In March 2017, the University of Toronto Libraries was honoured to host and support two major international Asian studies library conferences: the 2017 Association for Asian Studies (AAS)/Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL) Annual Conference and the Fourth Sino-American Academic Library Forum for Cooperation and Development (SAALFCD).
AAS/CEAL Conference
From March 13 to 16, the U of T Libraries, in partnership with the Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL), hosted several pre-conference workshops and meetings on campus: Doing Digital Scholarship in Japanese Studies: Innovations and Challenges Workshop (in conjunction with the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources), CEAL Committee on Technical Processing’s Cataloguing Workshop, CEAL Electronic Resources Metadata Best Practices Workshop and OCLC CJK User Group Meeting. The U of T Libraries also welcomed the participants of the AAS Tibetan Working Group meeting and AAS Committee on South Asian Libraries and Documentation (CONSALD) meeting to the campus.
CEAL Pre-Conference Workshop “Doing Digital Scholarship in Japanese Studies: Innovations and Challenges Workshop” in the Blackburn Room, Robarts Library on March 13-14 (Photo credit: Fabiano Rocha)
The following are video recordings of the workshops that took place on March 14:
Here are some event highlights of the conferences:
CEAL Members Reception
On March 14, the U of T Libraries hosted the CEAL Members Reception at the Thomas Fisher Library. 150 CEAL members from North America, Asia and Europe, and international guests attended. Everyone enjoyed relaxed conversations and networking opportunities. Prior to the reception, the CEAL members and international guests had a chance to explore one of the U of T Libraries’ jewels, the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library.
CEAL Members Reception at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library on March 14, 2017
From left: Jim Cheng, CEAL President and Larry Alford, Chief Librarian, U of T Libraries (Photo credit: Rob Carter)
The CEAL annual conference is notable for being one of the largest professional conferences in the field of East Asian studies librarianship. The conference provides a platform for East Asian studies librarians/information professionals, scholars, publishers, and vendors to discuss various issues, trends, and challenges of the field and learn from each other.
The AAS is a scholarly, non-political, non-profit professional association open to all persons interested in Asia and the study of Asia. With approximately 7,000 members worldwide, representing all the regions and countries of Asia and all academic disciplines, the AAS is the largest organization of its kind. Annually, over 3,000 members attend the AAS conference.
CEAL Members Reception on March 14, 2017 (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library) [Photo credit: Rob Carter]
The Delegation of the Korea Foundation’s Visit to the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library
On March 16, the president and five officials from the Korea Foundation visited the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library.
The Delegation of the Korea Foundation, March 16, 2017. From Left: Jesook Song, Interim Director, Centre for the Study of Korea, University of Toronto; Hana Kim, Director, Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library; Seayoun Lee, Director, Korea Foundation Washington DC Office; Sihyung Lee, President, Korea Foundation; Jihae (Julia) Chun, Korean Studies Librarian, Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library; Hoseon Ha, Director, Korean Studies Department, Korea Foundation; Kiho Jang, Assistant Director, Korean Studies Department, Korea Foundation; Byung-kon Kim, Director, Korea Foundation Los Angeles Office (Photo credit: Jay Seo)
The Korea Foundation has been a strong supporter of developing the Korean Studies collection at the U of T Libraries. In 1997, the U of T Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library was the first institution in Canada to join the Korean Collections Consortium of North America, funded by the Korea Foundation. Since then, the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library has been receiving an annual grant from the Foundation for its collection development.
