Multi-Volume Sets Project (MVS) ARCHIVE: MVS Review and Selection Process

MVS receives major funding from the Japan-US Friendship Commission with supplemental support from Japan Publications Trading Company, Ltd. (JPT). Funds are deposited in a JPT account from which they are disbursed following the instructions of the MVS Committee. The MVS Committee is comprised of the following scholars and librarians who are appointed by the NCC. The current MVS Committee Members are: Co-Chairs Professor Philip Brown, Ohio State University and Asuza Tanaka, of Washington University in St. Louis; Members are: Professor Cheryl Crowley, Emory University; Tomoko Bialock, University of Southern California, Daniel McKee of Cornell University; and Victoria Lyon Bestor, NCC Executive Director (ex-officio).

The Committee screens applications, confirms the absence of duplicate holdings in North American collections, and functions as a clearinghouse for the purchase of funded sets. The Committee keeps records of titles requested; both funded and not funded titles, and publishes those records on the NCC's Website. All funded titles are contained in the NCC's fully searchable database linked to the OPAC records of the holding institutions at http://www.nccjapan.net/mvs.asp.

The MVS Committee determines which sets will qualify for support and which libraries will receive support to purchase them. In determining distribution of awards, the Committee will consider each applicant institution's areas of specialization, unique character, and collection development traditions; in addition, it will also consider the presence of actual users of a specific set, the accessibility of catalog data, and the library's readiness to freely share purchased materials. Individual faculty at institutions without a professional Japanese studies librarian may submit an application on behalf of their institution.