< Library News >

Susan Murata Appointed New Head Librarian

Kapiolani Community College welcomed Susan Murata as its new Head Librarian in September 2001. Ms. Murata has been in the University of Hawai‘i system for over 15 years, and previously served as the head of Access Services at UH Mānoa Libraries. She also worked at Maui Community College and Honolulu Community College. Susan can be reached by telephone at 734-9267 or by email at smurata@hawaii.edu.

Susan Murata, new KCC Head Librarian

Terry Webb Goes East

Dr. Terry Webb, former Head Librarian of Kapi‘olani Library, accepted an appointment as Dean of the Guggenheim Library at Monmouth College in New Jersey, 1999-2001. He is currently the Library Director at California State University, Sacramento.

 

KCC Reorganization: Library and Learning Resources

Due to campus reorganization in 2001, the library expanded its role and is now called the “Library and Learning Resources” unit. Responsibilities include general learning support and assistance to students, the college’s web site and online information services, computing labs and services, general tutorial services and make-up testing services.

 

Opening of Cybernesia

January 2001 marked the grand opening of an internet café called “Cybernesia,” under the library’s administration. It is located in the Iliahi Building, located on the Diamond Head side of the campus. The café is a popular gathering spot, where students can use computers while eating food purchased from an adjacent Subway outlet. The atmosphere of the café is designed for social group interaction and cooperative learning, rather than individual quiet study. Cybernesia provides Internet access, email, word processing, color printing, and online gaming. Arnie Reyes manages the café in addition to three other traditional computing labs under the library’s umbrella.

 

New Library Catalog System

In January 2001 the UH System libraries implemented a new library catalog called Hawaii Voyager. The new system greatly enhances access by allowing library users to conveniently research the resources available in all of the thirteen UH System libraries. The new catalog can display Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters for records with the proper encoding. In addition to the new Hawaii Voyager, faculty and students from any campus can now borrow library materials from any other UH library in the system through a new service called IntraSystem Loan. The library also subscribes to numerous magazine and journal databases, many of which now provide the full text of articles in electronic format. For example, EBSCOhost Web Databases is a collection of twenty-one full-text databases covering the humanities, social sciences, religion, business, computer science, psychology, health, education and more.

< Char Room News >

Redesigned Char Room Web Site

The Char Room web site has a new look and updated contents. Sachiyo Fujita, the Char Room librarian who joined the library in January 2000, maintains it.

Sachiyo Fujita, Char Asia/Pacific Librarian

Ms. Fujita also assists the library's Technical Services department in cataloging Japanese language materials, maintains the Asian Studies Curriculum Online and Pacific Studies Initiative Syllabus and Bibliography Collection Online web sites, arranges cultural activities, manages the Char Collection, and oversees the daily operations of the Char Room. For more information, please check out http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu/char/.

 

Koto and Dizi Performances

In March 2002 the library was pleased to feature two outstanding performers of koto (Japanese zither), and dizi (Chinese flute) for Kapi‘olani Community College's 14^th Annual International Festival. Darin Miyashiro, an expert koto performer and instructor, and Frederick Lau, an accomplished flute player and Professor of Ethnomusicology from UH Mānoa, introduced and performed traditional and contemporary Japanese and Chinese music for a "sell out" crowd in the Char Room. Darin Miyashiro performed koto in the Char Room for the 13^th International Festival as well.

Frederick Lau, left, and Darin Miyashiro performed in the Char Room for the KCC 14^th International Festival.

 

Zhongshan Teacher Exchange

Kapi‘olani Community College and the United Chinese Society (UCS) partnered to bring twelve teachers from Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province to study at KCC. The teachers arrived in August 2001 and studied English for one semester. Special hotel accommodations were made which permitted them to study together and socialize. Volunteers from UCS taught them how to get around by bus, especially to and from Chinatown. The Char Room served as the main classroom.

Twelve exchange English teachers from Zhongshan, China in front of KCC Library

 

Tokyu Foundation Donation

In 2001, Char Board Chairman Kendall Wong successfully attracted a donation of $10,000 from the Tokyu Foundation to underwrite Char Room projects. Sandie Patton, Vice President and Director of the Resort Administration of the Mauna Lani Resort on the Kohala Coast, represented the Foundation and made an on-site visit to the Char Room to assess our accomplishments. The library proposed to initiate development of virtual communities built around a collection of scholarly web sites focused on Asia and the Pacific. It is envisioned that KCC faculty with Asian Pacific expertise will develop these web sites.

 

Exchange Agreement with Yunnan Institute of the Nationalities in China

In September 1999, Kapi‘olani Community College and Yunnan Institute of the Nationalities in China signed an agreement to exchange library resources, including printed and electronic resources, communications technology, and technical expertise. Michael Tagawa (Dean of Health and Legal Education, Library and Learning Resources, and Technology Services) and Bin Zhang (Automation and Reference Librarian) visited the Yunnan Institute of the Nationalities during the Institute's 50^th anniversary in November 2001. The weeklong celebration included ceremonies, performances, and seminars. The Institute's library director, Guowen Li, expressed interest in future cooperation with KCC, including opportunities to share research in ethnic cultures, history, literature, and religion.

