Staff Papers
The development of Korean collections in Australia: issues and prospects
Korean Studies Association of Australasia Conference, Auckland 14-15 July 2005
A paper by Amelia McKenzie, Director, Asian Collections
The paper presents a brief survey of Korean collecting in Australia and current cooperative agreements between libraries. The National Library's collection is highlighted as the most comprehensive collection in the country. A period of governmental review and assessment of Asian library collections in Australia in the late 1980s and 1990s is recalled, particularly the Korean User Survey of 1998. The paper updates the survey's recommendations and subsequent responses to them by libraries. Finally, what is the situation of Korean collections and services now? Has the brief momentum built up in the 1990s stalled?
Existing collections
The main centres of Korean collecting in Australia are the National Library, Monash University Library in Melbourne and Sydney University Library. It is estimated that together these libraries account for 85% of Korean language holdings in Australia. Other libraries in the tertiary sector have East Asian language holdings and most actively collect Western language imprints and electronic resources on Asia, but it is fair to say that for Korea these efforts continue to focus on Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney.
Of these three the National Library's numbers 30,000 titles, compared with Monash at 9,000 titles and somewhat fewer at Sydney. This is estimated to be only 3% of total Asian holdings in Australia. The National Library has the largest acquisitions budget for Korean language materials at A$166,000 for the 2005-06 year. To put this another way, it is estimated that the National Library holds over 60% of the national collection and spends well over two thirds of the national acquisitions budget.
Existing cooperation
There has been a reasonable level of cooperation between institutions in Australia on Korean collecting, perhaps more to do with its innate difficulty for Australian libraries to manage than anything else.
The National Library and the Australian National University Library signed an Agreement for Collecting and Providing Access to Korean Vernacular Materials in August 1996. The agreement covers matters including collecting, bibliographic control, access, loan of material and preservation. It assigns the primary responsibility for collecting of Korean language research materials to the National Library, with enhanced access provided to ANU academics.1 The agreement is currently in the process of renewal as the National Library and the ANU work towards an MoU on Asian collecting, but we do not anticipate any change in emphasis.
Melbourne University and Monash University have formed Asian Libraries in Melbourne (ALIM), a consortium approach to shared services and collecting for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indonesian materials.
National Library collections
" [The National Library Korean collection] is a genuine national asset, and should be maintained as such.2
At June 2005 the National Library held about 29,000 titles in 42,000 volumes of Korean language monographs. The Korean collection has grown at the rate of about 1,300 titles per annum over the past five years. The annual collecting budget was increased to a generous A$166,000 for the financial year 2005-06, covering books, journals and newspapers in the Korean language. The Library also collects Western language materials on Korea which are funded separately.
The strengths of the collection lie in the social sciences, especially economics, statistics, politics and government, foreign relations and law; Korean history, biography and archaeology; language and literature; philosophy and religion. Essentially we collect to support in-depth research on Korea and to have a collection representative of Korean history and culture. A detailed analysis of the collection is available at http://www.nla.gov.au/asian/pub/fry.html
The collection is strong in government publications received regularly on exchange from partners in Korea, such as the National Assembly Library and the Central National Library in Seoul. An exchange relationship with the Grand People's Study House of the DPRK in Pyongyang virtually ceased in 1993 when no more materials were received for some ten years, but we have recently re-established contact with a book supplier in Pyongyang willing to supply to an overseas customer. Subscriptions have been placed for over twenty new journals and one daily newspaper, and new monographs are regularly selected. The total North Korean collection now numbers over 1300 monographs, 80 journal titles and two newspapers.
A significant Korean Triptaka is held, the Koryo Taejang-gyong (Tripitaka Koreana) in 1340 volumes. The Tripitaka Koreana was published in 1011 A.D. by means of wood block printing. The Library's copy is one of the eight copies made from the original blocks and bound in the same size as the original.
In addition the Library's McLaren-Human collection contains a number of rare and valuable early Korean works of history and literature. The Samgang Haengsilto is an unusual parallel text in Korean and Chinese script on Confucian ethics. Because of its rarity it was recently digitised and the complete work can now be viewed online (http://nla.gov.au/nla.gen-vn1142677).
The Library provides comprehensive listings on its website of Korean Internet sites of relevance to researchers. These include online editions of newspapers, journals and government department web sites. More and more government information is available online, reflecting the Korean government's enthusiastic adoption of the global 'e-government' initiative, so the scene is constantly changing. We monitor our links and welcome any recommendations for addition..
