Description
of Collection
Content description
It is mainly an English-language collection but also contains some publications in Japanese and in other European languages. It is mainly a monograph collection but also contains periodicals and newspapers. The subject coverage is primarily the humanities with the main emphasis on language, literature, history, bibliography, religion, art and architecture. More recently there has been a growth in the coverage of modern Japanese culture including sociology, economics, politics and foreign relations.
History and development
The Japanese collection developed in the 1940' and 1950's following the introduction of Japanese teaching in the Faculty in 1948. During the 1950's it was further developed by Eric Ceadel who was the first lecturer in Japanese and later the University Librarian. He purchased Japanese books both for the Faculty Library and for the University Library. Since then the section has been further developed by the addition of books which support the teaching of the Japanese Studies Tripos. In the last fifteen years especially, some of the additional funding secured for Japanese studies from sources outside the University, has been used to develop the Library collection. The main purpose of the collection is to support undergraduate teaching but there is also some content of relevance to research students.
Strengths
The major strengths are in history, language teaching, literature (classical and modern), bibliography and religion. There are growing sections in economics, politics, sociology and foreign relations.
General arrangement and access regulations
The Japanese collection forms one section of the Faculty Library and all volumes concerning Japanese culture and Japanese language teaching are shelved together. They are arranged by an in-house classification scheme which is an adapted version of the National Diet Library in Tokyo. Serials are shelved with the rest of the Library's serials holdings. Some older volumes are shelved in the basement of the Faculty building.
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