libraries and institutions
TRANSCRIPT
Journal of East Asian Libraries Journal of East Asian Libraries
Volume 1993 Number 98 Article 8
2-1-1993
Libraries and Institutions Libraries and Institutions
Marianne Kasica
William Wong
Eiji Yutani
Richard T. Wang
Liz Morris
See next page for additional authors
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jeal
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Kasica, Marianne; Wong, William; Yutani, Eiji; Wang, Richard T.; Morris, Liz; Steinberg, David; and Wu, Eugene (1993) "Libraries and Institutions," Journal of East Asian Libraries: Vol. 1993 : No. 98 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jeal/vol1993/iss98/8
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of East Asian Libraries by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected].
Libraries and Institutions Libraries and Institutions
Authors Authors Marianne Kasica, William Wong, Eiji Yutani, Richard T. Wang, Liz Morris, David Steinberg, and Eugene Wu
This article is available in Journal of East Asian Libraries: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jeal/vol1993/iss98/8
LIBRARIES AND INSTITUTIONS
Chinese Information and Culture Center Library Established
Founded in May 1991 the Chinese Information and Culture Center Library offers materials dealing with the political, economic, cultural, social development, and contemporary foreign relations of the Republic of China. It also covers the subjects of the history, language, literature, art, philosophy, and religion of China. Its holdings amount to over 30,000 items that includes reference, folio, juvenile, and microfilm collections.
The library also has special collections of Republic of China government documents and of audiovisual materials. It subscribes to 300 journals and forty-five newspapers published in the Republic of China and the United States. Its computerized information services include the Research Libraries Information Network, DataTimes news retrieval, Central News Agency Retrieval System, and an electronic information file.
To assist patrons with the use of all this information are a knowledgeable group of specialists. The staff of this library consists of Vicky Tseng, Coordinator; Librarians Shi-Ru Lin, Verna Tang, and Anna Liou; and Library Assistants Lan-May Chen, Alice Liao, and Wan-Pi Yang. The library is open to the public from Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The location, address, and contact information for the library follows:
Chinese Information and Culture Center Library 1230 Avenue of the Americas (between 48th and 49th Streets) New York, NY 10020-1579 Tel: 212-373-1841
212-373-1843 Fax: 212-373-1866
(Adapted from an information sheet sent in by Maureen Donovan.)
CONSER-CJK Cataloging at the University of Pittsburgh
In April 1992, the University of Pittsburgh began to catalog Chinese serials using the Chinese-Japanese-Korean (CJK) vernacular fields in Cooperative Online Serials program (CONSER) serial records. We seized this opportunity because we had a cataloger with both serials cataloging and Chinese-language skills, and the University Library System placed a priority on loading our CJK serials into our NOTTS online system. Once we received Appendix O of the CONSER Editing Guide, which provides the guidelines on editing CONSER-CJK records, we were able to begin.
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The initiation of the project was somewhat complex. We asked our CONSER contacts at the Library of Congress (LC) if they would agree to have a cataloger review our first set of records before updating. We wanted this immediate feedback to see if we were applying the provisions of Appendix O properly. At that time, only one cataloger at LC was working on CJK serials in the vernacular, but she agreed to look at about ten of our early records. We contacted the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) to make sure that our CONSER authorizations would work with vernacular records and with the special CJK workstations (yes on both of those). Next, we consulted our systems people to make sure that the records could be loaded into NOTIS with their vernacular fields intact. This could be done by tapeload with a CJK NOTIS loader but not with the NOTIS Generic Transfer and Overlay (GTO) function. Although NOTIS presently does not display vernacular fields, we wanted the fields to be attached to the bibliographic records in anticipation of the day when they will display or when we have a different system with this capability.
The bibliographic records follow the same rules as for other authenticated records but include the following variable fields entered a second time in the vernacular: 1XX, 240, 245, 246, 250, 260, 362, 440, 490, 580, 600-630, 651, 700-730, 765-787, and 800-830. The vernacular form must be entered for all core fields that apply, so the resulting record is usually quite long. The paired vernacular fields display only on OCLC CJK workstations (and local systems that can support them) and are invisible in OCLC PRISM records. OCLC records that have vernacular fields carry an 066 variable field and a suffix "/V" in the 010 field. In NOTIS bibliographic records, the vernacular data are held in 880 fields. These fields display in coded form and appear as jumbled letters and symbols. One problem we have noted is in record maintenance. In our desire to keep the online catalog up-to-date, we change OCLC bibliographic records and then overlay our own records using the GTO export command. This will eliminate all the 880 fields on Chinese records. Maintenance must be done by way of the tapeload only.