Michael Tagawa, KCC Dean (second from the left); Bin Zhang, KCC Automation Librarian (right end) and delegates from the Yunnan Institute of the Nationalities in Yunnan, China

 

Kwok Collection Opening

Dr. Daniel Kwok, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, donated over 3,000 books from his personal collection to the Asian language collection at the Kapi‘olani Library. He was honored at an unveiling ceremony in December 2000. The collection focuses primarily on modern China and reflects part of Dr. Kwok’s life’s teaching and research. Dr. Kwok is the chair and founder of the Asian Fellowship Program for Journalists and former director of the UH Center for Chinese Studies. He continues to donate books and periodicals on Chinese studies to the library.

 

Yunyun Shen, Exchange Cataloger from Peking University Library, China

Ms. Yunyun Shen, senior cataloger from Peking University Library, visited for six months from June to December 2000 to help the library catalog the Kwok Collection. The exchange was funded through generous support by the UH Mānoa Center for Chinese Studies and the United Chinese Society. Ms. Shen provided the library with her expertise in Chinese cataloging and contributed significantly in the cataloging of the Kwok Collection. Further exchange opportunities for books, personnel, and joint projects between the two institutions are in progress.

From left: Yunyun Shen, Cataloger from Peking University; Bin Zhang, KCC Automation Librarian; Shuofeng Zhu, Acquisition Librarian from the National Library, China

 

National Library of China Librarians

Shan Li, a system librarian, and Shuofeng Zhu, an acquisition librarian from the National Library of China, spent six months at Hamilton Library in 2000 to observe the library’s operation, especially during the acquisition of the new library online catalog Hawaii Voyager for the UH System libraries. Each of the visiting librarians spent time with the staff at the Kapi‘olani Library and made presentations about various aspects of the National Library of China. The National Library of China is one of the largest libraries in the world and very active in digitization and preservation of library resources.

 

Phuong Tran Donation

In Spring 2000 an exhibit titled “Children of the Dragon: Art and Artifacts from Vietnam,” was held in the library and the Koa Gallery. Mr. Phuong Tran, the show’s provider and curator, is a Honolulu businessman, collector and friend of the college.

 

At the conclusion of the exhibit, Mr. Tran presented the college with 19 ceramic pieces that are displayed in the showcase outside the Char Room. Because of their age and the uniqueness to Vietnamese culture, the porcelains are exceptional. They are highly refined, well crafted, and demonstrate both Chinese influence and distinctive Vietnamese features. The donation is the first installment of a major donation pledged by Mr. Tran.

“Box with cover” from 15-16^th Century, a gift from Phuong Tran

 

Dr. Lily Sun and the Sun Yat-sen Ceremony

Beginning in 1993 and at intervals thereafter, Dr. Lily Sun, granddaughter of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, has generously donated funds, books, photographs, memorabilia and works of art to the Kapi‘olani Library. A twenty-four piece jade collection is on permanent display on the second floor of the library and is part of the Sun Yat-sen Asian Collection. During the months of October and November each year, the library proudly shows the collection in its entirety as a tribute to Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

 

Sun Yat-sen: His Hawai‘i Roots Virtual Library

The Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hawai‘i Foundation was formed in 1997 to research, chronicle, and exhibit Dr. Sun’s links to Hawai‘i and the contributions of the people of Hawai‘i to his work to create a modern China. The mission of the Foundation is to create a memorial to Sun Yat-sen. “Dr. Sun Yat-sen: His Hawai‘i Roots,” a virtual library, is the first step toward that goal. In 1998 Dr. Loretta Pang, KCC humanities professor, led a committee of historians, librarians, and community members in data collection and web site development. The web site received a four-star ("very useful") rating by the Asian Studies WWW Monitor. For more information, please check out http://sunyatsen.hawaii.org.

 

Dr. Chin-tang Lo Donation

In June 1998 Dr. Chin-tang Lo, Professor Emeritus of East Asian Language and Literature at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, donated approximately 2,200 books from his personal collection to the Kapi‘olani Library. Dr. Lo’s collection focuses on Chinese language and literature, theater and drama, in both English and Chinese. It is a significant collection of books on language and the performing arts, enhancing both the general and Asian language collections of the library.

 

You too can help promote and sustain Kapi‘olani Library’s Asian-Pacific programs

Your support of Kapi‘olani’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 21^st century.

The demand for knowledge and education in the developing nations of Asian 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 seek 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 Susan Murata at (808)734-9267, or e-mail charroom-l@hawaii.edu.