Staff Papers

Survey of Asian Library Resources and Research Trends 1992

Paper written and presented by Andrew Gosling, Chief Librarian, Asian Collections at the Asian Studies Association of Australia, 9th Biennial Conference, University of New England, 5-9 July 1992.


CONTENTS


1. Acknowledgment

The Survey of Asian Library Resources and Research Trends carried out in April and May 1992 was an initiative of the Australian National University (ANU) Library. In particular George Miller, Senior Librarian, Southeast Asian Studies at the ANU was primarily responsible for contacting academics and librarians around Australia and for the subsequent interviewing and reporting on the survey. This paper draws heavily on his work. His final report on the survey is expected to be available shortly.

2. Introduction

This paper examines the Survey of Asian Library Resources and Research Trends carried out jointly by the Australian National University Library and the National Library of Australia. The background to the survey is traced from the Ingleson Report of 1989 to more recent reports and meetings. The major research and teaching trends in Asian studies are then outlined. The bulk of the paper covers the major library needs and priorities identified by academics and librarians interviewed during the survey, followed by action which may be taken in response to the survey.

3. Background

a) Ingleson Report

The most extensive recent examination of Australia's Asian library resources is contained in the Ingleson Report. The inquiry which began in March 1988 was intended as a major review of Asian studies and languages in universities and colleges as the basis for advice to government on future directions. Its report was submitted to the Asian Studies Council in January 1989.

The chapter of the Ingleson Report on libraries clearly sets out the major difficulties faced by Asian collections in Australia. It also made recommendations which have formed the basis for subsequent initiatives.

Broadly Ingleson argued for Australian libraries to participate in a cooperative acquisitions policy for Asian materials, given the expense of establishing, maintaining and cataloguing such collections. A systematic rationalisation of collection development was seen as the most effective means of providing tertiary education with resources of an international standard. In addition the report called for an efficient and inexpensive system of access and distribution.

The report cited a survey carried out by S. Wang in 1983 showing that with the exception of the National Library, the Australian National University and to a lesser extent the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne all other East Asian collections were generally inadequate. Resources were heavily concentrated in Canberra at the National Library and the Australian National University. The situation was similar for South and Southeast Asian library holdings.

Cataloguing problems were seen as serious. The four major collections all had considerable backlogs of Asian materials (particularly Chinese) not fully catalogued. While there had been some improvement during the 1980s in reducing these backlogs through entering material in romanised form on the national database, the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN), the best solution was seen as an automated system whereby non-Roman scripts could be entered on ABN.

The report referred to a staffing crisis with all Asian collections described as understaffed. A number of collections had no specialist staff for their Asian collections. The need for specialist training to produce more professional librarians with Asian expertise was seen as a priority

Ingleson's major recommendation was for the establishment of a national network for Asian studies library resources located in Canberra and working closely with the National Library. Its main tasks would include developing a national cooperative acquisitions policy for Asian materials, investigating the inclusion of non-Roman scripts on ABN, acting as a clearinghouse for queries about Asian material in Australia, liaising with overseas libraries and coordinating specialist training programs for Asian librarianship.Other recommendations included a government investigation aimed at improving document supply, cooperation in collecting and cataloguing backlogs; and a project to devise a system for automated cataloguing of non-Roman script publications.

Following the release of the Ingleson Report a seminar jointly sponsored by the National Library and the Australian National University was held in February 1989. This seminar supported the Ingleson Report and made specific recommendations to the Asian Studies Council for projects relating to the automation of Asian scripts, specialist training and other matters.

b) Ross Report

Unfortunately no action was taken on the library aspects of the Ingleson Report. Instead these matters were referred to another inquiry. This was the review entitled Library Provision in Higher Education Institutions (Ross Report) which reported to the National Board of Employment, Education and Training in December 1990. The Ross Report in turn commended the Ingleson and February 1989 seminar recommendations. Ross reiterated the problems including lack of trained staff, acquisitions difficulties, cataloguing backlogs and the need for script automation.The Report also stressed that the potential library consequences of the recent rapid spread of Asian studies programs had not been appreciated by the institutions involved or possibly by the Commonwealth.

c) National Roundtable on Libraries and Asia

In May 1991 a National Roundtable on Libraries and Asia was organised by the National Library and the Australian National University to consider a national strategy. Nearly all Australian libraries with significant Asian collections attended the Roundtable which was held at the National Library. This meeting again supported the recommendations of the earlier inquiries.

