Chinese scholar from USTC (中国科学技术大学) visits VT’s University Libraries

Dr. Du Jin, Associate Director in the Instruction Section of the library of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), studies VT’s “subject specialist” College Librarian  system.

Jin (pronounced “Jean”) graduated from the USTC with a PhD in inorganic chemistry, and now works in the library of her alma mater, one of China’s C9 League of top universities. She’s visiting and studying the library system at Duke University for a semester, and wanted to expand her database with personal interviews with some of VT’s College Librarians. USTC funded her semester-long visit because it is switching to a subject focused instruction and reference system similar to Duke’s and VT’s. I met Jin in 2011 when I visited USTC to establish an education abroad Summer II course for the VT Language and Culture Institute in partnership with VT’s Department of Foreign  Languages and Literatures and the University Libraries, so this visit was one of a continuing collaboration.

Jin’s clear and informative presentation of her beloved USTC and culturally instructive  library practices was enthusiastically applauded by a cross-section of library folks. One interesting thing we share in common is the size and comprehensiveness of the databases they subscribe to, as attested by Ed Lener, our Associate Director for Collections. It was noted that the USTC, as host site of 2 of the 5 Chinese Academy of Sciences laboratories, was in a fortunate position as concerns funding for cutting edge scholarly journals compared to many Chinese universities. Ed was leaning forward in his chair checking the database names… now that’s serious scholarly dedication in action.

Jin also toured many other parts of the library, enjoying the hospitality of many people, for which she made me promise I’d mention her heartfelt thanks. Here’s a copy of her study agenda for future reference: 

Visiting USTC Librarian-Scholar Du Jin: Schedule March 5-8, 2014

March 5 (Wednesday)

1:45pm                PICKUP: Christiansburg, VA, Falling Branch Park & Ride Exit 118

2:30pm                HOTEL: The Inn at Virginia Tech

6:00pm                WELCOME DINNER with Tecla and Paul

March 6 (Thursday)

9:00am                PRACTICE DU JIN’s PRESENTATION in the Boardroom with ZhiWu

10:00am              ELECTRONIC RESOURCES with Annette

11:00am              LEARNING COMMONS and ROVING STUDENT ASSISTANTS with Monena

12:00 noon         (FREE TIME)

1:00pm                RESERVES AND TEXTBOOK RESERVES with Mary Kay

(1:30pm               Therese will set up video recording in my office 100X)

2:00pm                LIBRARY FACULTY ASSOCIATION meeting

2:30—3:30pm    GUEST PRESENTER: Dr. Ben Knapp, Director of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, will speak about ICAT and ICAT’s presence in Newman Library

3:30—4:00pm    Video in Chinese concerning plagiarism for SURVIVAL IN ACADEMIC AMERICA with Therese

4:00–5:00pm     SCALE-UP CLASSROOM, MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM, and CLASSROOMS with Scott Fralin

5:00pm                (FREE TIME)

6:30pm                THEATER “Hamlet,” The Acting Company, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre with Paul

March 7 (Friday)

9:00am                COLLEGE LIAISON LIBRARIANS with Rebecca at College of Agriculture

10:00am              DIGITAL LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES with Gail McMillan / Nathan

11:00am              PRESENTATION with Du Jin in the Library Boardroom

12:00 noon         (FREE TIME)

1:00pm                PORTAL DIGITAL LEARNING LAB with Bruce Pencek

2:00pm                PRINTING, SCANNING, and other LEARNING COMMONS SERVICES with Mark

3:00—4:00pm    BLACKSBURG & VICINITY TOUR with Paul

4:00pm                (FREE TIME)

March 8 (Saturday)

6:20am                SMART WAY BUS from Squires Student Center to Roanoke