The collection is maintained by the Asian Library.
The East Asian Studies collection supports teaching and research in East Asian Studies. Collection development is concentrated on the selection of East Asian vernacular materials, and appropriate reference works in Western languages, which are housed in the Asian Library’s reading room. Western language materials in East Asian Studies are normally selected by departmental librarians and are housed in various departmental libraries and the Bookstacks. The collection is comprised of 152,000 volumes consisting of 100,000 volumes in Chinese, 50,000 in Japanese, and 2,000 in Korean. Most of the collection is located in the Asian Library, and the rest is housed in the Newspaper Library, the Law Library, and the Rare Book and Special Collections Library.
Version Date: April, 2005
Statements
I. Collection Description
Purpose:
To support teaching and research in East Asian Studies. The B.A. and M.A. degrees in Asian Studies are offered through the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies. The Ph.D. is offered only in the academic disciplines, but an Asian Studies minor and a research focus on East Asian countries is possible. There are also dual majors with such areas as Commerce and Law. The Center for Asian Studies (which was divided into the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies and the Program for South and West Asian Studies in 1984) has been a federally funded National Resource Center for Foreign Language and Area Studies almost continuously since 1965. The Center has provided library acquisitions funds throughout the times it has had this funding.
The collection development effort is concentrated on the selection of East Asian vernacular materials, and appropriate reference works in Western languages, which are housed in the Asian Library’s reading room. Western language materials in East Asian Studies are normally selected by departmental librarians and are housed in various departmental libraries and the Bookstacks. East Asian studies journals, regardless of language, are frequently purchased on the East Asian fund. Western language works on East Asian languages and literatures are selectively purchased on East Asian funds in conjunction with the comparative literature, linguistics, and undergraduate library funds.
History of Collection:
The acquisition of Chinese and Japanese language materials started in the 1920s. The Far Eastern Library and the South and West Asian Library were established within the Special Languages Department in 1965. The two libraries were consolidated into the Asian Library in 1979.
Since 1965, when East Asian language materials were withdrawn from the Bookstacks and placed in separate facilities, the East Asian collection has grown rapidly and has systematically been developed through the selection of materials by the Chinese and Japanese bibliographers. It has grown from 43,000 volumes in 1970 to its present size of 152,000 volumes.
The original corpus of the Chinese collection comprised the former private libraries of three prominent sinologists–Professor Erwin Reifler of the University of Washington, Dr. Tsu-yu Li of Hong Kong, and Mr. Kung-an Liao, owner of the Chu-lin Chai Collection. These libraries were especially strong in Chinese art, classics, philology, philosophy, modern Chinese history and literature, collectanea, and general bibliographic and reference works.
The Japanese Collection was greatly enhanced by the purchase of the Joseph K. Yamagiva Collection in 1969. The collection contained mainly works relating to Japanese language, literature, and history and included many fine examples of printing and manuscripts from the eighth century to the present.
Estimate of Holdings:
152,000 volumes consisting of 100,000 volumes in Chinese, 50,000 in Japanese, and 2,000 in Korean.
State, Regional and National Importance:
The East Asian collection ranks 16th in size among 92 collections in North America, according to a survey conducted by the Committee on East Asian Libraries and published in 1980. It is the third largest collection in the Midwest, after the Universities of Chicago and Michigan.
Unit Responsible for Collecting:
The Asian Library is responsible for vernacular materials and selectively for relevant Western language reference works, journals, and studies on East Asian languages and literatures and translations from East Asian literature.
Location of Materials:
All but a few East Asian vernacular materials and a limited number of Western language reference works and current periodicals are located in the Asian Library. East Asian language newspapers are located in the Newspaper Library, East Asian law books in the Law Library, and East Asian rare books in the Rare Book and Special Collections Library.
Citations of Works Describing the Collection:
Major, p. 55.
“New Books Signed by Old Chinese Hands” Friendscript, v. 7, no. 2 (Summer 1985): 5.
