Library News

From 17 to 19 of this month, the University of Macau had held the “Academic Library Alliance for Portuguese Language Resources between the Macao SAR and the Mainland of China” annual council meeting and library academic forum, inviting university librarians from Mainland China, Macao and other Portuguese-speaking countries to discuss and exchange ideas on issues such as the construction of Portuguese resources.

The above-mentioned forum was held concurrently with the “1º Fórum Internacional das Línguas Chinesa e Portuguesa" hosted by the University of Macau. The forum is an important academic event co-organized by the Portuguese Department of the FAH and the Confucius Institute, and supported by the UM Library. It aims to leverage Macao’s unique advantages as a service platform for exchanges and cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, promote exchanges and cooperation in academic research between institutions world-wide, and give full play to the unique role of the University of Macau in Portuguese studies, Chinese studies, cultural exchanges between Portugal and the East, and other related research.

Chen Jianlong, Library Director of Peking University, said in his opening speech at the forum that university libraries are an integral part of the university’s talent training system, an important symbol of national cultural prosperity, and also a leader in the information ecology. The two Academic library alliances for Portuguese language resources established by the University of Macau will surely promote the co-construction and sharing of rich Chinese and Portuguese teaching and research resources in universities, and also promote the construction of Chinese and Portuguese language disciplines, the cultivation of high-quality talents and the high-quality development of scientific research. Peking University Library will actively participate in various cooperation projects of the alliance and work with other libraries to promote the co-construction and sharing of Chinese and Portuguese-speaking resources, promote international higher education cooperation, and strengthen exchanges between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

This council meeting of “Academic Library Alliance for Portuguese Language Resources between the Macao SAR and the Mainland of China” is the first face-to-face meeting since the establishment of the alliance in 2021. The meeting was chaired by Wu Jianzhong, Librarian of the University of Macau Library. Billy Leung, Assistant Librarian of the UM Library, reported the progress and prospects of the alliance to representatives of member libraries, and Priscilla Pun, Functional Head of the University of Macau Library, reported on the joint catalog of Portuguese resources and standardization of names. The progress of the work has been recognized by all member libraries. The next phase of the alliance's work was also discussed in the meeting.

The forum was hosted by Chen Jianlong, Library Director of Peking University, and the discussion mainly focused on the theme of “Academic Library Management Strategies and Service Innovation”. Library Director of Tsinghua University Professor Jin Jianbin, Deputy Library Director of Peking University Yao Xiaoxia, Library Director of Beijing Foreign Studies University Wang Shuyuan, Library Director of Shanghai International Studies University Cai Yingchun, Deputy Library Director of Beijing Language and Culture University Lu Xiaoxi, Library Director of the Macau University of Science and Technology Zhao Xichen and Librarian of the University of Macau Wu Jianzhong delivered keynote speeches on important topics such as open science, joint catalogues, co-construction and sharing of foreign language characteristic resources, digital academic service innovation, reading promotion, research support and scientific research data services, and Portuguese resources alliances respectively. Enthusiastic responses were received from participating scholars and experts.

The “Academic Library Alliance between Macao Special Administrative Region (China) and the Portuguese Speaking Countries” and the “Academic Library Alliance for Portuguese Language Resources between the Macao SAR and the Mainland of China” were established on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the University of Macau in 2021. Members include the University of Macau and more than 40 Universities in different countries, including member universities from Mainland China, which offer professional courses in Portuguese. The two alliances are committed to the construction of Portuguese resources, and UM is taking the lead in building an online portal that collects Chinese and Portuguese resources provided by member libraries to achieve common knowledge, co-construction and sharing of Chinese and Portuguese resources among the member libraries of the alliance, and make more contributions to international higher education cooperation.