Research in library and information science in Japan, CDNLAO Newsletter 60

CDNLAO Newsletter

Index of this issue

No. 60, November 2007

Special topic: Research in library and information science

Research in library and information science in Japan

by National Diet Librar

Introduction
1. Schools of Library and Information Science
2. Associations
3. Government Agencies
4. National Library
5. Recent research trends
Reference

Introduction

The history of research in “library science” in Japan dates back to the late 1800s when libraries were imported from the West, whereas research in “library and information science (LIS)” started in 1967. This article outlines a brief overview of LIS research in Japan after 1967, especially in recent years.

LIS research in Japan is divided into two prominent types: one is carried out by researchers in universities, and the other by library practitioners. Both of them are further diversified according to library types and subjects. This article focuses on institutions or organizations conducting research on a nationwide scale and across library types. It also introduces research activities by the National Diet Library (NDL) and recent trends in LIS research.

1. Schools of Library and Information Science

It is said that the birth of an institution conducting research under the name of LIS was in 1967 when Keio University a private university, set up a master’s program in its graduate school. In 1951, it opened the first college-level school of librarianship in Japan The first doctoral program in LIS was also established in this university in 1975. Thus Keio University has been a leading institute in the field of LIS education and research.

The University of Library and Information Science, a national university, has also taken a leading role in LIS education and research. It was founded in 1979, and set up master’s and doctoral programs in 1984 and in 1999 respectively. After being consolidated with the University of Tsukuba in 2002, it changed its name to "Graduate School of Library, Information and Media Studies, University of Tsukuba," continuing LIS education and research. A master’s degree in LIS (MLS/MLIS) is not required to become a qualified librarian in Japan, unlike the United States. Including these two universities, some 10 universities offer a master’s and/or doctoral LIS program to provide professional education and conduct research.

2. Associations

There are some research associations in LIS, such as the Japan Society of Library and Information Science (JSLIS), the Mita Society for Library and Information Science and the Nippon Association for Librarianship (NAL). Aiming at contributing to the promotion and development of LIS, the JSLIS was founded in 1953 under the name of the “Japan Society of Library Science” and changed to its current name in 1998. It publishes the Journal of Japan Society for Library and Information Science. The number of individual members was 735 as of March 31, 2007. The Mita Society for Library and Information Science was organized as “Mita Society of Library Science” mainly for professors and alumni/ae of Keio in 1963 and renamed to the existing designation in 1968. (The main campus of Keio is at Mita, Tokyo.) It publishes the journal Library and Information Science and had 446 individual members as of March 2007. The NAL is the oldest and the largest research organization in Japan set up in 1946, even though it does not employ the word “LIS” in its name. Its objective is to conduct research in library science, and to disseminate it. It publishes The Library World and had 917 individual members as of March 25, 2007. Every journal described above includes peer-reviewed articles.

The Japan Library Association (JLA) and the Information Science and Technology Association Japan (INFOSTA) are professional organizations covering the whole nation and across libraries which conduct LIS research. The JLA is the largest professional organization in Japan. Individual members, divisions organized by library types, and committees by subjects work on research activities. Additionaly, as an organization, the Planning and Research Department makes statistics of public and academic libraries across Japan. It also investigates various actual conditions of libraries. The INFOSTA is an organization for information professionals. Special Groups and the Standardization Committee, as well as individual members, conduct research activities. Both the JLA and the INFOSTA publish their study outcomes in each journal,Libraries Today(Gendai no Toshokan) and The Journal of Information Science and Technology Association (Joho no Kagaku to Gijutsu) respectively.

There are also several organizations according to library types, such as the Japan Association of National University Libraries JANUL), the Japan Association of Private University Libraries (JASPUL), the National Council of Public Libraries, the Japan School Library Association (JSLA) and the Japan Special Libraries Association (JSLA). In addition to these, a number of library organizations exist and carry out research activities: organizations for staff members in large-sized libraries; organizations by library types; organizations by subject including catalogs, history of libraries and services for foreigners residing in Japan.

