Pacific Salon III Town & Country Hotel and Resort, San Diego California
1.
CJM Chair Hideyuki Morimoto
called the meeting to order at 10:45 AM.
We began by introducing members of CJM who were present: Frank L. Chance
(who took minutes), Toshie Marra, and Kuniko Yamada McVey. Several handouts were
distributed.
2.
Scanned Image Data of Rare
Materials for the Kyoto University Digital Library
Mr. Keita Goto of Kyoto
University introduced the Kyoto University Digital Library, now containing more
than 140,000 images of rare materials.
The project began with a 1994 electronic exhibition, proceeded through
digitization and display of Kunijo
kabuki ekotoba in 1995, and has progressed since. Photography and
scanning are being outsourced followed by conversion of files to JPEG
format. They conducted a survey of
usage, which has been much heavier than expected, and find that primary uses
include instruction and research, but also viewing for personal leisure.
Future considerations
include investigation of how to add value to the service, methods of encoding
and translation of texts into modern Japanese and even English. They are also considering a scroll-like
continuous representation of handscroll images. They currently include a Kyoto
University logo on each screen, but are considering adding electronic watermarks
for further copyright protection.
Surprisingly, requests to see actual documents have actually increased,
raising issues of preservation and access.
3.
International ILL Operations
in Japan : the Case of Waseda University Library
Mr. Noboru Takahashi of
Waseda University introduced the international inter-library loan program of
Waseda University, along with general issues of international loans. His graphics indicated the unbalance
between institutions. The National
Diet Library is an exclusive lender, the national universities are almost
exclusively borrowers, and the private universities borrow much more than they
lend. Borrowing in general is much
more active in Japan, but not at a very high level due to accounting and
financial legal issues allowing collection of payments in yen only.
Mr. Takahashi compared the
ARL Japan Project to the ancient kurofune ships of foreign visitors, and
the NDL to the Dutch colony at Dejima.
One problem is that all branches of the Waseda library system are
designated “LWU” in WorldCat, though some branches do not circulate books even
internally, and certainly not through ILL. He noted that many requests cannot be
filled—patrons want reference works or audio-visual materials which do not
circulate, for example. Often users
request books that are available in the country of origin, or even locally! Formerly, Waseda tried to supply copies
of materials not owned by the Waseda libraries, but cannot continue that
practice due to expense.
Mr. Takahashi asked for the
cooperation of librarians from Japan and the US, looking for accord and
standardization on issues of payment, order forms, and the like. He will try to
help anyone seeking an international inter-library loan, and would like to
create an interactive international ILL directory. He strongly recommended reference to the
Interlibrary Loan Practices Handbook, 2nd edition, by Virginia
Boucher, and indicated that he is producing the Interlibrary Loan Directory and
the and International ILL Handbook
2nd edition.
4.
Workshop on Early Japanese
Illustrated Books (2000 : Freer Gallery of Art)
Ms. Reiko Yoshimura of the
Freer Gallery of Art presented a brief summary of the workshop, which was
unfortunately troubled by heavy snowfall which closed the US Government (and
hence the Freer Gallery) at the time of the workshop. She distributed a glossary and
bibliography, and described lectures by Professor Suzuki Jun on the way early
illustrated books are handled in Japan, particularly for the purpose of
cataloging, which differs somewhat from the handling in North America. Kokusho sōmokuroku and Kotenseki sōgō mokuroku are used
as tools for determining uniform titles, when books appear with variant
titles. There are ways of tracking
down just which publisher is responsible for which edition, and of establishing
at least approximate dates of production.
For example, referring to book advertisements at the back and publisher
information on the mikaeshi or okuzuke can also be helpful. Edition variations can range from re-use
of the same blocks through small corrections with ireki and umeki block inserts, to the cutting of
new blocks altogether. These
alternatives deserve cataloguers’ attention, though it may be difficult to
determine what changes were made unless there are multiple copies of the book
available. Materials from the
workshop will be translated from Japanese into English and made available on the
WWW.
5.
Fourth Japan
Foundation-National Diet Library Librarians' Training
Program
Ms. Sachie Noguchi,
University of Pittsburgh reported on this program held from January 17 to
February 4, 2000, in Tokyo. It
included 13 participants from 11 countries. The sessions on rare books and reference
materials were most helpful, and a session on newspapers was added at the
request of participants. In
particular, the materials on reference works included handouts, personal
assessment of collections, and evaluations of the most important materials. Extensive photocopies were distributed
with regard to statistical materials.
Insight into the world of
rare books came through discussion of digitization, and many materials will be
available through the Internet in the near future.
The workshop included
training in NACSIS services and discussion of future plans, including
implementation of the fully operational web version of NACSIS IR. The web version is a great improvement
over the telnet version, and readings will soon be included in WebCat records.
A special session on
international cooperation emphasized that everyone is working toward global
interaction. Internationally, we
have many shared concerns, including budgets, outsourcing, and other matters.
Site visits to national,
private, public, and special libraries rounded out the program. Some of the highlights were visits to
the National Archive, the Statistics Library, the university libraries of Waseda
and Kyōdai, the Ōsaka Prefectural Library, and the library of the Japan
Foundation.
The synergy of the program
was beautiful, and thanks were paid to the National Diet Library staff, the
Japan Foundation, NACSIS, and Izumi Koide of the International House of Japan
for their efforts in presenting the training program.
6.
