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Asian Collections: Library of Congress, An Illustrated Guide

HOME Preface Introduction The World of Asian Books Chinese Beginnings Tales from the Yunnan Woods The Diplomat and the Dalai Lama From the Steppes of Central Asia The Japanese World Korean Classics Homer on the Ganges White Whales and Bugis Book Barangays, Friars, and "The Mild Sway of Justice" The Theravada Tradition The Southern Mandarins Modern Asia East Asia Inner Asia South Asia Southeast Asia and the Pacific Epilog Publications on the Asian Collections

PREFACE TO THE 2007 EDITION (ONLINE)

Asian Reading Room.
Asian Division Reading Room.
(Photo by Harold Meinheit)

Since the publication of Library of Congress Asian Collections: an illustrated Guide in 2000, the Asian collections have continued their rapid growth and expanded in some new directions. These changes are significant enough to warrant a second edition of the Illustrated Guide that, at least for the present, is available only electronically on the Asian Division's home page.

Aside from updating the original Illustrated Guide, this second edition is not dramatically different from the original. The original format, with its division between classical and modern holdings, is unchanged and almost all of the original photographs remain

Several recent developments, however, are reflected in the revised text:

  • The Library has recently acquired a number of important and rare items that deserve mention. These include what may be the oldest book from southern Asia as well as the identification of an extremely important map by Japan's "father of cartography."
  • The Library has undertaken a major expansion and strengthening of its contemporary publications from China.
  • With the political opening of Mongolia, the Library has expanded its holdings and focused more attention on this new democracy.
  • For the transliteration of Chinese, the Library has uses the Pinyin system rather than Wade-Giles. This change is reflected in the new edition of the Guide.

In November 2005, the Librarian of Congress, Dr. James H. Billington, announced an important initiative, proposing the building of a "World Digital Library" through international cooperation. Over the past five years, the Asian Division has launched cooperative digitization projects with a number of Asian countries. The new edition of the Guide describes some of these projects, which have opened the treasures of the Asian collections to a much wider audience. In addition, the Division has also acquired an increasing number of full-text digital databases from Asia for use by researchers.

I wish to express my appreciation to the author or the original Illustrated Guide, Harold E. Meinheit, who undertook the task of revising and updating his original work. Also, Dr. Mi Chu, Head of Scholarly Services, recognized the need for an updated Guide and administered the project. However, this could not have been completed without the support of many of our Asian Division colleagues: Chandell Butler, Tien Doan, Lien Fiedler, Anchi Hoh, Khin Htway, Eiichi Ito, Lily Kecskes, Nuzhat Khatoon, Sonya Lee, Judy Lu, Susan Meinheit, Thaddeus Ohta, Kiyoyo Pipher, Ming Poon, Allen Thrasher, Jeffrey Wang, and Kathryn Wellen. Special thanks also go to William P. Tuchrello of the Jakarta Field Office.


Dr. Hwa-Wei Lee,
Chief, Asian Division
June 2007

 

HOME Preface Introduction The World of Asian Books Chinese Beginnings Tales from the Yunnan Woods The Diplomat and the Dalai Lama From the Steppes of Central Asia The Japanese World Korean Classics Homer on the Ganges White Whales and Bugis Book Barangays, Friars, and "The Mild Sway of Justice" The Theravada Tradition The Southern Mandarins Modern Asia East Asia Inner Asia South Asia Southeast Asia and the Pacific Epilog Publications on the Asian Collections
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