The Library began building a major Chinese collection in 1961, when
the noted Harvard Sinologist, Charles Sidney Gardner, father of
Professor John Gardner of Brownís English Department, donated approximately
30,000 volumes on Chinese history and literature. The "Gardner Collection",
as it was named, has grown from that nucleus. In 1965, a Federal
grant led to the formal establishment of Brownís East Asia Language
and Area Center, which has since become the Department of East Asian
Studies (EAS). Regular acquisitions added to the holdings and, in
1980, a grant from the Japan Foundation funded the beginnings of
the Japanese Collection. A Korean Collection, built through special
donations and a memorial fund, began in 1985. With their introduction
into the Gardner Collection, it was renamed the East Asian Collection
(EAC).
The Collection has grown for the last four decades to become an
integral part of the research resources at Brown. The original gift
was especially rich in works on the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), which
was Professor Gardner's specialty. The holdings of the EAC now also
cover linguistics, philosophy, religion, fine arts, and the social
sciences. Many faculty members, alumni, visiting scholars, and other
friends of the Library have contributed to its development by donating
books or funds. The Library has also received gift and exchange
materials from other major East Asian collections. Currently, there
are 90,469 volumes in Chinese, 8,348 volumes in Japanese, and 4,628
volumes in Korean, in addition to 452 current serials and 786 reels
of microfilm in East Asian languages. With total holdings of 103,445
volumes, our overall collection ranks 31st out of the 66 major collections
in North American research institutions. The Chinese collection
itself ranks 26th.
The primary clients of the Collection are students and faculty of
EAS, visiting scholars, and international students from East Asian
countries. However, it also provides opportunities for users from
other area communities and institutions of higher learning, as well
as faculty and graduate students in various fields. The latter include
humanities departments like American Civilization, Comparative Literature,
History of Art and Architecture, and Religious Studies, and, in
the social sciences, Anthropology, Economics, Political Science,
and Sociology.
In recent years, as the teaching and research interests in the area
have grown, the Library has sought to balance social sciences and
humanities acquisitions, while covering from ancient through contemporary
times. Collection priority has also been given to basic reference
resources and key journals. Moreover, the Library has attempted
to make more material accessible for the users by acquiring electronic
resources. With the national conversion of bibliographic records
from the Wade-Giles system to the Pinyin romanization scheme for
Chinese characters, which started on October 1, 2000, users can
more easily access the Asian resources in the online catalog. In
particular, the Millennium upgrade of Josiah will enable library
patrons to input and display Chinese, Japanese and Korean vernacular
fonts. So, as one of two major collections in the Boston Library
Consortium, Brownís EAC will be more open to resource sharing with
other libraries.
Today, with the Pacific Rim becoming more important, there are growing
demands for area studies, which draw on materials in East Asian
languages. It is important to enhance the quality and quantity of
our EAC to fulfill the Libraryís mission. Academic libraries now
face increasing challenges and opportunities, and new technologies
will transform East Asian resources from local, self-sufficient
collections to part of a worldwide, interdependent system. Therefore,
efforts will continue to be focused on building a collection which
reflects the increasing academic needs of the users; ensuring effective
bibliographic control for intellectual and physical access to resources
(print and electronic); and providing the best services for our
clientele, primarily our faculty and students. With the support
of the University, the Library, and especially the patrons, the
East Asian Collection will keep developing in order to increase
access to information, knowledge, and wisdom for a new academic
world in the information age.
- Li Wang
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/University_Library
