News, events and special announcements:
I. New Resources for Research and Learning
Starting August 26, 2011 the library will subscribe to
- Student Resource In Context
- Global Issues In Context
- Student Edition
for your research and reference needs. Please access the resources under the “eLearning” section after you log in or ask the librarians for help.
II. Kindles and ebooks
The library has three kindles for trial. A policy concerning borrowing will be published soon. Basically we plan to lend the devices for reading newspapers, novels and factual books. You will have the opportunity to help us evaluate the usefulness and readability of ebooks in this format.
We have recently set up an account with Dawson Books for their ebook platform dawsonera. Dawson is a traditional international supplier of academic and professional books from the United Kingdom with local support. From their large collection of ebooks our readers can browse 50 pages or a max of five min per book to get insight of the content before we need to purchase the ebook. Recommendations for titles are welcome.
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General Information
The Senior Library was established in 1971 and is open to all students, parents and staff of GSIS.
The library offers a wide range of quality literature, newspapers, periodicals, audio-visual and digital resources in German, English, French, Mandarin and Latin. Twenty-two PC workstations, a scanner, one b/w printer, four video recorders, one data projector, one DVD player, one DVD/CD burner, wireless headphones and two designated OPACs are available for students and staff during school hours. There is a teachers library and classroom attached for the secondary and a Forum for the whole school activities.
Parents are welcome to access our print resources at no charge.
Library Muse and News
Introducing
“German Artist, Wolfgang Nieblich
“Mal-Zeit“, Buch Objekt 1991
Permission to use the artist’s work has been obtained (14.9.2006).
“Die imaginaere Bibliothek”
Please click on the link below to view (alternatively copy and paste this URL)
http://staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/deutsch/ausstellungen/nieblich/index.html
Mission
The fundamental aim of the Senior Library is to promote the concept of GSIS as a learning institution. To that end
- The Senior Library is committed to inspiring and involving all users in the school community in the learning process
- The Senior Library aims to empower its library users to acquire and share knowledge so that they become independent learners throughout their lives
- The Senior Library’s ultimate purpose is to provide a teaching and learning environment which facilitates the acquisition and development of information literacy
Opening Hours
- We are open Monday to Friday from 7:30 am until 4:00 pm during school time.
- It is located on the 2/F Middle Building, 11 Guildford Road, The Peak, Hong Kong.
Library Policies
- Please be considerate and work quietly.
- Do not consume food or drink in the library.
- Check the due dates of your borrowed items. A fine of 50 cents per item per school day will be charged for late returns.
- A replacement fee will be charged for lost or damaged items.
- Computer use in the library:
- All students are to follow the Acceptable Use Policy;
- Preference is given to students who have a class period.
- Acknowledge sources and make references by providing a bibliography (see ‘Plagiarism’)
- Only print what you will use and be patient before you press the print button again. If you waste print resources, a 50 cents per page charge will be levied.
- Ask the librarians for passwords to access online resources (or log in to your school account and look up ‘elearning’ resources) and you must keep passwords confidential.
Current Collection
Fiction Books – 5,500
Non Fiction Books – 14,000
CD Roms – 250
Subscriptions to Newspapers and Periodicals – 50
Audio Cassettes – 450
DVD – 260
Videos – 830
Audio CDs – 100
Electronic Resources
- Britannica Encyclopaedia Online
- Brockhaus Enzyklopädie
- Dawsonera ebooks NEW
- The Economist Asia
- Global Issues In Context (until 31 March 2012, extension will depend on usage) NEW
- Geofile and Geoactive
- Geograpyalltheway
- Geography in the News
- New Scientist
- Newsbank Access World News
- Philip Allan Magazines Online Archives NEW
- Biological Sciences Review
- Business Review
- Chemistry Review
- Economic Review
- The English Review
- Geography Review
- 20th Century History Review
- A-Level Law Review
- PE Review
- Physics Review
- Politics Review
- Psychology Review
- Religious Studies Review
- Sociology Review
- ROEMPP ONLINE from Thieme Verlagsgruppe
- South China Morning Post (SCMP) Archive
- Student Resource In context (until 31 March 2012, extension will depend on usage)
- Student Edition NEW
- Times Educational Supplement
- Time
- Wise Learning (including Wise News)
- You can access the e-resources by logging into the portal and selecting the options GSIS Applications and e-Learning.
Click here for screen captures produced with Jing (29/5/2009)
Literature Promotions
In March 2011 students of Y7 and Y8 were introduced to Benjamin Zephaniah’s poetry and literature.
Edith Yeung, Y8 says “Benjamin is inspiring”. Robert Liao, Y8 states that “I have learnt not to trust people blindly, no matter what they say”.
Carnegie Medal Award winner David Almond at IB Hall
- Suggested Reading Lists
- Monthly displays
- Central Library Tours
- Forum events and presentations
- Paddyfield Book Clubs
- Author visits
- Creative writing workshops
- Reading competitions
- Membership to enter The University of Hong Kong Library and Royal Geographical Society Hong Kong
Information Literacy
Why is it important to be information literate? With the advancement of technology, information is created and revised constantly. Hence the ability to quickly access, process and evaluate information to distinguish what is relevant and pertinent has become crucial for making informed decisions in life.
A good start is to look at your topic and think about what you are trying to find. Identify relevant keywords or subject headings and refine or widen your search terms using our mindmap software (download Smart Ideas from your school account). Become familiar with a wide range of resource formats and compare sources for verification, accuracy and validity.
Throughout the school year formal and informal subject specific training is provided to all levels as requested.
Research Skills in the Senior Library
Internet
How to navigate the Internet effectively
The Internet is a computer network that has grown exponentialy and is expanding constantly. It is volatile and the average user often relies heavily on one search engine to gather information from the World Wide Web. To search effectively, one needs to acquire more than the basic skills to input a search term. Familiarize yourself with Advanced Search options and look up the Help given.
Be aware that anybody can publish and nobody is in charge of the net hence always compare data with authoritative sources.
Plagiarism / Referencing
What is plagiarism?
We are allowed to use and if necessary copy a small part of someone else’s work if we remember to quote the source and give credit to the person by making a reference in our work. If not, we actually steal someone else’s intellectual property. To avoid this we simply learn to add a bibliography of the resources we consulted when researching and writing our assignments. More…
For help we suggest you to browse and use this link. It enables you to prepare a bibliography effortlessly.
Induction Programme
K5B Library Orientation
All students promoted to the secondary school will have a library orientation lesson within the first two weeks of school.
In addition students in year 7 and year 8 have fortnightly library lessons through their English classes. They participate in a reading programme to encourage them to engage in a wide range of literary materials. Once the students have covered a respectable amount of different genres of fiction and learnt to appreciate the different styles of writing, they will be awarded the bronze medal leading to the gold medal.
Contact
Please feel free to contact the library team below:
Ms Ida Griffiths Zee
Librarian
Email: igriffiths-zee@gsis.edu.hk
Ms Apple Chan
Assistant Librarian
Email: achan@gsis.edu.hk
Telephone: 28258128
For novels we will have two kindles for trial.
