No. 123, February 2002｜National Diet Library

National Diet Library Newsletter

No. 123, February 2002

International Conference on the Enhancement
of Information Availability for Scholarly
Resources in Japanese Studies

by Yuri Chiyo
Senior Reference Librarian, Special Materials Department

Introduction

On December 17 and 18, 2001, the "International Conference on the Enhancement of Information Availability for Scholarly Resources in Japanese Studies," sponsored by the Japan Foundation (JF) and co-sponsored by the International House of Japan and the National Diet Library (NDL), was held at the International House of Japan, Tokyo. More than 110 people from Japan and other countries who are engaged in academic and information affairs participated in this conference.

Conference photo

As Japanese economic development and internationalization progresses, so the fields of Japanese studies abroad have been extending from traditional humanities and Japanology that concentrate on Japanese culture to social science. Recent movements of interdisciplinary study and globalization have meant that scholarly resources have progressed from conventional documents and records to current Japanese information including numerical data and various information such as audiovisual materials. Information and communications technology such as the Internet is making giant strides because of the demand for direct use of primary sources.

Against this background, aimed at ensuring international access to the resources in Japanese studies and improving information infrastructure, the "Training Program for Japanese Studies Librarians" (the name was "Training for senior librarians in Japanese studies" in the first and the second year) started in 1997. Participants were Japanese studies librarians who were working outside Japan. The Japan Foundation and the NDL sponsored this five-year project and 64 people from 25 countries participated from 1997 to 2001. For reports of this program, please see below.

Three-week training was held in cooperation with the National Institute of Informatics (former NACSIS) and the International House of Japan and trainees studied basic tools for Japanese studies and made contact with present-day Japan. The most significant result of this training is a network of Japanese studies librarians all over the world. In the annual conference of the European Association of Japanese Resource Specialists (EAJRS), October 2000, a special session on this training program was held and an appeal for its continuation was made. A similar request came also from the U.S.

Based on the results of the five-year training program, this conference aimed at confirming the future direction of the project and strengthening the cooperation among information-related organizations such as library, archive and museum. In the conference, the trend of Japanese studies in the 21st century and the problems of scholarly resources were discussed.

Program

Session I: Primary Materials for Academic Research: As Seen by Japan Specialists
Moderator: Izumi Koide (International House of Japan)
Philip Brown	Ohio State University	"Multi-Layered and Globalized Use of Primary Sources for Academic Research"
John Campbell	University of Michigan	"Quantitative Data: Progress But Still Problems"
Paolo Calvetti	Oriental University Institute of Naples	"An Ideal Library-Archive Network in the 21st Century"
Peter Panzer	University of Bonn	"The Situation of Japanese Libraries in Central Europe"
Rikki Kersten	Leiden University	"Research and Primary Sources"
William Coaldrake	University of Melbourne	"Buildings Lie!: Substantial and/or Ephemeral Research Materials in the History of Japanese Architecture"

Session II: Mediating between Scholars and Information on Primary Materials: As Seen by Japanese Studies Librarians
Moderator: Izumi Koide (International House of Japan)
Eizaburo Okuizumi	University of Chicago	"Access to Large-Scale Primary Sources for Japanese Studies: Experiences in Finding, Mediating, Researching, and Producing Them"
Sachie Noguchi	University of Pittsburgh	"Seeking for Access to Primary Sources: Solved and Unsolved"
Rob Britt	University of Washington	"Access to Japanese Laws and Precedents in the U.S."
Noboru Koyama	University of Cambridge	"Research Materials for Japanese Studies in Great Britain"
Paul Wijsman	Leiden University	"Current Status of Japanese Studies Libraries in Dutch Universities"
Michelle Hall	University of Melbourne	"Researchers and Primary Sources Seen from Australia"

Session III: Issues As Seen by Overseas Users
Moderator: Hisamichi Yamazaki (Chuo University)

Questions/answers and discussion on Sessions I and II

Session IV: Providing Resources for Academic Research in Japan: Archives, Libraries, Museums and Their Networks
Moderator: Mieko Hirano (National Diet Library)
Masahito Ando	National Institute of Japanese Literature	"Research and Education in Archive Studies in Japan: How to Contribute to the International Community in the 21st Century"
Tetsuya Ohama	National Archives of Japan	"Issues in the Housing and Use of Research Materials for Japanese Studies"
Akio Takamizawa	Tokyo National Museum	"Trends and Issues in Providing Information on Museum Collections"
Hiroaki Kaneko	Tokyo National Museum	"On the Use of Digital Information in Museums: The Case of the Digital Archives of Horyuji Treasures"
Akira Miyazawa	National Institute of Informatics	"Current and Future Information Services Provided by the National Institute of Informatics"
Yuri Chiyo	National Diet Library	"New Developments in the User Services of the National Diet Library"