Earlier this year we issued the first Korean Acquisitions List, a monthly list of new titles acquired for the Korean Collection. It is available online but is essentially designed to be printed out and used as a current awareness tool for researchers wanting to keep up with new publishing.
Review fever: the ' boom' of the 90s
The late 1980s and 1990s in Australia were characterised by a series of reviews, surveys and reports on Asian studies in tertiary education (including libraries). The Ingleson Report (1989), the Ross Report (1990), three National Library roundtables on Asian collecting, a survey of Asian collections in Australia and a national survey of Korean users all had greater or lesser implications for libraries in that period.
What became of it all? From the library side, we gained a national system for CJK cataloguing; a good deal of national level data on Australian libraries' Asian collections, together with many expressed intentions to do more; and a detailed survey of the needs of Australian researchers and business related to Korea. I'd like to look in particular at the National CJK Service and the Korean User Survey.
National CJK Service
A national system for automated cataloguing of Asian scripts was strongly recommended in the Ingleson and Ross Reports and the First Roundtable. In fact it is one of the few success stories of the 'review boom' period. After several rounds of grant proposals, feasibility studies and choice of a suitable system the National CJK Service was implemented by the National Library in June 1996. Essentially it is a shared database of catalogue records in Chinese, Japanese and Korean script, using software that allows the input and display of non-Roman characters. At that time most library systems lacked this functionality, although it is slowly starting to appear now. 23 Australian libraries are currently members.
The National CJK Service was extremely successful in enabling the sharing of cataloguing resources and hence the sharing of information about CJK language library holdings in Australia. As shared system its members contributed financially to its maintenance but it must be said that there is only one reason for its continued success: the National Library's commitment to operate it at less than cost recovery with no additional government funding after the initial feasibility study. A lesson, perhaps, for all grant-funded projects.
As I mentioned, script functionality is now becoming more available. The National Library recently began to redevelop its main Kinetica service, and as part of that redevelopment it is planned to integrate the CJK union catalogue with the larger Australian bibliographic database. Unicode functionality will enable script records to be viewed side by side with non-script records, and will also allow libraries to integrate workflows and processes for both kinds of material. The new combined service will be introduced in early 2006. This is also a good time to announce that for the first time the new combined database, called Libraries Australia, will be made available free of charge. This means individuals searchers get free access to what was previously a subscription service.
So from January 2006 Korean researchers can look up the holdings of Australia's libraries for no charge, using a single, Google-like search box and view script characters as well as romanised Korean.
Korean user survey (1998)
The Australian collecting profiles I mentioned earlier - modest collection numbers concentrated in two or three institutions - led to the decision in 1996 to gather better information on the needs of Australian researchers and business related to Korea for the next five years. It was intended to use the results to asses the value of setting up electronic networking, formal supply arrangements and the need to fill gaps in the totality of the holdings of Australian libraries. A large number of Korean scholars were involved as well as the Korean Studies Association of Australasia (KSAA) itself.
The objectives of the project were:
- to survey research and information needs related to Korean academic studies
- to survey research and information needs for Australian businesses having dealings related to Korea
- to determine library usage patterns, on-line usage, adequacy of collections, areas of growth, readers' services, subject/formats used for research and information
- to determine growth areas, together with the reaction to and the potential for paid-for services and the types and numbers of potential users/information seekers.
There were some interesting findings and I will give a selection of them here. The most used subjects were language and literature, followed by 'culture' (including sport and arts). 22% of the respondents never used the Internet, and 45% never used library websites. 38% of them never used library reference services. The conclusions drawn very broadly were that there was low awareness of existing Korean collections and services in Australia.
The recommendations were as follows, and I have inserted comments on what I perceive to be progress, or otherwise, in implementing them.
1. that Australian libraries continue to work together to improve access to materials on Korea in both printed and electronic formats; that coordination between libraries be improved; that increased networking should be pursued including via the Internet
The rapid expansion of the Internet has achieved this without us really trying. The challenge for libraries now is to keep up with the growth of the Korean Internet and act as a reliable intermediary for access to useful resources.
2. that access to the National Chinese, Japanese and Korean Online System be more widely promoted and made available in all major and academic Australian libraries
Redevelopment of the National CJK Service into the combined free Libraries Australia service in January 2006 achieves this objective
3. that existing library services be more effectively promoted as it appeared that users were not fully aware of them
More can always be done to keep researchers informed about research materials in their disciplines. The increasing flexibility of library systems (producing, for example, the Korean Acquisitions List) will assist this.
