1. EAL
Collections Info
2.
Access to EAL Collections
3. User
Services
4.
Circulation Policy Information for Library Borrowers
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I.
Program Information
East
Asian Studies at KU have traditionally concentrated on medieval
and pre-modern China and Japan, especially on history, art history,
literature, religion and cultural history of traditional East
Asia. The study of modern East Asia was added to the traditional
East Asian studies in the early 1980s due to the growing importance
of trade and political interaction with China, Japan, Korea
and other East Asian countries. Inter-disciplinary courses in
political science, communication, business, and international
law were offered to present political, sociological, and economic
developments in modern East Asian societies. The recent emphasis
on global studies by the university
has produced an increased interest in modern East Asia
among faculty and students from a variety of departments. The Center
for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Kansas
was founded in 1958. It is an interdisciplinary unit composed
of more than fifty East Asian faculty teach in more than 25
departments and professional schools throughout the university,
offering about one hundred ninety courses per year in such
fields as literature, history, political science, art history,
law, geography, religion, theater, anthropology, economics, business,
and social work. The University has particular strengths in East
Asian art history, history, languages and cultures and theater
and film, but is currently augmenting its offerings in contemporary
politics, business, and law.
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II.
Collection Description
In
1958 the University of Kansas received a federal grant to establish
an East Asian studies program. From the onset, the Libraries
supported this program through the collection of East Asian
materials. In 1965 the Libraries established the East Asian
Library (EAL) to facilitate the acquisition and processing of
materials from this world region. The EAL staff has the appropriate
skills needed to acquire and process materials for the collections;
and to provide reference and research support to the KU community
and beyond. The collections support the East Asian Languages
and Cultures B. A. and M. A. programs, and doctoral programs
with an East Asian concentration in a number of departments
and professional schools in the humanities and social sciences.
Traditionally, emphasis has been placed on collecting East Asian
materials in the humanities. The EAL collections are particularly
strong in the fields of art history, history, languages, cultures,
and religion. Since the mid 1980s, in an effort to support the
expanding East Asian program, emphasis has been expanded
to collect social science materials, particularly in contemporary
politics, business, law and women's studies. Much of this collection
development has been accomplished with external funding sources
and/or special one-time endowment money awarded by the Libraries.
Since 1989 the EAL has joined the OCLC
Online Computer Library Center Chinese Japanes
and Korean (OCLC CJK) cataloging system and has provided online
access to the collection via the Libraries OPAC (Online Public
Access Catalog). EAL has created its home
page since 1995 and has provided patrons with access to the World
Wide Web, on-line databases
and CD-ROM products. In addition, the KU Libraries established
electronic
document delivery for KU patrons in the same year.
The EAL added a special collection of audio-visual
material to its collections in 1997 to enhance and support teaching initiatives
and outreach activities of the Center for East Asian Studies
in the secondary schools.
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III.
Holdings
As
of June 2006, the total holdings of the East Asian Library
consisted of approximately 260,000 volumes, which include
135,000 in Chinese, 77,000 in Japanese, 4,000 in Korean and 40,000 in other languages. The library has collected most core journal titles in paper and in electronic formats. It is among the top 20 collections in the U.S. and the 10th among public funded collections.
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IV.
Collection Strength
Reflecting
the major teaching and research activities during the past thirty
years, the East Asian collections are strong in art history,
history, literature, religion, theater and drama,
and Japanese women's studies.
1.
Chinese Collection:
The
Chinese collection provides broad coverage of history, art history,
language and literature, philosophy and religion, and sources for
social science study of the modern period. It is particularly strong
in the study of Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties (1260-1912), the
study of China's Republican period (1912-1949), the social and economic
conditions of post Cultural Revolution China (1975-), and the history
of modern China. To support those history related teaching and research
activities, the library provides primary source local gazetteers
from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties with a focus on Central
China (Huazhong), North China (Huabei) and Northwest China (Xibei)
regions. Individual authors from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912)
periods, and authoritative collectanea (collections of collections
or cong-shu, ts'ung-shu) are procured as primary resources. Those
collections support doctoral level studies.
The
collection is also strong in art from the Song and Yuan (960-1368),
and Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1912) for art history studies.
The collection includes works of individual painters, museum and
exhibition catalogs, biographies and writings of the literati painters,
and period criticism and historical works on paintings. Buddhist
paintings on studies of Dunhuang mural paintings, and history of
Chinese calligraphy from the early period of 6th century to 10th
century are relatively strong.
The
Chinese language and literature collection is strong in traditional
classical literature and contains literature histories, criticism,
and representative literature styles of each dynasty. Important
collections include Tang and Song poetry, Yuan and Ming drama, Ming
and Qing novels and prose, Tang through Qing literary collections
(wen ji), modern Chinese literature, and collections of the important
20th century authors. This collection supports graduate studies
at the master level in the EALC department. Students in history
and art history doctoral studies utilize this collection as well.
Since its inception, the EAL has procured Chinese collectanea (cong-shu)
of classical collections compiled by Qing imperials and other private
collectors. Those collections of collections provide primary sources
for traditional Chinese studies. One notable acquisition was the
purchase of the Schindler Collection in 1965. That collection contained
several hundred Chinese rare books of literature, history, and bronze
inscriptions from the 17th century to late 18th century in original
woodblock print format.