Session V: Linking Users and Providers
Moderator: Hisamichi Yamazaki (Chuo University)
Questions/answers on Session IV and overall discussion

Summary

December 17, 2001
Session I
Primary Materials for Academic Research: As Seen by Japan Specialists

Speakers had been requested to report on the environments of scholarly resources seen by end users under the theme of "study and primary sources," paying attention to the kind of resources (era, media and place of holding), area of usage (Japan only? international? limited by era? exhaustive?) and the difficulty level of search or access for a resource's information and location. Moderated by Ms. Izumi Koide, six scholars from abroad reported the trend and problems of Japanese studies in each country or university.

Prof. Philip Brown (Ohio State University) made a presentation on a survey sent via the Internet to 4,000 Japanese studies scholars (responses: 325). Questions were on kind of resources, scholar's experience in the library, archive or museum in Japan, what they wanted to such institutions etc. This interesting survey shows the trend of Japanese studies. Prof. John Campbell (University of Michigan) pointed out problems of providing statistical data on Japan. On cooperation and networking among information-related organizations, Prof. Paolo Calvetti (Oriental University Institute of Naples) suggested a multiple union catalog, and Prof. Rikki Kersten (Leiden University) suggested the "Digi-mura," ideal system of integration/ exchange of scholarly resources.

Session II
Mediating between Scholars and Information on Primary Materials: As Seen by Japanese Studies Librarians

In this session, speakers also had been requested to report focusing on openness and sharing of information as an intermediary between scholars and information, paying attention to the difference of usage of the primary sources in Japan and each speaker's country, the importance of the primary resources in higher education and academic activity, Japanese studies scholars' personal examples of searching primary resources, and navigation of database and electronic materials. Librarians supporting Japanese studies abroad reported from their respective standpoints. These six librarians were trainees of the past "Training for senior librarians in Japanese studies." Ms. Koide also moderated this session.

Session III
Issues As Seen by Overseas Users

Prof. Hisamichi Yamazaki moderated this session. All the speakers of Session I and II answered questions from participants and there was a lively exchange of views.

December 18, 2001
Session IV
Providing Resources for Academic Research in Japan: Archives, Libraries, Museums and Their Networks

Expansion of and interdisciplinary research in the Japanese studies abroad have taken not only traditional resources but everything as objects of study. The purpose of this session was to clarify problems and challenges by comprehending the present status of library, museum, archive and research institutes in Japan. Six speakers representing different institutes reported their organization's present status, challenges and problems in providing resources. Ms. Mieko Hirano, Director of the NDL's Institute of Library and Information Science, moderated this session.

Session V
Linking Users and Providers

The last session featured questions and answers on Session IV and a general discussion by all participants. Prof. Yamazaki also moderated this session. Main questions were on: the newly opened Japan Center for Asian Historical Records, the digital archives of the Horyuji Treasures (Tokyo National Museum), the price of databases, the ideal collection database, the necessity and ways of cooperation among researchers, archivists and librarians, archivist training problems in Japan, and the necessity of training for Japanese Studies Librarians.

Recommendations

In order to continue discussing problems and actualizing challenges that were referred to in this conference, five recommendations were made.

Recommendations of the International Conference on the Enhancement of Information Availability for Scholarly Resources in Japanese Studies

1. Responding to the expanding use of primary sources for Japanese studies, there is a strong need to consolidate information resources on materials housed in libraries, archives, museums, etc.; the frameworks for organization, preservation, and management of these information resources should be chosen in consideration of borderless use.

2. It is strongly recommended that access service and a navigation function be established for information resources and source materials in Japan, of both integrated and subjective scope.

3. It is strongly felt that digitized materials require appropriate indexes, catalogs, and links in order to make possible full use of the search function.

4. The immediate resolution of institutional and technical issues regarding access to digitized materials in Japan is strongly sought.

5. Education and continuous training are increasingly crucial for information specialists -- who are the intermediary between researchers and information resources, and who organize source materials professionally -- particularly when considering the current expansion and diversification of information resources and media.

Conclusion

I participated in this conference as a speaker in Session IV and reported on the new services of the NDL from FY2002.

In October 2002, the Kansai-kan of the NDL will open and user services of the NDL will be expanded widely. Users will be able to search more materials via the Internet and access more primary resources such as 30,000 volumes of Japanese books printed in the Meiji era. Requests for photoduplication service and book reservation service will also be available via our web site. Such kind of expansion of services was welcomed with high expectations by the participants of the conference.

The Library will provide convenient, rapid and high quality services for users. For new services of the Library, please see here (Japanese / English).

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