Library News
The Chinese Library has upgraded its library system to provide library users with better and more efficient services. We are now using the fully-integrated INNOPAC Library System. We are the first library in Singapore to purchase this system.The INNOPAC system comprises an online public access catalogue (OPAC), a circulation subsystem, ordering and receiving subsystem and catalogue main tenance subsystem.
We have named our OPAC Chinese Library INtegrated Catalogue or ChiLINC. ChiLINC is the key to the Chinese Library's collections. It holds information on the materials which are available in the Chinese Library. There are about 181,200 bibliographic records of books and serials (magazines, journals, and newspapers) in ChiLINC.
Records of microforms, videocassettes and other audiovisual materials in Chinese which are kept separately at the Reprographic Services Department and the Media Resources Department respectively will be included in ChiLINC in the future.
A great improvement of ChiLINC over the previous library system is that the bibliographic record is presented in Chinese characters instead of just Hanyu pinyin. For those who are not familiar with Hanyu pinyin their "ordeal" is over as the Chinese characters can be read on the screen.
This is made possible by using WinMASS (Multilingual Application Support Service for Windows) developed by StartGlobe Technologies, a spin-off company of the Institute of Systems Science. If you are not familiar with Hanyu pinyin, WinMASS also allows you to use other input methods, including stroke number, Cang jie and Jianyi bushou to search the database. ChiLINC allows you to search for an item in the Library through the following access points:
In addition, there is a section on library information where you are able to access other libraries in Singapore who have their catalogues available via telnet.
Once a record is retrieved, you will have the following data:
You may place reservations on those copies that are on loan, using the Request item menu from the results of your search using title, author, subject, call number, etc.
By selecting the View your circulation record option in ChiLINC, you can even check the following information pertaining to your loans :
Future enhancements will include the following :
At present, ChiLINC is accessible online only through workstations in the Chinese Library. However, by the end of the year, it will be accessible via NUSNET, the NUS campus network.
ChiLINC is user-friendly. Just read carefully and follow the step-by-step instructions and menus given at each screen. If you encounter any problems, please do not hesitate to approach the staff at the information desk of the Chinese Library.