Why did I apply? Acceptance & Preparation Arrival Library Activities Teaching Activities Academic Visits Culture Shock Departure/Conclusion

Why did I apply? I wish to learn….

How academic libraries in China are managed? How do academic libraries in China market and

promote their services and resources? How is library instruction delivered? What is the physical layout ? Departmental structure of academic libraries

Acceptance and PreparationObtained F Visa (business)Read briefly about life in China

Customs, language, and education Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) Communism post 1949 Golden Shield Project

Purchased books on PinYin

Arrival I arrived May 4, 2011 at 3:45pm China time

(3:45am NYC time) after a 14 hour flight.Mr. Zhan Huaqing from Shanghai University

Library arrived to meet me.Received monthly stipend, I.D. card, food

card, travel card, and dorm keys.

Went to sleep at 6:00pm(6:00am NYC time)

Shanghai University Library , 3 libraries across 3 campuses

Main library (Baochan Campus-main campus)

Total floor space of 409, 000 square feet

25 reading rooms and 3,000 seats.

Contains more than 3 million volumes and over 4,600 periodicals

Shaped like an open book

Departments at the SHU Library:Circulation Reading Room (Reference Area)SerialsAcquisitionsCataloging Interlibrary LoanSpecial Collections (separate from the Archives) Information Technology Information Retrieval (Reference /Instruction)Office (Public Relations and Library

Administration)

Library Activities

Worked Monday-Friday from 7:30am-3:30pm under the direction of the Office department

Given office space with an Internet PC workstation

Lunch was 11:00am-12:30pm. Food was funded by the

government (meals were 5 RMB= 75 cents)

Responsibilities: Facilitating 4 workshops

over the 4 weeks Teaching 4 hours a week to

MLIS students Shadowing at the reference

desk Ticketing students

Student

residencesbicycles

More bicycles

Waterways run through Shanghai and around campus

Library Activities Facilitated Workshops for

SHU Librarians1. Research and publication

requirements of library faculty at CSI/CUNY

2. Comparison of reference and instruction responsibilities

3. Public Relations activities in academic libraries

4. Co-presented with Ryan Phillips (Newman Library, Baruch College/CUNY) to Shanghai Normal University on our roles as Instruction/Reference Librarians

Teaching Activities Provided 16 hours of lecture topics

Topics included: Liaison Librarian program at

U.S. academic libraries Information Literacy 101 Cloud Computing 101 Social Responsibility in

Academic Libraries Print versus Electronic

Resources What is a Reference Librarian? Services for Different Users in

Academic Libraries Criteria When Selecting an

Electronic Resource Introduction to Health Sciences

Librarianship Improving Student Information

Literacy Public Relations in Academic

Libraries

Academic Library Visits Visited the following

academic libraries Jiao Tong University Shanghai Normal University Shanghai University (all three

campuses) Fudan University Zhejiang University Chinese Academy of the

Sciences, Shanghai Campus Public Library Visits

Shanghai Public Library Hangzhou Public Library

Weekend Excursions: Selected Beijing Sites The Great Wall

(Mutianyu section) Forbidden City Tiananmen Square Buddhist Temple Vegan restaurant

Weekend Excursions: Selected Shanghai Sites Attended Orthodox Shabbat service Yuyuan Garden People’s Square The Bund (waterfront dividing old Shanghai with new Shanghai) Nanjing Road (similar to Times Square) Qi Bao old town French Concession neighbourhood Old Shanghai Vegan restaurants and Starbucks

Weekend Excursions: Hangzhou Sites Visited Zhejiang

University with other librarians from SHU

Took high speed train (220 miles/hr)

West Lake, (historic site)

Hangzhou Public Library

Downtown market

Culture Shock

Language Traffic (plethora of cars, people, bicycles, electric

bikes) Many stray cats and dogs Censorship (news media, Internet) Trouble finding vegetarian Food

Concluding Observations:

Librarians have both professional and paraprofessional duties

Many library directors are scholars (Ph.D.) but not “trained” librarians

Academic libraries are comprised of rooms, rather than open spaces like North American academic libraries

Most younger people in China learn English but many may be too shy to speak.

A person is addressed by their surname first (ex: Polger Mark Aaron)

Pedestrians’ do NOT have the right of way Cigarette smoking is a norm amongst teenage and

adult men