Sewell, Robert C., “Rare Books from Tokugawa Japan,” Non Solus 2 (1975): 26-34.
_________________ , “The Oldest Printed Text (Hyakumanto Darani),” Non Solus 3 (1976): 84-85.
__________________,”Old and Rare Japanese Books in U.S. Collections,” College and Research Libraries 39 (May 1978): 197-206.
Wong, William S., “Developing a Chinese-Language Collection: The Illinois Experience,” Illinois Libraries, v. 71, no. 7 (September 1989): 353-57.
II. General Collection Guidelines
Languages:
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
Chronological Guidelines:
No restriction.
Geographical Guidelines:
Current emphasis on China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan.
Treatment of Subject:
Emphasis is on scholarly treatment rather than popularization, textbooks, and children’s literature. The Undergraduate Library normally collects more popular treatments and the Education and Social Sciences Library collects children’s literature for its School Collection. The primary focus is on aspects of the languages, cultures, history, peoples, and societies of East Asia.
Types of Materials:
Appropriate primary and secondary works, and bibliographic, and reference materials are acquired. Ordinarily, dissertations, theses and translations are selectively collected. Hard copy is normally preferred to microforms, except when the original formats are unavailable or prohibitively expensive, or for reasons of usage, storage or conservation/preservation, in which case microforms may be preferable. Audio-visual materials are normally collected selectively.
Date of Publication:
Current materials are emphasized, but retrospective works are acquired on a selective basis. New and revised editions or important works are purchased when new explanatory or primary material is introduced.
Place of Publication:
No restrictions. Primarily China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan.
III. Collection Responsibility by Subject Subdivisions with Qualifications, Levels of Collecting Intensity, and Assignments
Below is a table that lists specific subject subdivisions within the collection. Each row in the table lists a specific subject subdivision, followed by three columns noting: Collection Strength, Primary Assignments and Secondary Assignments. The Existing Collecting Strength column notes how well the existing collection covers that topic on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 being very strong. The Primary Assignments column lists departmental libraries that have the greatest collection intensity of subject materials, respectively. In the case of 2 or more libraries listed, the collection intensity is comparable. The Secondary Assignments column list departmental libraries where additional materials may be found.
| East Asian Studies Collection | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SUBJECT SUBDIVISIONS | EXISTING STRENGTH | PRIMARY ASSIGNMENTS | SECONDARY ASSIGNMENTS |
| REFERENCE WORKS ON EAST ASIA: | |||
| Vernacular materials | 3 | East Asian | |
| Western language materials | 3 | East Asian/Reference | |
| CHINESE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: | |||
| Vernacular materials | 3 | East Asian | |
| Western language materials | 3 | East Asian/Comparative Literature/Linguistics/ Undergraduate | |
| JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: | |||
| Vernacular materials | 3 | East Asian | |
| Western language materials | 3 | East Asian/Comparative Literature/Linguistics/ Undergraduate | |
| CHINESE HISTORY | 3 | East Asian | |
| JAPANESE HISTORY | 3 | East Asian | |
| CHINESE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICES | 2 | East Asian | |
| JAPANESE GOVERNMENT AND POLTIICS | 2 | East Asian | |
| KOREAN STUDIES | 1 | East Asian | |
| ART HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY | 3 | East Asian | |
| BUDDHISM AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES: | |||
| (Basic Buddhist and Taoist texts and their translations, history of religions in East Asia) | 2 | East Asian | |
| Anthropology (social and cultural anthropology of East Asia, especially modern life in Japan) | 2 | East Asian | |
| Economics and commerce (business administration and foreign trade of East Asia, modern Chinese economics especially the Yen-an period) | 3 | East Asian | |
| Industrial and labor relations (Japanese economics, labor organizations in Japan) | 3 | East Asian | |
| Sociology (modernization of East Asia, capitalism in Japan) | 3 | East Asian | |
Version Date: November 2005