The project has presented many challenges. To ensure that proper CONSER practice be followed in transcribing the vernacular data, training for all the serials catalogers has been lengthy and exhaustive. All the catalogers also attend semiweekly quality review sessions to assemble and review records. We have had to reexamine many of our accustomed rules and practices when applying them to the idiosyncracies of Chinese publishing. Chronology and enumeration have been a significant problem as there are often two or three numbering and chronology systems used simultaneously or in succession on one serial title. Authority records also pose a particular problem since the romanization of characters may be interpreted differently in many cases. We have become acutely aware of the need for vernacular authority records and realize that we cannot really have authority control for Chinese headings unless we can have those headings established in their vernacular form.
Organizationally, the challenge has been to form a bridge between two different library units—the East Asian Library technical services and central technical services. Even though automation has brought these two units closer together, they have still been working quite
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independently. In spite of the difficulties, the project has been interesting and exciting, and the prospect of adding vernacular access for scholars has made the effort worthwhile. (CONSER Cooperative Online Serials Program, no. 24 (January 1993): 4; Marianne Kasica)
Australian Libraries Plan Chinese. Japanese, and Korean Library System
Five Australian universities and the National Library of Australia are currently involved in a cooperative proposal for the implementation of a nationally shared automated library system for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language resources. The Australian National University is the lead institution and the other universities involved are the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, Monash University, and Murdoch University. The aim of the proposal is to seek a solution until such time as languages written in their own scripts are catered for by the Australian Bibliographic Network.
At present, card catalogs are maintained for materials in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) which limit access, particularly remote access, to this important research resource. Automated systems are now available which can handle ideographic scripts and the potential exists to establish a nationally shared data base which will greatly enhance access to the major Australian collections in these languages.
A submission has been made by the libraries concerned to the Australian Research Council (ARC) for funding of this proposal. The proposal involves the issue of a Request for Tender (RFT) in the first half of 1993 which would be widely circulated in Australia, Asia, and North America with a final choice made from a number of possible automated systems in mid-1993 and implementation also in 1993. Each member of the consortium would also make a contribution in addition to the funding sought from the ARC, particularly for equipment such as terminals and printers. The result of the submission is expected to be known late in 1992.
The current submission follows an earlier grant during 1992 to the Australian National University on behalf of the consortium for "Assistance for a study into suitable processes to be used in managing Asian Studies collections."
The National Library, the University of Sydney, and the University of Melbourne also contributed funds. These funds were used to engage RMG/CAVAL, a Melbourne-based library consultancy firm. RMG/CAVAL developed and issued a Report for Information (RFI) in April 1992. Evaluation of the responses to the RFI indicated that there were a number of vendors developing CJK library systems which could be suitable for use as the basis of the proposed shared system.
At this stage it is intended that a meeting on the CJK project will be held early in 1993 involving the six libraries concerned plus other interested institutions. The aim of this
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workshop would be to ensure that the participants and others are kept fully informed of developments and to clarify requirements. (East Asian Library Resources Group of Australia Newsletter, no. 23 (November 1992): 12-13)
University of California. Irvine. East Asian Collection Reaches 50.000 Mark
On December 21,1992, the East Asian Collection reached the 50,000th volume mark. This latest acquisition is a facsimile reproduction of a master work, Ch'ang chiang wan li fu-%^
iS ( t n e T e n Thousand Mile Landscape of the Yangtze River) by Ta-chien Chang J g j ^ j - (1899-1983), the most famous painter in contemporary China. Printed on a rice-paper scroll, the painting is extraordinarily large (over sixty-four feet long and almost two feet wide) and contains unusual introductory notes written by two respected calligraphers. This publication was part of a $100,000 gift contribution provided by the Shih chieh jih pao
Chinese Daily News (Los Angeles edition).
Many scholars and librarians agree that the minimum requirement for a research collection in the East Asian field is 100,000 volumes of vernacular language publications. Despite the strong foundation of the collection we have built thus far, we realize there is still much work to be done. As the Chinese proverb says, "Hsing pai li che, pan chiu shih jf-J g ^ <4L '('The midpoint of a one-hundred mile journey is the ninetieth mile." — Chan kuo ts'e
(William Sheh Wang)
University of California. San Diego. International Relations and Pacific Studies Library Receives Japan Digest
To meet the growing interest of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) students and faculty, the IR/PS Library recently began subscribing to Japan Digest, a daily summary of political, business, technology, and social issues in Japan. Most daily newspapers from Japan take more than ten days to arrive at the library. Thanks to the wonders of the fax machine, Japan Digest arrives before 8 a.m. each weekday morning. As anticipated, this prompt delivery is proving immensely popular with both students and faculty. "It's far and away the most up-to-date and informational English-language news on Japan," says one regular reader. According to an IR/PS faculty member, "It's the first thing I read in the morning."
