To continuously strengthen master's students' foundational research capabilities and respond to the practical needs of the interdisciplinary field of tourism management in literature acquisition, academic norms, and data management, the FITM and the CityU Library have, for consecutive years, jointly offered a special lecture titled "Scientific Database Application Training" for master's students at the beginning of the new semester. This September, multiple training sessions were held over two weeks. Through librarian-led presentations and hands-on practice, they helped master's students improve their literature literacy and awareness of research norms. Compared with general database presentations, this year’s training placed greater emphasis on disciplinary specificity. It covered the use of the university’s electronic resources and various databases, the operation of the reference management software EndNote, and instructions on using the graduate academic plagiarism-checking system. Teacher Wen Huitong, drawing on culture and tourism research topics, demonstrated live the reverse construction of search strategies, the creation of an EndNote library, and integrated formatting for manuscript submission, guiding students to internalize these methods as lasting research habits.

Dr. Esther Kou IokTeng, Master's Programme Coordinator of FITM, said that scheduling such training at the beginning of the semester for three consecutive years reflects the idea of  treating reference management as the starting point of professional research training and arranging it systematically. FITM particularly thanks Library Director Shi Limei and Librarian Ms. Wen Huitong for their strong support of this training. At the same time, the lectures customized by the department and provided by the librarians received positive feedback of improvement of quality and effectiveness.

Dr. Esther Kou IokTeng expressed gratitude to Ms Wen Huitong

During the seminar

The Faculty of International Tourism and Management has always been committed to delivering support at every stage of the research process of students. From literature literacy training at the beginning of enrolment, to guidance on academic norms in thesis writing, and further to formatting and plagiarism-check requirements at the submission stage, it has gradually built a research support system that runs through the entire postgraduate training process. In the future, FITM will continue to provide training jointly with the CityU Library, promote the regularisation and institutionalisation of literature literacy education, enable literature resources to better serve postgraduate students’ learning and research, and provide strong support for enhancing their research capabilities and ensuring the quality of postgraduate training.

Student Reflections:

Master of International Hotel Management 1 year student, Lin Jingxuan

I gained a great deal from attending this training, which provided a comprehensive introduction to the CityU Library's various services, print collections, and electronic resources, and systematically explained how to use literature search methods, helping me quickly become familiar with the CityU Library's resources. Whether for daily professional study or data research during competition preparation, solid information literacy is an important academic foundation. This event effectively filled my gaps in resource retrieval methods and genuinely improved my efficiency in study and competition preparation. I thank the CityU Library teachers for their detailed sharing. In the future, I will continue to follow the lecture schedule, fully apply what I have learned to my studies and competition practice, and make flexible use of the CityU Library's resources to support my learning.

Master of International Hospitality and Tourism Management 1 Year student, Cui Huaxiao

Thanks to FITM for arranging the training and to the librarian for the presentation. The librarian not only clearly explained the access paths and search techniques for Chinese and foreign-language electronic resources, but also covered the full workflow—from citation management and subject-specific services to off-campus access and plagiarism-checking systems. The training also provided detailed introductions to seminar room reservation rules and inter-university interlibrary loan, giving me a more well-rounded understanding of the CityU library’s multidimensional support system. The session helped me break through my previous bottlenecks in information research, literature archiving, and academic resource integration. When completing assignments and conducting independent research, these practical tools have genuinely improved my study and research efficiency.

Master of International Hospitality and Tourism Management 1 Year student, Wang Luyi

The CityU library training gave me a systematic understanding of the CityU Library’s resource system. Previously, I mostly relied on public search engines to find materials. Through the training, I learned about professional channels such as the Primo VE one-stop discovery system, MALA Hub, and off-campus access via VPN. The CityU library also provides services such as seminar room reservations, interlibrary loans, and electronic document delivery, which have effectively supported my daily study and research. In the future, when writing papers, I will prioritize the CityU library’s relevant resources to make my information searches more standardized and efficient.

Written by | Yu Xiaoxiao
Edited by | Wang Yaqi
Reviewed by | Esther Kou IokTeng
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Contact: fitminfo@cityu.edu.mo