The Hong Kong Library Association and Hong Kong Public Libraries jointly organized the Hong Kong Library Education and Career Forum on Saturday, 6th October 2001 at the Lecture Theatre of the Hong Kong Central Library.  The Forum attracted over 110 participants including students, teachers, librarians as well as members of the public.

The main objectives of the Forum were to introduce the education and career prospects of librarians and information professionals in Hong Kong.  Seven speakers had been invited to attend this event.

The first part was the presentation of education opportunities on librarianship in Hong Kong.  The speakers presented and discussed issues and trends related to the study of librarianship.  The speakers included Mr. John Mills from Charles Sturt University (CSU), Australia, Dr. F.T. Chan from the School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPACE), the University of Hong Kong and Ms. Carolyn Snyder, Visiting Programme Officer from the Association of Research Libraries.

Mr. John Mills began by presenting a brief history of the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University.  HKU's SPACE and Charles Sturt University offer various joint degrees, postgraduate diplomas and a Master's programme for students in Hong Kong. (More details at http://www.csu.edu.au)

Following Mr. Mill's session, Dr. Chan introduced the courses offered by SPACE.  They included the Diploma in Teacher Librarianship, Higher Diploma for Library Technician and the Certificate Course for Library Assistants.  The Certificate Course has been planned together with the Hong Kong Library Association since 1964. (More course details at http://www.hku.hk/space)

After that, a video presentation from Ms. Snyder of the Association of Research Libraries introduced the web-based training and development opportunities for library staff.  She described the features of the Online Lyceum Courses.  These web-based courses covered key library topics, for example, Coaching for Performance, Goal Setting and Measuring Library Services Quality.  These courses are offered by either Collaborative learning Events or a Self-paced Instructional Modules.  (More information at http://www.arl.org/training/lyceum.html)

The second part of the programme was focused on career prospects in various types of libraries and information centers in Hong Kong.  In this second forum, the speakers were Dr. Colin Storey from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Mrs. Mary Cheng from the Hong Kong Public Libraries, Ms. Estella Liang from Sing Tao Limited and Mr. Chiu Kwok Wah from Professional Teachers Unit.  The speakers took this opportunity to share their experience of working in different types of libraries.

Dr. Storey introduced the library services of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.  He mentioned the job duties and prospect of the professional library staff in the academic libraries.  The preferred applicants must be friendly, outgoing and keep abreast of modern technology.  They also need to demonstrate good social skills and relevant technical knowledge.

After that, Mrs. Cheng from the Hong Kong Central Library gave an overview of the public library services in Hong Kong.  The Public Libraries are the major information and cultural centers for the people of Hong Kong.  The library staff have to spend a lot of time promoting the library services, training users to use the library facilities and searching for information.  She also mentioned the recruitment procedures and selection criteria for their library staff.

Ms. Liang from Sing Tao Limited introduced the services provided by their information center and described the job duties of their staff which included news clipping, helping reporters find useful resource and dealing with copyright issues.  She also mentioned the daily operations and the challenges of their information center.  Good interpersonal skills, attention to details, and an understanding of users' needs are the main recruitment criteria.

Mr. Chiu from Professional Teacher Units discussed the traditional and new role for teacher librarians.  Mr. Chiu mentioned that teacher librarians must have well developed training and facilitating skills.  They need to encourage teachers to use the school libraries and teach students to learn the techniques of sourcing useful information.

This Forum provided useful tips for those who are interested in further studies in library science and also highlighted the latest career developments in the field.