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The University
Library traces its origins to the Chia Nan
Junior College. From its founding in 1966,
the college had been building a collection
of books and journals. Starting in March 1971,
a college library was established in the two-storied
building located of today’s Department of
Pharmacy. In January 1991, the library moved
to the fifth through eighth floors of the
building of Environmental Engineering and
Science, occupying a space measuring 3,324
square meters. In 2000, when the college became
the University of Pharmacy and Science, the
library was relocated into a five-storied
building with large international conference |
| rooms that
measured 7,958 square meters. Over the past
30 years, the university has experienced a
rapid growth, and the need for a more comfortable,
multi-functional library was increasingly
felt to achieve the university’s commitment.
Thus, in August 2001, the ground was broken
on a new and modern library. Completed in
September 2003, the library measures 17,800
square meters. In memory of the founder of
the university, Mr. Wang Chen, the library
was named the Wang Chen Memorial Library.
The grand opening for the new library took
place on December 8, 2003, with President
Chen Shui-bian in attendance.
Given the increasing workload of the computing
and networking services, in 2001 the computer
center, originally a subdivision of Academic
Affairs, became a separate organization
named the Network Council with three sub-service
groups. To adapt to information technology
trends, the Network Council merged with
the library in 2003; it was subsequently
renamed the “Library and InfoCenter” to
support the campus-wide library and information
services. The mainframe computer was also
relocated to the third floor of the newly
completed building of Information Sciences
in 2004. Equipped with seven brand new computer
labs, the building is located in the area
adjacent to the Wan Chen Memorial Library.
This area has become the Library and Information
Service center on campus.
In June 1992, the library utilized a library
automation system to manage the library
collections and services, which led the
library services to excel among junior college
libraries. In 1994, the campus networking
was completed and linked to TANet. In 1996,
the services of the online public access
catalog were provided to retrieve library
collections. In January 2000, the library
joined CONCERT and acquired access to various
electronic databases. In 2003, the “eThesys”
system was adopted to digitalize graduate
students’ theses. From 2002 to 2005, the
university became involved in the three
stages of the campus networking project
to connect all university buildings via
a fiber optic network (Giga bandwidth) and
upgraded its facilities, including the network
backbone switch, computer labs’ software
and hardware, and the library automation
system. In addition, it developed an administrative
computer system to facilitate the processing
of administrative affairs. In order to promote
the efficiency of administrative services
and the quality of computer instruction,
the campus-wide wireless network was completed;
a division of Digital Instruction was also
established as a subordinate unit of the
center in 2006. The goal of establishing
an e-campus will be fulfilled in the near
future. |