d) Survey of Library Resources and Research Trends

Following a submission resulting from the National Roundtable a grant was made by the Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) to NLA, ANU and the University of Sydney for a study to examine national resource sharing for Asian library collections. Part of this funding was allocated to a consultancy to investigate a nationally available shareable library system for Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) materials. This consultancy is currently under way and is being reported on separately at this conference. In addition at the initiative of the ANU a Survey of Asian Library Resources and Research Trends was to be undertaken. The aim of this survey was to update and expand on data concerning Asian collections and major issues faced which had been obtained from the questionnaire distributed to libraries with Asian collections prior to the Roundtable. The survey was also to look at the latest teaching and research trends in Asian studies in Australia as these trends related to library needs.

During April and May 1992 George Miller, Senior Librarian, Southeast Asian Studies, ANU and Andrew Gosling, Chief Librarian,East Asia, NLA interviewed approximately 80 academics and librarians in Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane concerning Asian studies teaching and research trends and their priorities for improving Asian library resources nationally.

During the visits academics were asked about the major teaching and research trends in their own centres and across the country and national needs for Asian library resources in the light of such trends. As far as possible the same topics were discussed with each person. Clearly not all issues were of equal interest to all academics and sometimes interviewees expressed no opinion on particular matters. The librarians visited were asked to elaborate on their answers to the questionnaire and to comment on the proposals discussed with academics.

4. Major trends

It was not the intention of this survey to look in great detail at teaching and research trends in Asian studies in Australia. This would require a much more exhaustive study than was possible in the time available. Instead the aim was to gain an impression of trends likely to be of importance to Australian libraries with Asian collections.

In all centres visited there is a major emphasis on modern Asia though the study of Asian cultural traditions is seen as important for understanding the present. While clearly Asian economics and business studies are the focus of extensive training and research it is interesting that centres such as the Asia-Australia Institute at the University of New South Wales and the Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific at the University of Sydney are including cultural understanding as essential parts of their Asian business studies programs.

In terms of geographical coverage the emphasis of tertiary teaching and research across Australia continues to be on East Asia (China,Japan,North and South Korea,Taiwan and Hong Kong) and Southeast Asia (the ASEAN and Indochina countries). Concern was expressed by a number of academics that India and its neighbours in South Asia are not receiving the same academic or library interest, despite some interest for example at Monash, La Trobe and the University of Western Australia.

There is a growing trend towards including Asia in all disciplines across the university, e.g. including Asian philosophy in Philosophy departments rather than having Asian studies as something separate.

Universities and their libraries are experiencing rapid change. Recent reviews of Asian studies at Monash and Melbourne universities have or are expected soon to bring major changes, e.g. Monash which had concentrated on Japan and Southeast Asia is now actively developing Chinese and Korean collections for the first time and is seeking two new specialist librarians one for Japanese and one for Korean, following the recent appointment of a Chinese resource librarian. Melbourne University is considering major changes in Asian studies following the Fitzgerald review. Asian studies programs at the University of Sydney and ANU are also currently under review. Amalgamations of institutions are influencing Asian studies. New universities such as the Victoria University of Technology which amalgamated five campuses are trying to establish Asian studies with extremely limited existing library resources on Asia even in English.

Australian universities are creating links with Asian institutions to a greater extent than previously. This is being done in a variety of ways including extensive staff and student visits and exchanges, exchanges of lectures by video teleconferencing and special relationships developed between individual Australian and Asian universities.

Larger numbers of postgraduate students in Asian studies are increasing the demand for research materials both in vernacular languages and English. In particular increasing numbers of Asian language native speakers in Australian universities are making greater demands on vernacular resources covering a wide range of disciplines in which they are undertaking courses or research. Generally in the past undergraduate students of Asian studies have required English language materials plus some language texts, while postgraduates have needed more Asian language material. This pattern is changing to an extent with native speakers wanting Asian language materials at an earlier stage of their studies. The trend towards longer undergraduate degrees including a year in the country of study is also expected to lead to greater use of vernacular sources by such students with better language skills.

5. Major needs and possible projects

a) Access to existing resources.

Probably the strongest wish of academic users and librarians was for improved access to Asian resources both in Australia and overseas. Several aspects were raised.

Asian script materials

There was strong support from academics and librarians for the current moves towards finding a suitable CJK script library system and for the implementation of a national shareable system once identified. This was seen as a high priority for further funding.

