JSIST 2004 Pages: December 2, 2004

KAWAMOTO Tsutomu and TSUDA Miyuki, NDL

December 2, 2004

Mr. Kawamoto started the session with a discussion about the changes in the reference services and resources in Japan. The amount of available information on the Internet as a reference information source has rapidly increased in the last ten years, especially "up-to-date" information. Other electronic resources such as information in CD-ROM and DVD formats have also been getting widely available.

Mr. Kawamoto pointed out to two challenges that the Japanese Studies reference librarians now face in this new environment: 1) choosing appropriate reference source is getting more difficult; 2) verifying the authenticity of information available online and electronic format is crucial.

Following the discussion, a full day session was devoted to Japanese reference sources in print mainly in the Humanities. A total of 280 resources was introduced during the sessions and more than 100 resources are discussed in detail during the hands on session.

NDL's Sanko Tosho Ruiseki Detabase was introduced.

[Prepared by Eiichi Ito.]

Extra curricula activity

About 13 people participated in this seminar held at the Kinokuniya, Inc. in Ebisu.

Each company introduced their electronic product and let us use demonstration products.

Yomiuri shinbun: Yomiuri shinbun CD-ROMs, Yomidasu, etc
Kinokuniya: Bookweb, JI news, Jword, etc.
JapanKnowlege, etc.

[Prepared by Keiko Yokota-Carter.]