Retrospective Conversion - UpdateRetrospective conversion of the Harvard Yenching (HY) Collection has progressed further. Since the last report compiled in December 2003, another 25,000 HY records have been put online. Of these, approximately 8,000 records were downloaded from the Australian National CJK System (ANCJKS) and the rest converted by OCLC. These records are all available from the ANU Library catalogue. Preparations are being made to upload the latest records from OCLC to ANCJKS. To date, over 29,000 OCLC records from the retro-conversion project have been loaded on ANCJKS. Approximately 15,000 records are still to be converted. In terms of subject categories now covered by online records, the Harvard-Yenching classification range 100 – 5999 have been added. All reference material regardless of classification have also been added. Material still to be added are from Harvard-Yenching classification range 6000 - 9999, titles from the Special or Rare collections, the microfom collection, and some 2,500 periodicals.Retrospective cataloguingThere has been some progress with retrospective cataloguing although at a much slower pace. In a trial project, original cataloguing of Chinese language works was outsourced to a cataloguing agency. Of the 800-plus titles targeted for cataloguing, the majority were catalogued in-house using ANCJKS and OCLC. Thirty-nine titles were outsourced for original cataloguing. Our early impression of this trial is that the process is time-consuming and the rate of conversion unpredictable. Preparation of data for the agency, such as photocopying relevant title, colophon and contents pages, annotating holdings and location details, was a laborious process. Time spent liaising with the agent on cataloguing details such as call number practices added to staff effort. As part of another project last year, we were able to catalogue approximately 1,750 titles from a collection of books on Japanese economic history donated to us by Meiji University in Tokyo.Digital DevelopmentsWork is continuing on developing the Chinese Digital Archive. We have scanned a collection of Chinese Cultural Revolution cartoons published in Red Guard newspapers of the time and are in the process of creating metadata for them. We were very happy to discover that a number of the Library’s digital initiatives have caught the eye of researchers in Australia and overseas, and as a result we have had a number of interesting enquiries and offers. Dr. Kerry Brown, from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK, contacted us to offer us her collection Cultural Revolution documents from Mongolia for inclusion in the Archive. Dr. Brown is a Mongolian studies specialist and author and has agreed to contribute her expert comments on these documents for the website. Another exciting development for us in this regard is receiving an approach from the Taipei County Government requesting permission to use photographs from the Giles Pickford Photograph Collection for an exhibition to celebrate the restoration of a number of British and Dutch colonial buildings in Tamsui, Taiwan. One of the buildings being restored is the British Legation Building at which Lancelot Giles served. Professor Pierre Yang, the architect in charge of the restoration, visited Menzies Library twice to collect data for the exhibition which opens in October this year. Yet another example of international interest in our digital efforts concerns the rare 17th century Manao edition of Laojun ba shi si tu hua, possibly one of only four extant copies of this early edition. A researcher in China working on this volume was eager to borrow our copy of this rare book until we informed her it has been digitised, and she was then able to complete her research using the digitised copy. It was a good result for all!Information Literacy ProgramMenzies Library staff have designed and participated in a number of initiatives in using Asian languages in delivering information literacy (IL) sessions. We have been offering Japanese language IL sessions to Japanese exchange students and advanced Japanese language students for a number of years now. Recently, a similar session was devised, in Chinese, for post-graduate students from China enrolled in short courses offered by the National Graduate School of Management. These students are generally mature-age, professional people, with either a government or an industry/commerce background, and with varying levels of knowledge of current library environments and information access. The special IL sessions were tailored with this user profile in mind. The use of Asian languages in delivering library information sessions is being developed for the wider Library. This year saw the first library building tours offered in Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Thai. These Asian language tours are being offered in all Library buildings in order to cater for the large intake of students from Asia. Feed-back suggests that the Asian language sessions are appreciated and offer a gentle introduction to the Library to newly arrived students still grappling with the many difficulties of adapting to a new country and culture. Virtual tours of the Library catalogue in various Asian languages are now also a feature of information literacy help online.ExhibitionsMenzies Library, recently confirmed as a heritage building, has an ideal space in the foyer for exhibitions. Two exhibitions were mounted this year. The first was an exhibition curated by a graduate student, Mai Linh, from the Graduate Studies for Sustainable Heritage Development program. The exhibition of photographs and texts, called From Litter to Lanterns, explored the topic of cultural landscapes of the Vietnamese diasporic community in Sydney as viewed by children. The photographs, featuring street scenes of Cabramatta and the accompanying texts were all the work of children of Vietnamese ancestry. The colourful exhibition was on display for 3 weeks and attracted much attention from Library users. In April this year, Library staff working with the Asia Pacific Collections, put together an exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1955 Bandung Conference. The exhibition featured reportage of the event carried by Australian and Asian newspapers of the time. Books, journals and photographs from the University Library and the University Archives were also featured. A highlight of the exhibition was the NEFO (New Emergent Forces) Batik loaned to us from the National Gallery of Australia for the event. The NEFO Batik, created in 1964 by Indonesian artist Mohamad Hadi, uses a motif of mythical and real animals from Africa and Asia to symbolise solidarity between African and Asian nations. The Bandung exhibition was part of a larger commemorative event which also featured the launch of Professor Jamie Mackie's book Bandung 1955: nonalignment and Afro-Asian solidarity.Major Resources Acquired in 2004ChinaElectronic1. Siku Quanshu wenyuange ban (intranet version)2. 1920-1949 nian min guo shi qi qi kan pian ming shu ju ku (CDROM) 1920-1949 3. iSinoLaw 2. Zhongguo Xizang ji Gan Qing Chuan Dian Zang qu fang zhi hui bian 3. Qing dai Zhongnanhai dang an 4. Qing dai shi zhi shi liao 5. Qing gong Rehe dang an 6. (Minguo) nan bei yi he hui yi juan zong ji cheng 7. Yuanmingyuan dang an shi liao cong bian JapanElectronic1. Showa no Yomiuri Shinbun CD ROM (1926-1936)2. Fujin Gaho DVD (Meiji/Taisho, 1905-1926) & (Showa 1927-1944) 3. Horitsugaku Shojiten CD ROM 4. Shuyo Horitsu Zasshi DVD 2. Montanusu "Nihonshi" - Atlas Japannensis (English/Japanese version) 3. Kinsei Nihon Kankei Eikoku Shiryo Shusei (pt.1 & pt.2) |
[1] Brown, Kerry. The purge of the inner Mongolian People's Party in the Chinese cultural revolution, 1967-69 : a function of language, power and violence. Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, 2005.
Renata Osborne, Manager, Menzies Precinct, ANU Library