NTU Library has long served as the hub of the NTU campus, and even in this new era of web-based reading, it continues to welcome upwards of 10,000 visitors each day.  Nonetheless, over my eight-years as university librarian, I have witnessed a major shift in the way students relate to the library, prompting us to undergo transformations aimed at ensuring we keep pace with the changing world.

Since we live in an era of multimedia information, NTU Library hopes that students will take the initiative to expand their explorations of different fields beyond print-based materials.  Consequently, the library constantly cooperates with various departments and institutes in organizing exhibitions, lectures, and film screenings, which are based on a variety of visual media, to help cultivate the students’ appreciation and understanding of the humanities.  Moreover, with an increasing number of resources being shared over the Internet, the library has begun moving in the direction of cloud-based reading rooms.

We have also begun working actively to procure a large collection of digital books as well as digitalize our special archives.  For instance, the Tamshui-Hsinchu Files, which contains a treasure trove of over 19,000 official documents from the period of Qing dynasty involvement in Taiwan, has been uploaded in its entirety to the Internet.

Additionally, NTU Library houses an invaluable, extensive collection of intellectual heritage.  It also provides an environment designed to properly protect and preserve these precious assets of humanity in perpetuity.  As such, the university has been able to maintain a large repository of rare Japanese books and documents since its founding during the period of Japanese colonization.  Numerous Japanese scholars have come to NTU to cooperate on research and publish important studies based on these materials.

One of the most noteworthy examples of these materials is an archive of historical documents from the Ryukyu Kingdom of Okinawa.  Since Okinawa’s historical records were destroyed during wartime, our well-preserved collection has become a vital resource for research on the Ryukyu Kingdom.

NTU holds an abundance of valuable resources.  Apart from the archives maintained at NTU Library, the ten museums of the NTU Museums Group also possess fascinating collections.  I sincerely hope that as students pursue knowledge in their respective fields of study, they will also take advantage of these important resources to develop a deeper understanding of subjects outside of their majors.