Some academic researchers conduct not only research in LIS but in related fields, e.g., information science.

3.Government Agencies

It is the Ministry ofEducation,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology (MEXT) which fomulates and implements policies concerning public, university and school libraries. In MEXT, the Social Education Division of the Lifelong Learning Policy Bureau, the Information Division of the Research Promotion Bureau and the Student Affairs Division of the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau respectively conduct statistical and actual condition surveys of public,university and school libraries.

The National Institute of Informatics(NII) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) are also engaged in research activities. The NII seeks to a dvance R&p;D activities in information-related fields and create, as an inter-university research institute, an academic-information infrastructure. It investigates databases of academic information created by universities such as institutional repositories, and “NACSIS-CAT/ILL,” a system for constructing union catalog databases and supporting inter-library loan in which major universities participate, and others. The JST is a core organization for implementing Japan's science and technology policy. In connection with the LIS area, it conducts research on promoting the dissemination of science and technology information.

4. National Library

From the beginning, the NDL has been engaged in the collection, organization, provision and preservation of materials relating to libraries issued inside and outside Japan

In 1951, the Library opened the Library Science Materials Room as a reading room for library users and Library staff members. (Now the materials relating to libraries and LIS are provided in the Humanities Room of the Tokyo Main Library, and the General Collections Room of the Kansai-kan of the NDL, instead of the Library Science Materials Room.)

Compared with this, institutional investigations and research on libraries lagged behind. In 1959 the Library set up the Library Science Office and in the following year launched the premiere issue of the NDL Library Science Series carrying the results of investigations and research by the Library staff. In 1979, the Library Science Office was replaced by the Library Information Office,which became responsible also for collecting and providing information on libraries. At the same time, Current Awareness, a bulletin of libraries and LIS, was first published.

In 1984, the Library Information Office was abolished and the Library Science Materials Room for a time took over its role. In 1986, the Institute Library and Information Science, the first body engaging in investigations and research under the name of “LIS,” entered into existence.

The activities of the Institut of Library and Information Science include running the Library Information Room, editing and publishing NDL Library Science Series and Current Awareness, and conducting various investigations and research projects in collaboration with external experts.

In 2002, taking the opportunity of the opening of the Kansai-kan of the NDL, the Research and Information Section, Library Support Division, succeeded to the roles of the Institute of Library and Information Science; investigation and research in LIS. The section, consisting of three staff members, collects information on libraries and LIS, conducts investigations and research, and edits and provides the results.

The purposes of investigative research on libraries and LIS are as follows:

To conduct investigative research on various practical challenges which would be contributing to improve administration, management and services of the NDL and various other libraries,
To conduct investigative research which would point to future directions and new perspectives of coordination and cooperation among libraries and other information-related institutions,
To conduct investigative research which would be beneficial to bring forward partnership between library management and LIS research.

In the light of these objectives, the section picks up one or two themes each year, entrusts them to private think tanks, and have them organize a team consisting of experts on LIS. The following are research themes of recent years:

Overseas trends in library services for people with print disabilities in the digital environment (2002)
Collection and dissemination of scientific and technical information in the digital information environment (2003-2004)
Training programs for library staff (2003-2004)
Collection evaluation (2005)
Local collections (2006)
Information behavior of children and young adults (2007)

In addition to the Research and Information Section, other departments conduct investigative research which is pertinent to the line of each kind of work. Some of them are

The long-term accessibility of packaged digital publication (2003-2004)
Survey on deterioration of Japanese books published from 1950 to 1999 (2005-2006)

Both of their results have been issued as NDL Research Report, of which the former has an English version.
The staff of the Research and Information Section collects information relating to libraries and LIS through the Web, journals and others every day, for providing it in the following media run by the section.