The
collection for studies in philosophy and religion is relatively
strong. Primary sources include the Buddhist sutra of the Tripitaka
with emphasis on the Chinese text of the sutra. The collection also
supports the studies of Buddhist paintings in art history. Many
titles in the microfilm collection also support the research in
the history and development of Christianity in China.
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2.
Japanese Collection:
The
EAL Japanese collection was established later than the Chinese collection.
The library collection supports undergraduate and graduate programs;
particularly strong are Ph.D. studies in history and art history.
Therefore, the library collection has strengths in Japanese paintings,
modern Japanese history, and literature of the medieval Heian period
of classical writings and the 20th century literature of important
authors. The
Japanese art history collection is particularly strong in paintings
from the medieval period to pre-modern period of Japan. The collection
covers the major picture scrolls produced between the Heian period
and Muromachi period (794-1600). The library also has an extensive
collection of Edo (Tokugawa) period (1600-1868) paintings and Ukiyoe
woodblock prints. The remarkable private Stern Collection was added
to the library collection in the late 1970s and focuses on Japanese
paintings especially on the Edo (Tokugawa) period. The library has
constantly collected major publications and exhibition catalogs
of established museums in Japan thereby providing updated secondary
resources to the library users. The collection of the materials
on performing arts, especially kabuki play and noh play is extensive.
The library supports research by collecting written as well as visual
materials on the performing arts. The
history collection covers the medieval period to pre-modern period
Japan. Particular emphasis has been placed on modern Japan from
the late Meiji period to the early Showa periods. The collection
is exceptionally strong in materials on the socialist/communist
movement, including the original and reprint issues of journals
and monographs published by socialist and communist groups in the
1920s and 1930s. The collection also holds extensive materials on
Taiwan, Chosen, and Manchuria (Manchukuo) under the Japanese occupation.
Of special note is the collection of original military maps of Manchuria
(Manchukuo) created by the Kwangtung Army during the 1930s. The
Japanese history collection is the strongest collection in general
and covers important primary sources supporting MA and Ph.D. level
studies. In
terms of social science disciplines, concentrated effort has been
made to collect materials on Japanese minority issues, in particular,
discrimination against the Buraku people and women's studies. The
EAL has collected materials that examine the historical as well
as contemporary problems of the Buraku people. Additional concentrated
efforts have been made to collect materials on the status of Japanese
women, including the recent issue of comfort women from the period
of World War II. The library has acquired several reprinted women's
journals originally published between the Meiji and early Showa
periods with grant support from the Japan Foundation and the NCC
Multi-Volume Set Grant. The library has become enriched with reprinted
journals of proletariat literature that is closely related to the
early feminist movement in Japan.
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3.
Korean Collection:
Traditionally,
the University of Kansas has not emphasized Korean studies. Therefore,
the Korean language collection consists of core reference works.
It has primarily been developed through the acquisition of gift
books in history, language and art history. Since 1996, the EAL
has purchased a small number of Korean materials to support varies
Korean studies initiatives.
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4.
Periodicals:
It
is financially impossible to collect all newspapers and periodicals
available for East Asian studies. Therefore, periodicals including
newspapers are collected selectively to support the teaching and
research needs of the University. Selections are based upon an evaluation
of the subject areas taught, research projects, and faculty recommendations.
Since 1995, the EAL home page has provided public access to current
online newspapers and e-journals available on the World Wide Web.
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5.
Western Language Materials:
East
Asian languages
collection is supported by western language materials
on East Asia studies housed in the general library collection
(Watson Library and
the Library Annex), Murphy
Art and Architecture Library, Government
Information Resources, Thomas
Gorton Music and Dance Library, Thomas
R. Smith Map Collection, GIS and Numeric
Data Lab and the Special
Collections of the Kenneth Spencer Research Library.
The western language materials supporting East Asian studies
consists of more than 40,000 volumes in history, art
history, literature, language, philosophy, religion, political
science, sociology, anthropology, theater and drama, and
geography. Through the approval plans and in coordination
with other subject specialists, the Libraries acquire most
English language scholarly and academic publications on East
Asian studies produced in North America. These works support
basic undergraduate and graduate research in most of the
professional schools. Other important on-campus international
resources are
at CIBER, Ermal
Garinger Academic Resource Center, and the Wheat
Law Library: Legal Research Links - International collections.
Those are staffed by personnel in the above departments.
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V.
Collection Locations
Lawrence Campus
Collection Map
East
Asian
languages collection is housed in the East Asian Library
on the fifth floor of Watson Library (Stack
Map (pdf) ) as well as 4-1/2 Center stacks
level. East Asian folios (> 28
cm) are shelved on 1 East stacks level. In addition, Watson
is home to most western language materials on East Asian except
art history and music materials. East
Asian art history material are housed in the Murphy
Art and Architecture Library. Selected materials
and ceased periodical titles will be housed in the Library
Annex that are currently housed in 1-North at the Anschutz
Library (Stack
Map (pdf). Finally, the Kenneth
Spencer Research Library of Special Collections houses
several rare book holdings in East Asian languages.
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