National Central Library (Taiwan)’s Book Donation
Larry Alford, Chief Librarian presenting a gift to Ying-mei Wu, Deputy Director General, National Central Library
From Left: Ying-mei Wu, Deputy Director General, National Central Library and Larry Alford, Chief Librarian
Location: National Central Library (Taiwan) exhibition booth, Sheraton Centre Toronto (Photo credit: Sarah Wilkinson)
From Left: Stephen Qiao, China Studies Librarian, Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library; Yun-han Chu, President, Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholar Exchange; Ying-mei Wu, Deputy Director General, National Central Library; Hana Kim, Director, Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library; Nicolas Hong, Deputy Director General, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Toronto; Alicia Wang, Deputy Director, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Toronto
Location: National Central Library (Taiwan) exhibition booth, Sheraton Centre Toronto (Photo credit: Sarah Wilkinson)
During the Association of Asian Studies Annual Conference at Sheraton Centre Toronto, the National Central Library of Taiwan (NCL) presented a major donation of over 400 books and DVDs on Chinese and Taiwanese studies to the University of Toronto Libraries to be added to the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library Collection. In a special ceremony, the gifts were presented by Ms. Ying-mei Wu, NCL’s Deputy Director General, Mr. Yun-han Chu, President of the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholar Exchange, and Mr. Nicolas Hong, Deputy Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Toronto.
The Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library has a strong tie with the NCL by developing very exciting collaborations and partnerships in the past few years. In 2014, U of T Libraries received $90,000 to from the NCL to digitize over 200 Chinese rare books from Ming and Qing dynasty. The NCL and the U of T Libraries signed a memorandum of cooperation on “Taiwan Resource Centre for Chinese Studies” followed by the inauguration opening ceremony. Through this TRCCS program, the NCL donated over 1,000 books and DVDs in 2015 and has been sending 200-300 books annually to the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library.
Fourth Sino-American Academic Library Forum for Cooperation and Development (SAALFCD)
From March 15 to 18, 2017, the U of T Libraries hosted and co-organized the Fourth Sino-American Academic Library Forum for Cooperation and Development in partnership with the China Academic Social Sciences and Humanities Library (CASHL), and the North American Society for Chinese Studies Librarians (SCSL). The forum was held at Chestnut Conference Centre. A welcome reception was held at the Thomas Fisher Library. The participants also had a chance to have a tour of the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library and the Internet Archive in the Robarts Library. Larry Alford, Chief Librarian delivered an opening speech of the forum on March 17.
Chief Librarian delivers an opening speech at the form at the Chestnut Conference Centre on March 17, 2017 (Photo credit: Sarah Wilkinson)
The theme of the forum was “New Directions of Knowledge Services in Academic Libraries.” The forum participants discussed and explored topics related to digital scholarship, the reform and innovation of information and archive management, and library in the big data era.
The forum was special because it was the first time that the forum was taken place outside of China. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring together over 50 leaders in Chinese librarianship, publishers and vendors who are working closely with libraries to support our research communities, and library leaders from North American Chinse studies programs to the University of Toronto. It was a packed four days, comprising of two keynotes, 26 presentations, dinner banquet, and cultural activities.
China Academic Social Sciences and Humanities Library (CASHL) is a national academic library consortium established in 2003 under the leadership of the Chinese Ministry of Education.
The North American Society for Chinese Studies Librarians (SCSL) is non-profit, non-political academic organization aimed at promoting scholarly activities, professional exchange, information sharing, and project cooperation among Chinese studies librarians.
(Photo credit: Sarah Wilkinson)
Peking University Library
During the Fourth Sino-American Academic Library Forum for Cooperation and Development (SAALFCD), three delegates (Qiang Zhu, Director, Long Xiao, Deputy Director and Chunyan Ai, Deputy Head, Learning Support Centre) from the Peking University Library visited the U of T Libraries. Larry Alford, Chief Librarian, Julie Hannaford, Deputy Chief Librarian, Hana Kim, Director of the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library and Stephen Qiao, Chinese Studies Librarian met the delegates to discuss about the future collaborations and partnerships between two institutions. It was a follow-up meeting after Larry Alford’s visit to the Peking University Library in 2012. During his visit to Beijing, the two institutions signed a cooperation agreement.
Gifts presentation. From Left: Stephen Qiao, China Studies Librarian, Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library; Hana Kim, Director, Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library; Julie Hannaford, Deputy Chief Librarian; Larry Alford, Chief Librarian; Qiang Zhu, Director, Peking University Library; Long Xiao, Deputy Director, Peking University Library; Chunyan Ai, Deputy Head, Learning Support Centre, Peking University Library (Photo credit: Sarah Wilkinson)