Committee Member
Reports/Short Presentations
Hideyuki Morimoto briefly
described three other workshops held in the last year. He mentioned the European Association of
Japanese Resource Specialists, the International Conference on Japanese
Information in Science, Technology, and Commerce (Jōhō 6), and the workshop on
Cooperation for Japanese Library Resources Overseas.
On a rather sad note, Mr.
Morimoto reminded us that the Japan Documentation Center at the Library of
Congress will close at the end of March 2000. Responsibilities will be shifted to the
Japanese Section staff of the Library of Congress. He introduced Ms. Ichiko Morita, who
made brief remarks on the 6 years that the documentation center program existed,
beginning with two PC’s and a single telephone. Only recently, she said, had they
achieved stability at last. She
gave special thanks to Laura Wong, and to all who had worked to make the center
a success.
Mr. Morimoto continued with
remarks on the LC subject heading change from “Trade-unions” to “Labor
unions.” He noted the new syntax of
the heading used in reference to specific types of trade-unions/labor
unions. Previously, heading element
"Trade-unions" was subdivided by the types of industries; now, heading element
"Labor unions" follows occupational groups and types of employees. For instance, Trade-unions |x Railroads
|z Japan is now split into:
Railroads |x Employees |x Labor unions |z Japan ; Railroad construction
workers |x Labor unions |z Japan ; as well as NTs/RTs, Locomotive engineers,
Porters, and Telegraphers followed
by |x Labor unions |z Japan. For
instance, Iyotetsu Rōso shijūnenshi
may receive an optional subject heading:
Railroads |x Employees |x Labor unions |z Japan |z Ehime-ken |x History
|y 20th century.
Toshie Marra also brought three issues briefly to light. Two concerned rare books; she noted that previous surveys and other sources indicate the existence of a number of rare Japanese collections held by academic libraries and museums in North America. One of the problems is access to materials stored in individual libraries, as ILL is impossible and even viewing may be difficult to non-members of the hosting institutions. Rare holdings need to be clearly recognized. The National Institute of Japanese Literature (NIJL) is planning to include in the future holdings data outside of Japan in their union list database for Japanese rare materials. Individual institutions in North America are encouraged to accumulate their holdings data in preparation for submitting to NIJL in the near future.
She also mentioned
cataloging of Japanese rare materials. The Library of Congress has recently
developed brief guidelines for cataloging Japanese rare books, namely “Edoki kanpon shahon no
katarogu.” Though originally intended for internal use, copies of these
guidelines were made available through the generosity of the author, Manae
Fujishiro. If catalogers outside LC want a more expanded, formal guideline
publication written in English, LC may also be able to help on the project under
the initiative of the Committee on Japanese Materials. Ms. Marra asked
participants for comments on this issue. As to the LC’s Japanese rare book
cataloging project, the Japanese Teams will catalog some 5,300 titles, and their
records are accessible through RLIN and OCLC under the heading of Japanese Rare
Book Collection (Library of Congress).
Ms. Marra briefly discussed
the issue of bibliographic romanization, considering problems of
works in Chinese
published in Japan, Japanese works published outside of Japan, and the
like. Current
guidelines in ALA-LC Romanization
Tables are not sufficient in some cases.
While the approach
toward the issue is undecided at present, she asked for help in
collecting items of
question and issues of this nature. She also shared news that the
Cataloging Policy and
Support Office at the Library of Congress has recently reached a
consensus to have Kanbun literature classified with Japanese literature.
Kuniko Yamada McVey reported
that Harvard-Yenching Library rare books are being cataloged, and should be
completed by this June. For
Eddy Harrison, she transmitted a number of specific reference questions that he
received from patrons and answers to those questions that he provided to the
patrons. For example, a search for
the journal Arabesuku, and a
search for Japanese-American scenes in Seattle for the No-no boy Project.
Harrison also sent questions about finding daily stock quotations from the Tokyo
Stock Market, how to find the death date or mailing address for a Japanese
professor, and what authorities could be relied upon for the Latin names of
Japanese fish.
7.
Questions/Answers and
Discussion.
Yasuko Makino seconded
Toshie Marra’s comments on the need for guidelines on Japanese rare books,
especially with reference to guidelines prepared through the RLG project for
cataloging of Chinese rare materials.
Ms. Akiba rose to express
her feelings toward the closing of the Japan Documentation Center. She thanked Ms. Morita and Ms. Wong for
both their efforts and their strong emotional response to news of the
closing. Whatever the reasons for
this unfortunate turn of events, they raised the question of what should be
considered “gray literature” that should be preserved. She wanted to leave no ambiguity that LC
staff taking over does not represent a solution or finalization of these
questions and issues.
Professor Miyazawa rose to
thank Mr. Takahashi for Waseda’s participation in international ILL. ANUL and ARL have begun a project for
ILL, hoping to supplement the narrow gate currently open for ILL with the
national universities.
It was asked whether
statistics and reference materials from the NCC conference can be
distributed. Mr. Morimoto replied
that he would discuss this issue with the NCC.
Kristina Troost asked that
new Japanese Materials Librarians stand and be introduced. They included Ms. Nakamura at Washington
University in St Louis, Mr. Kamada at the University of Arizona, Ms. Bazzell at
the University of Hawaii, Ms. Yokota-Carter at the University of Washington, Ms.
McVey at the Harvard-Yenching Library, Ms. Shirafuji at the University of
Wisconsin, Ms. Wong at Johns Hopkins, Ms. De Weerdt at the Harvard-Yenching
Library and Ms. Marra at UCLA.
8.
The group adjourned at 12:40
PM. The next public meeting of the
Committee will be in Chicago at the CEAL conference on March 21-22,
2001.