UH, and Bill Hamilton, Director of the UH Press.

And in the largest single donation to the Library so far, Professor Daniel W.Y. Kwok of the History Department at UH-Manoa donated over 2,200 books in Chinese and English from his personal collection. It is an excellent collection with strengths in the history of Chinese thought. The materials will serve our faculty and students alike, and attract outside scholars to the KCC Library as well. Professor Kwok chose to donate the books to the KCC Library because of our firm commitment to develop our Asian collections, and because here the books will be readily accessible to the community at large.

Professor Kwok's donation was made in two phases, and moving them from the University to the KCC Library was a major event. The books are now being cataloged and processed by Char Room Librarian K.T. Yao and Technical Services Coordinator Michelle Sturges. The books will be placed on the Library's shelves for general circulation as they are processed. The Library is very grateful for all the donations that have been received this past year.

The China Abroad Archives

Professor Kwok also arranged for the transfer to the Library of an exceptionally important archival collection entitled the China Abroad Archives. The collection consists of several types of resources about contemporary China, and includes a large number of unpublished original literary works from Mainland China that are sure to be of great interest to scholars and researchers around the world. We plan to create a Web site based on the collection, with text in Chinese and English.

Internet/WWW Activities

Over the past year, the Library co-created and tested an Internet/WWW course on emergency medicine and disaster preparedness for physicians and emergency care professionals in Asia and the Pacific. There was no classroom and no textbook for this course. Instead, instruction and course materials were delivered and homework assignments were completed over the Internet.

The test was quite successful and has received national attention. Other modules of the course are under development for distribution next year. The course will serve as a model for other Internet courses to be produced at Kapi`olani Community College in a variety of subjects.

The Library also recently developed the Hawaii-Pacific HIV/AIDS Information Clearinghouse. This Website provides the most current electronic Hawaii and Pacific HIV/AIDS statistics, prevention and treatment information, educational programs and library resources, links to related Websites, and other information gathered specifically for the Pacific region.

A Sincere Thank-You

The Char Board and the Library staff express our sincere thanks to Helen Hamada of the KCC Educational Media Center for designing and producing the Char Room Newsletter. She makes the Newsletter possible.

The University's Special Mission

In November 1996, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents issued its Strategic Plan, which established the following goal:

The University of Hawaii system's special distinction is found in its Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific focus...The University of Hawaii must pursue its special distinction, while providing leadership in the international arena. (p. 5)

The Kapi`olani Library plays a key role in helping the University achieve this goal. We are developing one of Hawaii's largest Asian-language collections, and have created original online information resources to promote research and instruction in Asian and Pacific fields. In addition, we have formed excellent relationships with Asian and Pacific academic institutions. Our librarians are often hosted by libraries in Asia and the Pacific, and in turn, the Library regularly receives visits from faculty and dignitaries of many Asian and Pacific nations.

These activities and innovations have made the Kapi`olani Library a recognized clearinghouse for Asian-Pacific information.

The Char Room is the focal point of the Library's Asian-Pacific programs. Here, the Char Board provides guidance to the Library's international activities, and assists the Library in presenting many activities, speakers, exhibits, and other events to bring Asian-Pacific issues to the community's attention. The Char Room is also the venue for signing exchange agreements between the University of Hawaii and academic institutions in Asia and the Pacific.

You can help promote the University's "Special Distinction"

Your support of the Kapi`olani Library's Asian-Pacific programs will help carry the University forward as the country's premier Asian-Pacific education and information center, and will help place Hawaii at the center of the unprecedented development that will occur in the Pacific hemisphere in the 21st century.

The demand for knowledge and education in the developing nations of Asia and the Pacific presents a unique opportunity for the University to bring about positive social, economic, and industrial change throughout the Pacific hemisphere. The Kapi`olani Library is poised with the technologies, resources, and expertise to help the University advance its leadership in Asian and Pacific education.

We encourage your support of this important strategic goal. All donations are tax deductible. Checks can be made payable to UH Foundation, Char Activities Fund, and sent to the Library, Kapi`olani Community College, 4303 Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, HI 96816.

If you have questions about the Kapi`olani Library, the Char Room, or any of the projects described in this issue of The Char Room Newsletter, call Terry Webb at (808) 734-9267.