Purpose -To document HKUST's experiences in developing its Institutional Repository and to highlight its programming developments in full-text linking and indexing, and cross institutional searching.Design/methodology/approach -This paper describes how HKUST Library planned and set up its Institutional Repository, how it acquired and processed the scholarly output, and what procedures and guidelines were established. It also discusses some new developments in systems, including the implementation of OpenURL linking from the pre-published version in the Repository to the published sources; the partnership with Scirus to enable full-text searching; and the development of a crosssearching platform for institutional repositories in Hong Kong. Findings -It illustrates whatand why some policy issues should be adopted, including paper versioning, authority control, and withdrawal of items. It discusses what proactive approaches should be adopted to harvest research output. It also shows how programming work can be done to provide usage data, facilitate searching and publicize the repository so that scholarly output can be more accessible to the research community.Practical implications -Provides a very useful case study for other academic libraries who want to develop their own institutional repositories.

PurposeThis research investigates Hong Kong academic librarians' attitudes toward robotic process automation (RPA) and their willingness to learn this technology.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study collected data through one-on-one semi-structured interviews conducted with video conferencing software. After participants received basic RPA information and three existing library application cases, they answered questions based on the interview guide. This research used the inductive thematic analysis method to analyze the collected data.FindingsRegarding Hong Kong academic librarians' attitudes towards RPA, 19 themes were identified. Although all participants did not have previous knowledge of RPA, most showed positive attitudes toward implementing RPA in their libraries and some willingness to learn it. Besides, among all identified themes, negative attitudes mainly comprised “Affect” and “Cognition” factors, hindering RPA deployment in academic libraries.Originality/valueThis research helps librarians and RPA vendors make better decisions or strategies for implementing RPA for libraries, which has not been explored, especially in East Asia.

This paper discusses why the MARC21-based authority format has failed in a global setting and details the use of XML and its related technologies to achieve global name access control.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe HKUST Library’s active participation in helping the university prepare for the 2014 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2014) in Hong Kong. Through the process the authors demonstrated library’s value and librarians’ expertise in supporting research. Design/methodology/approach – This is a case study that highlights how HKUST Library tackled this complex exercise. The effort was delineated as three stages: the design stage when the authors proactively supported the electronic system design for RAE 2014, the formation stage in which the submission infrastructure was built, and the data process stage. Findings – Based on the Library’s experience in creating and managing the Institutional Repository and the Scholarly Publication Database, the participation proved to be instrumental in designing and building the electronic infrastructure for the RAE 2014. After the project, the HKUST research community had higher trust and regard of the Library, both for the research information management systems and librarians’ expertise in providing research support service. Practical implications – The paper elaborates details of HKUST Library’s effort, including human resource deployment, project management strategy, operational tactics, challenges the authors faced and keys to success. The experience demonstrates that libraries and librarians can establish credibility and gain respect from research communities through delivering tangible outcomes. Originality/value – There is very few case studies in the literature on libraries’ participation in and contribution to RAEs. This paper fills a gap in the area.