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As a form of education, distance learning currently shows great promise and the role of online libraries in delivering off-campus information services increases. This paper presents a comparative analysis of measures undertaken by traditional academic libraries in China and Italy in response to pandemic restrictions on educational operations during the lockdown period. The study utilized a specially developed questionnaire, carried out through an online survey, as a means of collecting data from library users (students and teachers). The study population includes 102 random library patrons, including 64 students and 38 teachers who were using services of academic libraries in China at the time. Through comparison with other studies, the quarantine responses of Chinese libraries were identified. The results of the study show that COVID-19 responses of libraries in China went in a direction similar to those in Italy, but the final decisions varied because of different levels of technological development. This knowledge may be used by libraries to identify areas for improvement. The results show that Chinese libraries were more effective in overcoming quarantine restrictions than those in Italy. The overwhelming majority of respondents reported that they had positive experience learning remotely and would not mind if distance learning programs continue to function after the pandemic is over. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of reference and information service has been redefined in some Chinese university libraries. In these libraries the focus of reference and information service has transformed into information analysis. University libraries have been a participant in the management and evaluation in scientific research, technological innovation, and discipline construction. The information analysis service of Zhejiang University Library is a typical case. Zhejiang University library established an information analysis group in 2009 in reference and information service division. To further guarantee the professionalism of service, the information analysis service center was set up in 2018 as a separate division. Over the past decade, information analysis service has played the potential of library in supporting decision-making, scientific research and innovation, discipline construction, research performance evaluation, etc. Information analysis service makes the popularity and status of the university library improve continuously. The evolution of information analysis service of Zhejiang University Library is reviewed in this paper, from the initial stage to the expansion stage, and then to the establishment of professional division. Approaches to promote the progress of information analysis service are summarized. The future goals are also discussed from the perspectives of strengthening the innovation mind-set, librarian development, and information analysis literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to provide an overview of the e-resources and services in Tsinghua University Library, Beijing, and describe five campus-wide user surveys. It states how these user surveys play an important role in service quality enhancement. Design/methodology/approach - Following a brief history of Tsinghua University Library, a summary of the collections and services developed in recent years is given. The library has made a great effort to learn about users' needs and to improve service delivery through a series of user surveys. The paper describes these surveys, including the conclusions and the improvement measures adopted. Findings - Feedback gathered from user surveys provides vital information for improving library services. Through these user surveys, the library received a large amount of data to be analysed and a lot of valuable information, it promoted communication with our users, and the librarian's service literacy has also improved. Practical implications - An overview of user surveys, including methodology, content, organisation, and implementation process, as well as data analysis, might offer reference and practical experience for other university libraries. Originality/value - User surveys play an important role in the library's service quality enhancement. The paper provides a useful overview and practical experience of the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to provide an overall methodology and case study for the innovation and extension of a digital library, especially the service system. Design/methodology/approach - Based on the three-dimensional structure theory of the information service industry, this paper combines a comprehensive analysis with the practical experiences of Peking University Library as a case study. Findings - The paper proposes three-dimensional extensions of a digital library service system. It analyses the respective functions of organisations and librarians, information resources, services and methods and the interactions between them. Originality/value - Innovatively, the theory of three-dimensional structures is applied to the discussion of the development of the digital library service system. It is significant for the integrality of a digital library theoretical system, as well as for the practical developments, innovations and sustainability of the digital library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exist many difficulties for the college libraries of western China to develop digital libraries. These difficulties are shortage of funds, restriction of information infrastructure, library leadership, short- age of technical knowledge and user training. After analysis of these problems, this paper sums up some experiences and lessons learned. Based on this, some suggestions on how to solve those problems are put forward, including trying to extend funding sources, improving management knowledge, extending external communication, etc. The conclusion is that in order to provide good information service, the college libraries of western China must male every effort to conform to digital trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been more than 120 years since the first Chinese collection in an academic library was established in the United States. Since then, many more have been founded in the country while the holdings of the already established collections have continued to grow. The mission of these Chinese collections in academic institutions is, without exception, to support the teaching, studies, and research of their core clientele-the faculty members and students in East Asian studies programs. While Chinese collections continue to be an indispensable resource center for the East Asian studies programs at their campuses, their surrounding environment has greatly changed. One change that has occurred is in their user population. As the Chinese and Chinese-American populations substantially increased in and around campuses, most collections found themselves serving more overseas Chinese users than their intended "core clientele.'' This paper examines briefly the scale of Chinese collections in today's US academic Libraries, their growth over time, and the changes that have occurred in their user population. It also identifies the major functions that these collections have served to the Local overseas Chinese population, a topic that has never been really discussed in professional literature. In bringing this often-unstated mission to Light, the author hopes the East Asian library profession will pay more attention to the needs of this user group while continuing to fulfill the collections' primary mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the digital library services for China's scientific communities, explores the challenges toward sustainable digital libraries, presents a development strategy for digital libraries using Chinese Academy of Sciences as an example, and provides a layered design framework for a digital library in an e-science environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the background of the establishment of CALIS, explains its goals, structure, functions, and achievements during the past 3 years, and indicates its future development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Digital humanities is a new field in the data age that introduces computing technology into humanities literature. Many libraries have built digital humanities scholarly commons, but it is rare in China's libraries. Through literature and website research, digital humanities database construction practice, questionnaires, and interviews with humanities scholars, we explore the path to build digital humanities scholarly commons at Beijing Normal University Library. We constructed an educators' prosopography database, collected database construction suggestions from humanities scholars, and assessed their willingness to construct a digital humanities commons with us. Combined with the feedback, we found that humanities researchers are interested in digital humanities methods, but they need relevant tools training. Beijing Normal University Library can provide humanities scholars with training workshops on digital humanities concepts, methods, tools, platforms, and database construction, and the library is good at full-cycle data service including data collection, management, storage, and publishing. The library should strengthen data mining, text analysis, and visualization in the digital humanities study, focus on the authority and reliability of data, cooperate with humanities scholars to collect and verify data, and then enhance the library's influence in the academic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]