The UK Japan Library Group, in collaboration with the Tenri University, Tenri Central Library, the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC), and EAJRS, announces:
Tenri Antiquarian Materials Workshop for Overseas Japanese Studies Librarians, June 18-22, 2007. Application Deadline: February 28, 2007
The Tenri Workshops are aimed at establishing a cohort of librarians expertly trained in the best practices for managing, cataloguing and organising Japanese manuscript and antiquarian printed material, who will serve as core persons responsible for providing guidance and training on such material to colleagues in their respective countries/regions.
A series of three workshops (one week each in June for three years) is planned, each building on knowledge acquired in the previous one. The stepped approach will allow participants to apply what is learned to their daily work, raising issues which can be addressed in the following workshop. Each workshop will combine lectures, practical sessions and exercises. Lecturers will be mainly from Tenri Central Library with external speakers as necessary. The following is the planned topics for workshops for three years:
Year 1: Basic knowledge for management and cataloguing of materials: focus on Edo Period printed material. The workshop will contain a combination of lectures and practical sessions on the following key areas:
- Outline and characteristics of Japanese manuscripts/early printed books
- Types of format/binding; basic bibliographic terminology
- Characteristics of publishing/book distribution in Edo Period
- Basic cataloguing: focus on Edo Period printed material
Year 2 Management and cataloguing of antiquarian material including manuscripts
- Types of printed and manuscript material
- Practicalities and problems of manuscript cataloguing
- Intermediate cataloguing
- Condervation and management
Year 3 Management and cataloguing of antiquarian material of various subjects/formats
- Printed and manuscript material in non-book format
- Management, handling and organisation of documents
- Advanced cataloguing
- Preservation and imaging data
The 2007 workshop will be held Monday to Friday from June 18 to 22 (with a symposium on June 23) in the Tenri Central Library, Tenri, Japan.
The Tenri University and its Tenri Central Library will generously host the three workshops. Tuition for the workshop is free, and accommodation and meals will be provided by the host institution. Applications for partial support of travelling expenses have been made for by the organizers but are still pending. Candidates (and/or their home institutions) must be prepared to cover the full travel expenses at this time.
Participation is limited to 10 candidates from Europe and 10 from North America.
Selection criteria for candidates are as follows:
- Candidates must be employed by a European/North American institution with a collection of Japanese antiquarian material.
- Candidates must have day-to-day responsibility for (or demonstrate practical need for) cataloguing and/or administering Japanese antiquarian material.
- All instruction at the workshop will be in Japanese so candidates’ level of written/spoken Japanese should reflect this.
- Candidates should demonstrate a strong willingness to share their training with local and regional networks of Japanese Studies colleagues.
- Candidates must submit the written permission of their supervisor to attend the June 2007 programme (at the time of application).
- As this is planned as a stepped programme candidates must be in a position to commit themselves to the full three years.
An application form is attached below. Application should be submitted via email to by February 28, 2007. Approval by applicant’s institution should also sent by e-mail.
For European Applicants:
Izumi Tytler
Bodleian Japanese Library
27 Winchester Road, Oxford OX2 6NA UK
Email: ikt@bodley.ox.ac.uk
For further details please contact:
Tenri Workshop Preparatory Committee
Izumi Tytler Bodleian Japanese Library, Oxford, ikt@bodley.ox.ac.uk
Sachié Noguchi C. V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University, sn2160@columbia.edu
Hamish Todd British Library, Hamish.Todd@bl.uk
Setsuko Kuwabara Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin, skuwabara@jdzb.de
Hideo Yamanaka Tenri University, yamanaka@sta.tenri-u.ac.jp