Dear teachers, students and alumni from home and abroad,

It's a new year. Everything is new. On the occasion of bidding farewell to the old year and ushering in the new, on behalf of the school Party committee and administration, I would like to send my best wishes for the new year to all teachers, students and staff, retired comrades, as well as to the overseas alumni and people from all walks of life who have been concerned about and supported the development of the School of Information Management.

The about to go 2019 was a crucial year for the school to accelerate its efforts to achieve the initial goal of building “Double First-rate” programmes. Over the past year, staff and students of the school have been working hard, carrying out reform and innovation, forging ahead, and making solid progress in various fields.

In 2019, a new chapter of academic programme construction was completed. The construction of Library Information and Data Science has been making steady progress as a "Double First-rate" programme. The traditional advantaged programme Library Information and Archives Management and its second-level programmes continued to improve. E-commerce, Digital Publishing, Data Science and other emerging disciplines rise strongly. We have successfully held Mr. Feizhang Peng’s Academic Thoughts Seminar, The New Era Library Science Education Seminar and the National Library Science Doctoral Students Forum and Library, Information and Archives Management Postgraduate Education Forum, Library, Information and Archives Management Young Scholars Forum, and a series of important academic conferences. The extension of disciplines has been further expanded and the influence has been constantly enhanced.

In 2019, new achievements were made in team building. We adhered to the strategy of strengthening the school by attracting and motivating talents and attached equal importance to introduction and cultivation. The quantity and quality of high-level talents were further expanded. 

In 2019, we reached another peak in scientific research. More than 25 million yuan research funds was awarded. One innovation group project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China was approved, which was the first time for the Library information and archives management discipline in China. There was one project and four research projects of National Key R&D Program of China of Ministry of Science and Technology of the People´s Republic of China; four major bidding projects of the National Social Science Fund of China, accounting for one-third in the field of Library information and archives management in China and Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines at the university; two major projects of Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, accounting for two-thirds of the total number of the university; One major special project of Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. The number of high-level international academic papers had new increase, many of which were published in important publication such as People's Daily and the theoretical version of Guangming Daily.

In 2019, the quality of talent education was improved. We insisted on stimulating teachers' enthusiasm in teaching and students' initiative in independent learning and scientific research. 6 teachers were selected into College Teaching Steering Committee of Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. We also won one of the Special Prize of Teaching Achievement Award of Wuhan University. 2 teachers were awarded the "Outstanding Teaching Contribution Award of President" and "Outstanding Contribution Award of President on Graduate Education" respectively. Our school won the title of "Advanced Unit of Learning Style Construction", and the GPA of doctoral research achievements ranked secondly in the university and firstly in Humanities and Social Sciences. We insisted on diversifying the development of students. There was one undergraduate chosen as the first group of volunteers in the "Chinese Youth Volunteer Overseas Service Plan — Serving the UN Agency Project", who was the only person in Wuhan University. Additionally, we won the school discipline competition project approval of China National College Student "Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship" Challenge and was awarded the first prize in the 9th of this event; obtained the national gold medal of the 5th China College Students’ "Internet Plus" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition; won the Advanced Unit of Communist Youth League Work of the University; and other honors such as Excellent Graduate Student Union of the University, the Outstanding Organizational Unit of Graduate Practice Education of the University, the Advanced Collective of "Sunshine Sports" of the University and the Advanced Unit of Employment Evaluation of the University. Students of the School of Information Management wrote qualified answers for the times with practical achievements.

In 2019, opening up to the outside world took on a new look. We left for France to hold Wuhan University's the 4th Overseas Academic Week: The Flow and Protection of Culture and Civilization, the 6th International Conference on Publishing Industry and Publishing Education in the Digital Era, and had elaborate preparations for the upcoming ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL) in 2020, ASIS&T Asia-Pacific Regional Conference and other important international academic conferences, carried out solid global work of core journals list selection of Library Information Science. The faculty has actively participated in major international events and programme development. One professor participated in the 4th China-EU Innovation Cooperation Dialogue as a member of the Chinese expert group at the China-EU summit. One professor was elected as a permanent member of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI). Two professors were elected into iSchools Data Science and Digital Humanities Teaching Committee, and two professors were elected into DCMI Teaching Committee. We also jointly applied with international partners and was approved by Mellon Foundation. With frequent international exchanges, our school invited dozens of internationally renowned experts and scholars to visit and give lectures, and sent dozens of teachers and students abroad to attend academic conferences, academic research or visiting. The school's international academic influence and reputation was further improved.

In 2019, we made new progress in social service. Faculty members actively participated in academic and practical events in the fields of Library, Archives, Publishing and E-commerce, providing technical and theoretical support to the industry.

In 2019, the school took on a new look. Teaching support capability was significantly enhanced and the branch library was opened all week along. The experiment center was allocated 3.5 million yuan of construction funds for improving the basic conditions of running schools by the central government in 2020; For the first time, Journal of Information Resources Management was selected as a source journal of Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI). The infrastructure of the school building was upgraded, making the teaching and research environment more comfortable and modern. The atmosphere of unity, democracy and progress was more intense. The preparation for the 100th anniversary of the school has been carried out in an orderly way. The "Teachers and Students' Luncheon" built a communication bridge between teachers and students. Moreover, we won the title of "Advanced Secondary Trade Union of the University"...The sense of gain and happiness of teachers, students and staff were further enhanced.

These achievements were the result of pioneering creation, pragmatic entrepreneurship and innovation led by all teachers, students and staff, as well as the strong support of the school and friends from all walks of life. I am proud of your dedication and commitment to excellence.

The picture of history should be spread out in the challenge of time. Wonderful chapters should be written by hardworking and seizing the day and siezing the hour. Dear teachers and students, the year 2020 will be the centennial anniversary of our school. It will also be the final year of the implementation of the 13th Five-year Plan, and the year of the acceleration of the school's initial goal of building “Double First-rate” programmes. In new year, let's take celebrate the 100th anniversary as an opportunity to struggle with the urgency of "Time and tide wait for no man", the mission of "Who but myself can do it" and the responsibility of undertaking the burden in order to devote ourselves to “Double First-rate” construction basing on the spirit of overcoming difficult challenge and self-motivated forward. Hand in fascinating answers satisfying teachers and students, the time and people!

Happy New Year to you all! Wish you good health, all the best and a happy family!

Qing Fang

Dean of the School of Information Management, Wuhan University