Charting New Partnerships to Support Japanese Studies in the Global Information Society:
NCC's Third Decade (3-D) Conference
March 22-23, 2010 at the University of Pennsylvania
In co-sponsorship with its Center for East Asian Studies
In cooperation with the Greater Philadelphia Asian Studies Consortium Faculty Group
Conference Goal:
Strengthen collaborative networks among Japanese information stakeholders to improve and support global access to Japanese information resources
3-D Conference Abstract:
The landscape of teaching and research on Japan has changed radically since 1991 when the NCC (North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources) embarked on its mission of service to the field. In the nearly two decades since NCC began, the sources of potential knowledge on Japan have greatly expanded. New forms and formats of Japanese information are fueling emerging areas of scholarship mining bodies of knowledge rarely seen and little known 20 years ago. Yet in the presence of such potential, we face stark financial realities.
In its third decade NCC must lead the field by doing more to advocate for broader access to information resources and by supporting the knowledge creation that new media enables. The NCC's 3-D Conference will bring together an international group of faculty and information specialists to help NCC envision new programs, fortify international collaborations, and implement new services to provide access to knowledge on Japan for faculty, undergraduates, and the graduate students who will assume leadership positions in the field in the decade to come.
The new digital information environment is changing the way users find and obtain information on Japan. At the same time faculty and librarians face massive budget cuts, heavier demands are placed on their time, support services are reduced, and funds for research and travel are more limited. As libraries increasingly restructure positions following more technical and fewer topical criteria those without access to East Asian specialist librarians will certainly grow. In the coming decade it will be NCC's mission to find more and better ways to serve all users and to facilitate their access to larger bodies of knowledge on Japan through digital means.
In this constantly changing environment NCC continues to be a clearinghouse for Japanese information leveraging scarce resources to benefit all users, and an important collaborator with institutions internationally to bring Japanese knowledge to the fingertips of all those interested in Japan.
NCC's 3-D Conference has received funding from the Japan-US Friendship Commission, the Japan Foundation, and the Toshiba International Foundation. For more information and to register for the 3-D Conference, please contact Victoria Bestor, NCC Executive Director at
vbestor@fas.harvard.edu.