4. that contacts with Korean libraries be developed to improve services to Korean users in Australia; that the possibilities of obtaining photocopies and loans through formal arrangements with them be pursued
May be possible with better access through Internet and greater openness in Korean institutions
5. that the problem for users of slowness of inter-library loans and supply of photocopies be considered as well as the effectiveness of the system including direct charges
NLA's Copies Direct service offers online requesting and emailed documents in reply
6. that access to electronic economic data on Korea be improved within Australia
Increased availability possible through Korean government websites
7. that collecting of library materials on North Korea be given greater priority by Australian libraries with Korean holdings especially the National Library
NLA re-established contacts with Pyongyang in 2003 and is receiving materials from North Korea
8. that gaps in collecting, such as lack of current periodicals and newspapers, be considered together with possible funding sources
Libraries have generally not succeeded in securing extra funding for collections. Efforts are often devoted to keeping what funding there is.
9. that needs of business which are bypassing libraries be discussed more fully with business councils and users.
Not yet undertaken, and unlikely to be.
Successes and achievements
There were undoubtedly significant improvements through the 1990s. The development of the National CJK Service was a major achievement and its current redevelopment ten years later shows that it is a vital part of the national bibliographic infrastructure in Australia.
In the area of co-operative collection development, the 1990s saw new collecting agreements for Asian materials signed, while priorities identified through the Roundtables, such as Korea and South Asia received considerable attention, some of which led to better collections and services nationally. The various meetings and surveys also greatly improved the level of knowledge and understanding of Asian collection matters
The National Library itself made significant steps in developing wider access to its collections and streamlining previously cumbersome services such as interlibrary loans. Many of these developments addressed concerns raised by the Korean User Survey. In recent years the growth of the Korean Internet has greatly increased the amount of government data freely available.
However it is fair to say that the modest momentum in Korean collecting and services that was built up in the 1990s has since ceased. Along with the other Asian languages, Korean studies became subject to a series of changes and developments in Australian tertiary education which basically changed the 'product'. These complex issues are discussed in the ASAA's 2002 report Maximizing Australia's Asia knowledge: repositioning and renewal of a national asset (2002)3 . Above all the report conveyed the message that action was needed to address a situation of declining resources, enrolments and expertise, noting 'The key point is that the spread of useful knowledge of Asia among Australian university students is stalled.'
Positioning for the future
So what do libraries do now? In the face of the kind of developments referred to above I believe there is a real need to accept that our user base is changing, and to consider what kind of changes libraries need to make in response. The Maximising report notes the increasing integration of an Asian focus into teaching and research in other disciplines. It calls this 'the disciplinary shift'4 , where at Monash University for example, Asia is taught in 85 subjects offered outside the Asian studies faculty. The subjects will be familiar to you: business, law, education, cultural studies, communications and media. Many of these students and indeed researchers would have no language skills or rudimentary ones; of course on the other hand, they may be native speakers.
I believe if Asian collections in libraries are to survive they need to make themselves relevant to these changing user and research profiles. This might mean making greater efforts to acquire English language resources published in and about the region. Paradoxically it might mean acquiring more resources purely for native speakers, such as Chinese language electronic book databases, supplying (for example) accounting and medical textbooks in Chinese.
It might mean collecting material libraries don't traditionally acquire, such as ephemeral publications - brochures, leaflets, posters - and images. We might need to find a way to manage documents in purely digital form. Popular culture, gender studies and communications are all growth areas of research and we need to know what those researchers would value in our collections if they could have it.
The first Korean User Survey in Australia was immensely valuable in identifying a whole range of interests in the scholarly community at the time. What I am now suggesting is the redefinition of that community to include what is sometimes called the 'new' Asian studies, and commencing a dialogue with them about how library collections can be made relevant to them. I honestly believe that without this step, our traditionally based print collections run the risk of becoming less and less used, and less and less justifiable.
In Australia the National Library will continue to take a strong role in the provision of Korean collections and services. However we wish this to be a strategic role as well. In order to commence the dialogue I referred to, we plan to hold a national Asia forum at the Library in Canberra in late October 2005, where we hope to discuss these and other matters with the library and scholarly community.
It will by then have been ten years since the last such discussion. We look forward to an engaging and fruitful discussion which can set the stage for the next period of development of Asian collections in Australia.
1 http://www.nla.gov.au/policy/mevan.html2 Dr Ken Wells 'The NLA's Korean Collection and related matters', ASAA Conference 1998, University of New South Wales
3 http://sites.uws.edu.au/social/asaa/report.pdf
4 Ibid. p. 16