Access via AARNeT

Users emphasised the need for ready access preferably from their offices via AARNeT to the complete Asian holdings of the major research collections. Such access is now available as most are or should soon be connected to AARNeT. Some academics are already accessing US library catalogues for Asian language materials. Such academics are now able to benefit from having the online catalogues of libraries including NLA and ANU available through AARNeT.

Backlogs

The large backlogs of uncatalogued or partially catalogued Asian materials at the four large collections, i.e. NLA, ANU, Sydney and Melbourne Universities were seen as a priority for action. NLA's recent retrospective conversion of its older Japanese collections onto ABN was seen by Japan scholars as an important step in the direction of enabling better access by the user to the large research collections. There was a strong desire to see ANU's Asian holdings added to ABN .

Asian studies library grants

There was virtually unanimous support from academics and librarians for a national system of Asian studies library grants for postgraduate students to use the major Asian research collections centred in Canberra at NLA and ANU ( or for some areas of research in Sydney or Melbourne). There is general agreement that while other centres are building Asian collections postgraduates need to make substantial use of the large research collections particularly for Asian vernacular material. While access is improving for example through ABN there is still a need to spend a period of time at the research collections intensively evaluating materials for immediate or later interlibrary loan use.The fact that the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee (AVCC) is already offering awards for research in Asia was mentioned by several people.

Asian databases

The question of databases for Asian studies was raised by many academics and librarians. Views varied from great enthusiasm for a major push into this area to concerns about cost, and the relationship between and priorities of data in traditional and electronic formats. However one suggestion for a project which received wide support was for a DEET funded study of databases from Asia as opposed to Asia related databases from North America and Europe. This study could draw on existing expertise, for example Helen Jarvis of UNSW has carried out research on databases from ASEAN countries and Susan MacDougall of the University of Canberra has studied the situation for East Asia. The study could establish what is available, what is already being used in Australia and what Australian libraries should obtain on a coordinated basis. The prime example of current use in Australia is the Japanese Nikkei database which is being promoted through the Australia-Japan Research Centre,ANU and is on trial in several other universities.

Asian journal and/or newspaper index

The possibility of an Asian journal and/or newspaper index was widely discussed.There was a very mixed reaction from academics and librarians to this idea. Some believed it would be valuable and could be marketed internationally. Once the study referred to in the section above has established the Asian databases that do exist it would then be possible to consider the need for Australia to fill any existing gaps in the provision of electronic access to Asian journal articles.

b) Acquisitions

There was wide discussion on the acquisition of Asian materials including through cooperative arrangements. In general acquiring materials from the more developed countries of Northeast Asia, such as Japan and South Korea is seen as much less problematic than acquisitions from less developed areas particularly in Southeast Asia, e.g. Indonesia and the Indochina states.For the former the difficulties relate mainly to the high cost of books and the need for specialist staff able to handle the script while for the latter there remain fundamental problems of finding out about and obtaining publications.

Indonesian Acquisition Project

There was strong support for the continuation and upgrading of the Indonesian Acquisition Project (IAP) managed by the National Library of Australia. Academics and librarians at Flinders and Monash which are participants in the IAP are reasonably happy with the coverage of material received although they would prefer more flexibility in selection rather than a standard package to participants.

Strong support for the IAP was voiced by Prof. Ross Garnaut of the ANU, former Ambassador to China and author of the Garnaut Report. He stressed that in terms of scholarship including library resources Australia is looked to by the international community to perform a special role for Indonesia and parts of the Southwest Pacific particularly Papua New Guinea. He said Australian scholars had done well in regard to Indonesia and NLA's role in continuing to develop its current Indonesian collection through its presence in Jakarta was a vital component.

Other proposed cooperative arrangements

A number of academics believed that in addition to the IAP Australia should have further Asia-based acquisition offices or else carry out regular acquisition trips in East and Southeast Asia. One suggestion was that following the example of the Bavarian State Library which has a permanent office in Hong Kong the National Library should use Hong Kong as a base for acquisitions from the whole of East Asia. Beijing and Tokyo were alternative sites for such a regional office. Other academics believed such offices would be too expensive but favoured acquisition visits to obtain important but hard to acquire regional publications in China and other countries.

An alternative view put forward by others and already discussed at earlier forums was that major collections such as the National Library and ANU could provide paid-for services in areas such as selection and cataloguing for other Australian libraries lacking specialised staff to carry out such activities.