Current Awareness-R : a blog introducing news in the library world and new research literature in LIS, etc. (update every working day as needed)
Current Awareness-E : an e-mail newsletter introducing a brief overview of important news, research literature, etc. (semimonthly)
Current Awareness : a journal reviewing hot topics, trends of the library world, research directions of LIS, etc. (quarterly)

The Current Awareness Portal where all of the above publications are provided was opened to the public in 2006. This portal site is built with a free, open source content management system (CMS) “XOOPS” and RSS is used to publish What’s New. All volumes and articles of the NDL Research Report, Current Awareness-E and Current Awareness-R, and articles in and after June 1989 of Current Awareness are available free of charge.

Development of an English version of the Current Awareness Portal is under consideration.

5. Recent research trend

As for LIS research in Japan,methods of study are becoming more multifaceted in response to increasing interest in a wide range of research objects. We can see lively research activities: a number of presentations on the results of studies are delivered by graduate students and librarians as well as researchers in universities.

One of ambitious and across-library-type projects conducted recently is “LIPER: Library and Information Professions and Educations Renewal” (FY2003 - FY2005). Over 30 researchers in LIS affiliated with the JSLIS participated in this research to analyze LIS education and training programs for library staff in and to clarify the guidelines for reconstructing those programs. Since FY2006, a four-year scheme of follow-up and feasibility research of LIPER has been carried out under the name “LIPER2.”

In a similar fashion, there is a joint research of the JSLIS called “EBA: Evidence based approach in library and information science research.” It has been conducted since FY2006 in a two-year scheme with the aim of specifying the relationships between approach and evidence in LIS and establishing “Evidence Based Librarianship” in Japan

A great deal of other research has been carried out on pending issues for every type of library, including: outsourcing and privatization of library work caused by the fiscal predicament of local authorities and universities; increasing average age of library staff and unbalanced workforce as a result of a decrease of new hiring; a massive baby boomer retirement(born around the late 1940s).

In public libraries, research on providing local information and business support services draws increasing attention. In university libraries, research on the distribution and accumulation of academic resources, especially electronic journals and institutional repositories, and open access, has been actively pursued.

.Moreover, increasing numbers of researches are being carried out on the following themes: users’ information-seeking behaviors, library evaluation, evaluation of papers using bibliometric methods, text categorization, training programs for librarians, and Web 2.0 and the next generation Online Public Access Catalogs (OPAC).

Reference

Toshokan Joho Handbook Henshu IInkaiToshokan Johogaku Handbook. 2nd ed., Maruzen, 1999, 1145p.

Nihon Toshokan Joho Gakkai Kennkyu IInkai. Toshokan Johogaku Kenkyu to Sono Shien Taisei. 1998, 88p.

http://plng.p.u-tokyo.ac.jp/text/Kenkyui.html, (accessed 2007-10-04) (Japanese)

Shinji Mine; Shuichi Ueda; Makiko Miwa. Nihon no Toshokan Joho Bunya no Kyouin no Keireki to Ronbun Seisansei. Library and Information Science. 2006, (55), p. 71-82. (Japanese)

Institute of Library and Information Science. Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan ni Okeru Kenkyu/kenshu Kinou no Jujitsu ni Mukete: Kokuritsu Toshokan tosite no Yakuwari. 273p. (NDL Library Science Series, 36). (Japanese)

School and Information Science, Keio University

http://www.slis.keio.ac.jp/index_e.html, (accessed 2007-10-04)

Graduate School of Library,Information and Media Studies

http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/english/organization/graduate/0307.html,

(accessed 2007-10-04)

Japan Society of Library and Informaiton Science

http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/jslis/, (accessed 2007-10-04) (Japanese)

Mita Society for Library and Information Science

http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/mslis/, (accessed 2007-10-04) (Japanese)

Nippon Association for Librarianship

http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/nal/, (accessed 2007-10-04) (Japanese)

Japan Library Association