Japan Digest is compiled and edited in Washington, D.C. by a staff of professional journalists who base the digest's contents on careful reading of Japanese-language dailies, weeklies, and monthlies, supplemented by Kyodo News Agency reports, which help them obtain up-to-the-
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minute news. Other subscribers include such major universities as Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Southern California and the University of Wisconsin, as well as such leading business firms as Citicorp and Morgan Stanley. Key federal government offices, including the White House and the State, Defense, and Commerce Departments, have also joined the ranks of Japan Digest subscribers. {PacificScope (University of California, San Diego) 3, no. 2 (January 1993); Eiji Yutani)
IR/PS Library Receives Final Shipment of Universal Book Company Volumes
The third and final shipment of the Universal Book purchase recently arrived at the IR/PS Library, thus concluding our first large purchase of Chinese books. Like the previous two shipments, this shipment of 4,000 books has broad subject coverage in the humanities and social sciences and will further strengthen our Chinese studies collection. The materials, which total some 12,000 books, are being housed in the Library Annex. They will be reviewed and selected items will soon be processed for public use. (PacificScope (University of California, San Diego) 3, no. 2 (January 1993); Richard Wang)
Academia Sinica Library and the University of California. San Diego. Library Achieve Mutual Access to Their Online Catalogs
The Academia Sinica Library of Taipei and the University of California, San Diego, Library can now electronically access each other's online catalogs. This multilanguage communication — made possible through the cooperation between the technical staffs of the two libraries — will expedite interlibrary loans and other bibliographic services across the Pacific. Bibliographic data can now travel quickly, efficiently, and economically over the Internet, a network that connects academic institutions in many countries. The IR/PS Library will continue development of other multilanguage communication on international networks. For those interested in the process of establishing this international connection, contact Karl Lo at the IR/PS Library for details. (PacificScope (University of California, San Diego) 3, no. 2 (January 1993); Liz Morris)
Library of Congress Hosts Korea Conference
On October 8-10, 1992, the Library of Congress hosted a major and innovative international meeting on Korean studies. Attended by some one hundred scholars and librarians from the United States and Korea, the conference, "Enhancing Korean Studies: Scholarship and Libraries," was supported by grants from the Korea Foundation.
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The purpose of this event was to define urgent and basic priority requirements in Korean Studies, including those in the field of libraries. The conference was predicated on the fact that there was a crisis in the funding of Korean studies in the United States, including both acquisition and cataloging of Korean materials. In spite of an increased interest in and need for knowledge about Korea in the context of U.S.-Korean relations, this need was not being met because of the financial problems connected with higher education and its support in the United States. Of special concern was the increase in Korean-Americans, who now number about one million.
The meeting was unique in several respects: This was the first time in Korean studies that professional librarians and scholars together attended a meeting designed to reinforce their mutual needs. Usually these groups are separate and thus the relationships between the two are ignored. One day was devoted to the specific problems of the international library community in the cataloging and access of Korean materials, as well as coping with the expanding Korean-American community and its new library and archival requirements.
The meeting was also unusual because most of the papers presented were not of the academic variety, but rather were in the form of proposals that might be funded at diverse institutions by various donors.
There were, however, three basic papers that formed the backdrop to the meeting. These were "Korean Studies in the United States: an Assessment," by Donald Clark of Trinity University; "Perceptions and Representations of Korean Culture in the United States," by Jahyun Kim Haboush of the University of Illinois; and "The Condition of Korean Collections in U.S. Libraries," by Yoon-whan Choe of the University of Washington. Plans are under consideration to publish these three papers as well as a summary of the conference.
A number of themes emerged from the conference. One was the need for improvement in Korean-language studies and materials, a prerequisite for serious work in the field. The conference recognized that there are different requirements for Korean-Americans and those who are from a non-Korean background.
Throughout the whole field, it became evident that the corps of those in Korean studies was aging and needed to be replaced by younger scholars, but that few positions were available. Thus there was considerable emphasis on the training requirements of both scholarship and library management.
Concern was expressed for the isolated scholar at the small institution who has no library materials and no support facilities for scholarly activities. The conference repeatedly emphasized that this person needs support in terms of research facilities, visiting lecturers, and academic opportunities.
Among the projects in the field of library science that the conference hopes to see funded were cooperative acquisition projects of local Korean histories, a compilation of a guide to
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Korean collections in the United States, a guide to Korean studies collections in the United States, and workshops and other opportunities for librarians on Korea to discuss mutual problems.