Basic core collection for Asian studies

A number of users believed that funding should be provided to ensure that each university with Asian studies should have at least a basic minimal library collection. Others believed it was the responsibility of individual institutions to develop such collections and not a matter for special DEET funding, while realistically the new amalgamated institutions would have to rely on other more developed libraries. One of the difficulties with this proposal for funding a core collection was whether those academics raising it were really proposing the same thing. Some were interested in very basic English language resources from and about Asia, while others referred to basic vernacular resources.

Newspapers from Asia

There was widespread concern at the poor holdings of Asian newspapers in many parts of Australia. While NLA and some other libraries do have extensive holdings it was said that for example even in Sydney and Melbourne coverage of Asian and English language newspapers from Asian countries is inadequate. In particular several academics believed the major English language newspapers from Asia should be much more widely held in all cities not only for researchers and students but as part of efforts to make Asia more accessible to Australians in general. A national strategy on Asian newspapers was suggested .

Audio-visual materials from Asia

One academic urged that Australian libraries should become much more active in collecting Asian film, video and appropriate television news broadcasts and documentaries . NLA, ANU and some others are already involved in this area to an extent. There was some support for a push in this field, but others did not see it as a major priority compared with other tasks.

c) Staffing Asian collections

Many academics and librarians raised the continuing difficulties experienced in obtaining expert library staff with both Asian language and library skills. This is partly a problem of finding suitable people and partly a funding problem. In several centres various ad hoc arrangements are used including employing students with language skills or asking for assistance from academics. This is seen to lead to uneven or poorly controlled collections. Apart from NLA, ANU and now Monash, even the larger collections are usually relying on just one or two staff able to handle more than one Asian language. Specialist Asian librarianship courses have been recommended in the past. It was mentioned that the School of Information, Library and Archive Studies (SILAS) at the University of New South Wales had been unable to obtain funding for such a course, although they do offer Information Technology in Asia as part of their masters program.

d) Mechanism for Asian studies library matters

The need for a continuing mechanism for dealing with Asian studies library matters nationally was discussed. For example a number of issues raised during the visits were seen to need further consideration at a high level. A number of interviewees favoured this being carried out either by a formal or informal sub-committee of the Committee of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) with NLA involvement or else the Australian Council of Libraries and Information Services (ACLIS) covering this matter. The idea of greater Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) involvement was also raised, and received support from the President of ASAA, Prof. Ingleson.

e) Research grants and library resources

A matter of strong concern to some scholars was that Australian academics in Asian studies are not including library resources in their applications for research grants.This was contrasted with the physical sciences where laboratory equipment is regularly included in research grants, and was also contrasted with the United States where library resources are routinely included in research grants for Asian studies and other areas.

6. Other matters relevant to Asian studies libraries

A number of issues were of particular interest to the author, as a member of staff of the National Library of Australia, as well as being of more general concern. These included :

a) NLA Asian Collections and Services

In general the academics and librarians were positive about the NLA and its Asian Collections and Services including the service they receive from the Section. Views on the Current Awareness Bulletins produced covering Asian language major acquisitions were nearly all favourable. A number of users wished to see more frequent bulletins issued. The CABs were seen as useful especially for students starting research projects.

b) Document supply

Most users found interlibrary loans from NLA and elsewhere in Australia worked reasonably well if at times rather slowly. Some academics were not happy about the costs involved, but others thought libraries should seek full cost recovery.

c) Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN)

While some users were very familiar with the role of ABN many academics and librarians appeared not to be very aware of the extent of NLA and other Asian language cataloguing on ABN. Libraries visited did not seem to be making much use of such data on ABN for their cataloguing. In the case of Chinese for libraries such as the University of Adelaide, Monash, Murdoch and Griffith this is related to their use of Pinyin romanization. Macquarie University Library staff paid tribute to the ABN Office at the National Library for work towards a satisfactory way of accommodating Pinyin on ABN.

d) Korean studies and library collections

The rapid development of Korean studies in Australian universities has implications for libraries. Until now NLA has had the only developing Korean vernacular research collection, although ANU and the University of Sydney have had small more or less static collections.

Monash University is now establishing a Korean research collection as part of the National Korean Studies Centre (NKSC) which links Victorian universities with a focus on Korea. A specialist Korean librarian position has also been advertised for filling in mid-1992. During discussions academics associated with the NKSC stressed that they would develop the collection in conjunction with the NLA collection. Monash was keen for their new Korean librarian (and also the new Chinese and Japanese ones if possible) to visit NLA for discussions on the development of the collections.

