Columbia University: Toshiba Library

The Toshiba Library began in 1982 when the Law Library at Columbia University received a donation of over 13,000 items from the family of the late Justice Jiro Tanaka. This original collection was a comprehensive overview of Japanese law, with a concentration on constitutional law. It is currently considered one of the most comprehensive collections of Japanese law outside of Japan.

Approximately 40% of the collection is located in the open stacks of the library; the remaining 60% are in storage or the closed stack area, and are available on request.

For more information on the Japanese collection, please call 212-854-4193 or email the curator.

C. V. Starr East Asian Library

Columbia University Library

Toshiba Library for Japanese Legal Research

For all comments and questions about the Guide, please e-mail us:

mlaguide@nccjapan.net

Collection size: as of January 2014

• Approximately 16,600 monograph volumes
• Approximately 537 serial titles
• Legal databases, indexes, and access to full-text cases covering the period from the end of the 19th century to the present
• Total physical holdings of approximately 32,000 volumes, including both monographs and serials

The Toshiba Library collection is particularly strong in corporations law, securities and finance law, administrative law, and criminal law.

URL: http://web.law.columbia.edu/library/about/collections/toshiba

Online catalog: http://clio.columbia.edu/

A collection of sources on Japanese law, in both English and Japanese. These include sources on session law, statutes, legislative history, cases, and more.

The research guides developed by Columbia University faculty and staff are organized by subject area, and include music subject guides, religious studies, south & southeast asian studies research guides, and more.

The Columbia University Libraries supports and promotes multiple online research tools related to bibliographic management, online searching, and browser plugins. Many of these are usable not only at Columbia University, but also in general.

Columbia University Libraries offer access to spatial and numeric data collections, including collections in economics, health, and international data.

The Columbia University Libraries provide access to over 1,500 databases, including many pertinent to Japan-related research and approximately ten Japanese-language databases.

The Arthur W. Diamond Law Library provides access to over 80 legal databases, specializing in American law, foreign law, international law, and more.

Please note: the majority of these databases require the user to either be present on the Columbia University campus, or to log in with a user ID and password provided by Columbia University.

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Access to the Toshiba Library for Japanese Legal Research, as part of the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library, is free for Columbia Law School and Columbia University students, faculty, staff, and alumni. For individuals not affiliated with the university, access may be purchased on a pay-as-you-go basis, or with an annual subscription. The pay-as-you-go option, entitled the Document Delivery Service, allows individuals or organizations to receive copies of documents either electronically or physically. Those with the Subscription Service enjoy free borrowing of monographs and reduced rates for emailed articles, as well as access to copies of materials found in other libraries within the Columbia University Library system and expedited service. For more information regarding the two services, please see the Fee-Based Services webpage on the Diamond Law Library website. Access to the physical library itself may also be purchased on a monthly basis at the Library Information Office in Butler Library.

There are three public scanners within the Diamond Law Library available for patron use. These can either save the scanned items to a USB device, or send them to the patron via email. The Law Library requests that patrons keep scanner use to 30-minute sessions, and recommends that individual files be kept to no more than 40 pages for email delivery. The Law Library also has one photocopier on the premises, which is operated through the use of a copy card, which may be purchased at the Circulation Desk with either cash or personal checks. Photocopies cost $0.10 per page. For more information, please visit the Copying and Scanning webpage on the Law Library website.