The conference called upon both the United States and the Republic of Korea to ensure that funding for scholarship and libraries is free from political considerations and contributes to the longer-range need in the field. Ambassador Hong-choo Hyun of the Republic of Korea noted the excellent state of U.S.-Korean relations and called for joint Korean and U.S. funding of Korean studies to continue to improve mutual knowledge of these societies.
The value of the conference will lie in the followup activities in the various proposals. A committee has been formed as an advisory body to the Korean Section of the Library of Congress to supervise these activities. (Library of Congress information bulletin 52, no. 2 (January 25, 1993): 46-47; David Steinberg)
University of California. Irvine. East Asian Collection Enhanced by Gift
The East Asian Collection has recently received a gift collection donated by Mr. Henry S. Ni of Fountain Valley, California. The major portion of the collection is a 2,000-volume collectanea entitled Ssu pu ts'ung k'an\&4f$fcj'lj (Collection of Four Libraries) which consists of facsimile reproductions of fine editions of Chinese works written before or during the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1912). In addition, Confucian classics commentaries, Ssu shu chi chu SJQ % ./£ , dynastic histories, Ssu shih ^ , and the standard dictionary, K'ang-hsi tzu tien &l ^J&L , are included. All of these books, published in the late 1920s by the Commercial Press' of Shanghai, a well-known press, are traditional stitched-bound volumes.
In the early 1940s, Mr. Ni's father, a business executive, exchanged gold bullion for these books in wartorn Shanghai. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the Chinese government confiscated all rare and old publications from private collectors and the Ni collection was no exception. Fortunately, in the early 1980s, the entire collection was returned to the original owner with only a few volumes missing. Mr. Ni's son, a certified public accountant, is an alumnus of the University of California, Irvine.
(William Sheh Wong)
Harvard-Yenching Library Receives Korea Foundation Grant
The Harvard-Yenching Library has received a grant of $100,000 from the Korea Foundation in Seoul to begin a project to convert the Library's Korean bibliographical records from manual to machine-readable form. This will be the first phase of the Harvard-Yenching Library's reconversion effort, which will eventually include Chinese and Japanese records.
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The Korean Collection at Harvard-Yenching was established in 1951. It is now the largest collection of Korean-language materials at any American university, and serves as a national resource for Korean studies. The collection includes more than 78,000 volumes, 1,500 serials, 45 newspapers, and 3,500 reels of microfilm. Three volumes of the Library's Korean catalog have been published, covering all materials cataloged to 1977. Cataloging since 1989 has been done online on the Online Computer Library Center Chinese-Japanese-Korean system. However, bibliographical records produced between 1977 and 1989 are maintained only in card form. It is this group of 17,400 records that the Library will convert with the new Korea Foundation grant. Once this project is completed, additional funds will be sought to convert earlier Korean records.
In his request to the Korea Foundation, Eugene Wu, Librarian of the Harvard-Yenching Library, wrote:
Harvard maintains the most important Korean studies program in the United States because the University has developed a preeminent Korean collection. Indeed, our Korean collection has become a national resource whose usefulness extends far beyond the geographical confines of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Making our Korean bibliographical records available online will facilitate educational and bibliographical exchange of information, and sharing our resources will also contribute to the rapidly developing computer-based scholarship and enhance cooperation among the national and international community of scholars. The net result will be the further development of Korean studies at Harvard and elsewhere.
Mr. Son Chu-Whan, President of the Korea Foundation, wrote in his grant letter to Mr. Wu:
It is my sincere wish that the Korea Foundation's grant will prove to be a wise investment toward the development and expansion of the Korea program at your institution and that it will serve as an effective engine-primer to induce support from other sources to achieve this goal.
The Korea Foundation was established in 1992 as an independent organization to promote international exchange and provide support for Korean studies abroad, with funding from both the South Korean government and private sector. The $100,000 grant to the Harvard-Yenching Library is one of the Foundation's first major grants.
The Harvard-Yenching Library has also received a $10,000 gift from the Korea Research Foundation in Seoul, as a further contribution to the Korea Research Foundation Fund established in the Harvard-Yenching Library several years ago for buying Korean-language materials. (Adapted from Harvard University Library notes, no. 1084 (January 28, 1993): 1,4; sent in by Eugene W. Wu)
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Harvard-Yenching Library Begins New Facsimile Service
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The Harvard-Yenching Library announces a new fax service for photocopy requests. The fee is $2.00 per copy (domestic) and $3.00 per copy (international) plus a $15.00 service charge. Mail orders remain at $0.10 per copy plus $15.00 service charge. If fax service is desired, please so specify when ordering and provide your fax number. The Harvard-Yenching Library's fax number is (617) 496-6008.
(Eugene W. Wu)