Griffith University is also becoming active in Korean studies, and is currently seeking a tenured position for Korean. Their Korean teaching program includes a video teleconferencing scheme for lectures to and from Korea. However there has been no major push so far into acquiring Korean library resources by Griffith or the University of Queensland which together with Griffith forms the Key Centre for Asian Studies.By agreement, any Korean material acquired by the University of Queensland is to be sent to Griffith for cataloguing.

e) Marketing library services to Asia

A number of issues raised above potentially involve marketing to Asia. The State Library of New South Wales has recently appointed a Manager, Asia Focus Program. The aim of the Asia Focus Program is to sell library services to Asia, with an initial focus on China and Malaysia because of existing links with those countries. At this stage the Manager is carrying out market research and making contacts. She expects to be gathering data over a considerable time period and said the project is a long term one.

f) Existing cooperation at the state level

There is some cooperation at the local level in terms of Asian studies and collections.In Canberra the National Library and ANU have had cooperative arrangements for East Asian materials for many years. In Brisbane, Griffith concentrates more on the social sciences and the University of Queensland on language and literature. In Adelaide Flinders has an Indonesian focus while the University of Adelaide covers China and Japan. It is not easy to gauge the extent of such cooperation as varying opinions were expressed by different scholars and librarians interviewed.

g) Conspectus

Conspectus is a methodology for the detailed description of collections originally developed by the Research Libraries Group (RLG) in the United States.The degree of interest in and commitment to Conspectus varied considerably from university to university. Murdoch for example is actively reviewing its collections. Flinders, Latrobe and UNSW have jointly undertaken a Latin American Conspectus review. However none of the libraries visited have done any work specifically on Asia. The way Asia will be approached may be affected by how collections have been organised. Some libraries including the University of Adelaide and UNSW have integrated all their Asian vernacular materials in the general collection, while Griffith has its CJK collections integrated but separate from Western language materials. Some librarians were interested in the development of tools for an Asian Conspectus. Others appeared to believe a special Asian Conspectus exercise would not be justified.

7. Follow-up to the Asian survey

Following the visits undertaken in April and May 1992 George Miller and Andrew Gosling reported their findings to NLA and ANU. Meetings of senior staff have subsequently considered appropriate action. While at the time of writing discussions are still under way, progress to date is summarised below.

a) Asian script materials

Following the consultancy on a national shareable CJK library system libraries involved in the consortium will be considering the results of the consultancy with a view to further action.

b) Asian studies library grants to postgraduates

Senior NLA and ANU staff have agreed that this is an important matter, as indicated by the interviews with Asian studies academics and librarians. There is to be further consultation with ASAA concerning the possibility of such grants.

c) Asian databases

Prior to a survey being carried out on access to Asian databases the ANU is investigating work already carried out by the Pacific Neighbourhood Project on the availability of Asian databases.

d) Access to Asian journal articles

ANU is considering further the provision of electronic access to Asian journal articles.

e) Cooperative acquisition and cataloguing arrangements

It is believed that DEET would not fund the establishment of further library acquisition offices in Asia, and that the NLA's Indonesian Acquisition Office based in Jakarta is likely to remain the only such Australian office in the region.

On the question of major collections providing paid-for services in Asian acquisitions or cataloguing for other Australian libraries, both the NLA and ANU have indicated that they would prefer to concentrate on providing improved national access to their own collections, and have no plans to undertake contract acquisitions or cataloguing.

f) Newspapers from Asia

NLA has agreed to carry out a survey to establish Australian holdings of newpapers published in Asia, including those received by air, and to publish the listing. This would publicise existing holdings and identify gaps to be filled.

g) Staffing Asian collections

NLA has stated a willingness to provide work experience to staff from other libraries dealing with Asian materials.

h) Mechanism for Asian studies library matters

The ANU is now preparing a letter to CAUL members seeking expressions of interest in such a body. NLA and ANU are both interested in participating in a grouping of this kind.

i) Korean library resources

NLA is looking at the possibility of a librarian from Korea coming to Australia to assist in the development of Korean collections across the nation.

j) Other matters

It is expected that a number of issues identified during the Asian survey will be considered further by the body established to deal with Asian studies library matters.

8. Conclusion

The Survey of Asian Library Resources and Research Trends has proved useful in identifying library needs and priorities as seen by a number of academics and librarians in the field of Asian studies. In large measure the survey confirmed the findings of the Ingleson and Ross Reports and the National Roundtable on Libraries and Asia.

While the results of the survey are still under consideration, prospects for progress on a number of major issues identified during the visits around Australia appear favourable.

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