A semester has already come to an end, and summer vacation has begun. For many Seoul National University students who are wondering how to spend their two-month break, we introduce the 'LikeSNU' service by SNU Library. As it has been a little over a year since its first introduction, we aim to explore how LikeSNU has evolved, how students have been using it, and the best ways to utilize it. To find out, we met with library officials responsible for the practical implementation of LikeSNU: Administrator Dongwon Shin, Youngmin Lim, Jaeyoon Lim, and Hyokyoung Kwon from the Division of Collections and Information Management.
LikeSNU Service Usage Guide (Left) and Interview with Division of Collections and Information Management (Right)
The LikeSNU service is a platform provided by Seoul National University that offers various book recommendations as well as educational, research, and academic guidance based on the big data of book and paper browsing histories, and lecture attendance records of SNU members. It can be accessed without separate membership registration if you have a MySNU portal ID and is also available through the LikeSNU tab on the main page of the library website.
Since its launch in February 2023, LikeSNU has undergone many changes. First, the amount of data utilized has increased significantly. While it initially analyzed and utilized 2.5 million book loan records from the past 10 years that the library held, the further enhancements have expanded the amount of data by nearly 40 times to over 105 million records. The types of data have also diversified to include not only book data but also citation information for papers and academic information. The service's functionality has been upgraded as well. Previously, it only provided book recommendations, but now it also recommends papers and lectures. Features such as ‘Knowledge Universe,’ ‘Reading Roadmap,’ ‘Exploratory Research,’ and ‘Study Planner’ have been added to attract users' interest.
Smart Reading with LikeSNU
Among the various features, the book recommendation service on LikeSNU offers an abundance of content. According to the SNU Library, some students have accessed the LikeSNU website daily to check their personalized book recommendations and used them for reading. One student shared their experience: “By borrowing and reading one of the recommended books, the related book recommendations became more refined, allowing for a deeper understanding of a particular field.” LikeSNU updates personalized book recommendations daily with 100 new titles and provides book descriptions, making it an excellent guide when you are unsure of what to read next.
Additionally, the ‘Reading Road’ and ‘Collection’ sections of LikeSNU provide more specific reading paths. The ‘Reading Road’ section suggests the order in which to read books to acquire knowledge sequentially. By entering the starting book and the desired goal book, the system recommends books that can serve as stepping stones to reach the goal book, based on the borrowing history of Seoul National University members. The ‘Collection’ section is a knowledge package in LikeSNU that bundles books, theses, and lecture content on specific topics, which users can freely create and share. Among these, the ‘Expert Collection,’ newly enhanced and launched this year, includes books recommended by professors to students, such as ‘books related to lecture topics’ or ‘general books related to research fields,’ allowing students to gain high-quality knowledge. You can find lists of recommended books and brief reviews from the recommending professors, including honorary professors and former heads of the SNU Library.
‘Reading Road’ feature of LikeSNU Webpage
‘Collection’ feature of LikeSNU Webpage
Preparing for the New Semester with LikeSNU
LikeSNU also offers features to help students prepare for the new semester during the vacation. If you are unsure which courses to take, LikeSNU provides recommendations based on your areas of interest. Furthermore, students who want to broaden their interests beyond their major or explore various fields can use LikeSNU’s ‘Knowledge Universe’ to access comprehensive information on specific topics. It allows you to see which research issues are being debated in a particular field and what related books, papers, and other resources are available. This can help you plan your studies for the upcoming semester and assist with completing assignments during the semester.
Additionally, Dongwon Shin from the Division of Collections and Information Management mentioned, “Starting from the upcoming second semester, after course registration is completed and before the semester begins, we plan to use LikeSNU’s big data analysis system to send out emails with information on ‘the most borrowed books in the last five years for the courses you have registered for’ or ‘books recommended in the syllabus’.” He added, “Referring to the materials and reading the recommended books before the semester begins will be a great help in preparing for the classes.”
Exploring the 'Knowledge Universe' at the library (left) and an example of the course-related book recommendation email to be introduced this semester (right)
Even now, LikeSNU is actively collecting and accumulating data from Seoul National University members while continuing to develop. Although there are currently various recommended book collections available on LikeSNU, collections of papers and lectures have not yet been provided. The SNU Library explained, “For papers and lectures, we hesitated to create recommended content based on fragmentary knowledge. Especially for lectures, we felt it was necessary to directly reflect the opinions of students, so we are preparing these features sequentially.” They also stated, “When we initially planned the ‘Collection’, the idea was to allow users to create their own collections, similar to music playlists. To activate and develop this, we need many Seoul National University members to use LikeSNU, so we encourage you to take an interest in and use the service.”
If you are unsure how to spend this summer vacation or want to broaden your academic horizons, why not visit the LikeSNU website of the SNU Library?
Written by Sumin Kim (Department of Korean Language and Literature),
Student Reporter, 47sumin@snu.ac.kr
Translated by Seulki Yeo (Department of Russian Language and Literature)