JSIST 2004 Pages: December 1, 2004

KUBOTAY oshiko, Senior Lecturer and KATO Hisae, Librarian, The Japan Foundation Japanese Language Institute, Urawa

December 1, 2004

The session began with an introduction of the available materials related to the Japanese language as a second language by Ms. Kubota. Three categories: a) main textbook, b) prints versus audio-visual material, c) realia (nama kyozai). It was emphasized that instructional materials are produced to be used for specific audiences and purposes. Seven key words to choose materials were mentioned (i.e., by whom, how long, to whom, what, how, what purpose, when). Two very useful websites for teachers and learners of Japanese language were also introduced. Min'na no Kyozai Saito provides Japanese language teachers with resources to be used both in the classroom and in the production of teaching materials. There are currently 50,000 registered users from 124 countries. All resources are copyright free. Another website, Sushi Tesuto is a self-test site for learners to evaluate their Japanese language level.

In the last half of the lecture, Ms. Kato discussed how the library at the Institution builds collection of Japanese instructional materials including syllabi and textbooks from all over the world and organizing them to be easily used by researchers and teachers of Japanese language. A series of very useful websites and reference materials for the Japanese language education was introduced by Ms. Kato including the library's own OPAC, online catalogs of Japanese language textbooks for foreigners, and journal indexes for Japanese language education.

(Handouts are available in digital format.) (Handout) 

[Prepared by Eiichi Ito.]

December 1, 2004

We visited the Mita Media Center of Keio Gijuku University. The following report briefly describes the history, system and special initiatives of Keio Media Centers.

Overview of the Media Centers of Keio University

In the early 1990s, Media Centers were established on the five campuses of Keio University in conjunction with the establishment of the Keio University MediaNet, which integrated the University Libraries, the Information Centers and the Computer Centers. Subsequently, the Computer Centers became independent entities and were renamed Information Technology Centers (ITC) and the term Media Center came to be used to designate facilities providing library services. Now, ITCs and Media Centers on the Keio campuses work together through MediaNet to operate and maintain the university's information services environment. The Media Center Head Office is located on the Mita Campus, and individual Media Centers are found on all five Keio campuses: Mita, Hiyorhi, Shinanomachi (Medical), Yagami (Science and Technology), and Shonan Fujisawa. Keio currently has two facilities for the storage of older and/or less circulated print materials, the Yamanaka Book Depository (Lake Yamanaka) and the Hakuraku Satellite Library (Yokohama). A new library building with a capacity of 300,000 volumes will open on the Mita campus in April 2005.

Centralization

During this seminar we visited three university libraries. Keio University's library system seems to be the most advanced of the three in terms of centralization. The Head Office in Mita has been responsible for acquisitions and processing of materials for all five Media Centers since 1995. Moreover, Keio University closed small departmental libraries and integrated their collections into the Media Centers; and the Head Office also manages purchase funds allocated to the schools and departments, which make up half of the entire library purchase budget. Also, an internal ILL system has been in operation for more than ten years enabling users to borrow and return materials at any campus.

All library materials are processed at Mita Media Center, then delivered to the appropriate branch center. At present, the Mita Media Center's collection numbers approximately 2.3 million print volumes, mainly in the humanities and social sciences. As a point of interest, Keio has an extensive collection of foreign language materials, which amounts to more than 40 percent of its entire holdings.

Rare Book Collection and Digitization Project

Rare books in the humanities and social sciences are housed in the Rare Book Collection located in the Mita Media Center. These holdings include the personal collection of Fukuzawa Yukichi, the founder of Keio University and ancient Japanese texts such as Nara Ehon and Otogi Zoshi, as well as incunabula such as the Gutenberg Bible. The Rare Book Room is open to the public, but an advanced reservation request along with accurate title information is strictly required.

As part of the HUMI (Humanities Media Interface) Project, which began in 1996, Keio, in cooperation with other university libraries, has been digitizing rare and important materials on the history of the book, many of which are from the Media Center's Rare Book collection. Although this project is independent of the Media Center, it is the major means by which the Center's rare books are digitized. It should be noted that Keio is very active in the creation of digital resources. In order to promote the synthetic study of digital contents and to develop effective creation and dissemination of digital resources, the Research Institute for Digital Media and Contents (DMC) was founded in 2004.

ILL with Overseas Libraries

Keio Media Centers accept ILL/ document delivery requests from overseas with some restrictions. According to the ILL statistical data contained in the publication "Keio University Media Center 2003," Keio University is a very active lender. In FY 2002, Keio received 54,431 lending requests and sent 13,740 requests. The materials in demand for ILL are mainly in the sciences, engineering and medicine, but the demand for materials in the humanities and social sciences held on the Mita campus has been increasing over the years. Keio University is and can be expected to remain a very important lending library for overseas university libraries. The following are the Media Center's guidelines for ILL/ document delivery service.

Materials Available for ILL/ Document Delivery Service

• Photocopy requests are accepted and delivered by mail or in pdf format, except for rare books and books in poor condition
• Lending requests for books are accepted, except:
     Books acquired after 1960 and with call numbers starting with
     "A" or "B"
     Books purchased by departmental budget funds

Request and Payment Methods
OCLC-ILL Service: offset by IFM
GIF (Global ILL Framework): offset by IFM
E-Mail: mita-ill@lib.keio.ac.jp: IFLA Voucher, IRC Coupon
Fax: +81-3-5484-7780 IFLA: Voucher, IRC Coupon

Cost and ILL Loan Period
1 IFM is equivalent to $ 1.
ILL-Copy-Charge:
1-9 pages: no charge
10-19 pages: 5 IFM
20-29 pages: 10 IFM
30-39 pages: 15 IFM
40-49 pages: 20 IFM

ILL-Loan-Period: 1 month per item/up to 3 items per library
ILL-Loan-Charge: 20 IFM per volume

Policy for Visitors
Visitors can use the library materials at each site. However, a reservation is required in advance. Also, the use of materials may be restricted to materials reserved in advance.

Related URLs:
Keio University Library
http://www.mita.lib.keio.ac.jp/index.html
Keio University Library OPAC
http://catalog.lib.keio.ac.jp/
Keio University Rare Book Collection
http://www.mita.lib.keio.ac.jp/lib_info/rare.html
Digitized Rare Books: "Treasures of Keio University"
http://www.humi.keio.ac.jp/treasures/jp_index.html
Digital Media and Contents
http://www.dmc.keio.ac.jp/index.html

[Prepared by Michiko Ito.]