Report on the NCC's Japanese Publishers and Vendors Roundtable 2005
Held in Conjunction with the 2005 AAS Annual Meeting
Friday April 1, 2005, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Hyatt Regency Hotel Chicago, Columbus Hall KL
Copies of the Reports made at the January 2005 NCC Meeting can be found by clicking the highlighted sections in Red or by following the URLs included.
NCC Chair Toshie Marra began by welcoming the audience of attendees and thanking the ten publishers and the vendors, Kinokuniya Bookstores of America and the Japan Publications Trading Co., Ltd., who had agreed to take part. This roundtable was planned to provide an added opportunity for Japanese publishers and producers of digital resources to discuss the special characteristics of their firm and to introduce newly published print and electronic materials of interest to those in the field of Japanese studies. It was also hoped the session would reach out to scholars and librarians in isolated environments without easy access to major Japanese studies collections or expert Japanese studies librarians to assist in their collection development efforts.
Each speaker made their presentation in turn: Shinsuke Yagi of Fuji Shuppan, Yuichiro Ishida of Hon-No-Tomosha, Hideo Okano of Kuroshio Shuppan who represented the Languages and Linguistics Publishers Forum and was recommended by the Japan Publications Trading Co. Ltd., Hiroshi Tobe of Kashiwa Shobo, June Tateno of NetAdvance Inc., Takashi Yoshizawa of Nihon Tosho Senta, Masao Yoneda of Ozorasha, Satoko Matsumura of Rinsen Shoten, Hiroshi Kawakami of Yumani Shobo, and Sei Higuchi of Yushodo Company Ltd.
Following the last presentation, Toshie Marra opened the floor to questions from the audience. A summary of the Q&A contributed by Daikichi Mitake of Kinokuniya Bookstores of America and Toshie Marra follows:
Q:
Some publishers claim that they publish certain titles of books on an "on-demand" basis, but it is not clear what the "ondemando-ban オンデマンド版 indication in the book exactly mean, particularly regarding the publication date. I would like to know what constitutes the "ondemando-han" indication, because cataloging rules in North America instruct us to treat on-demand publications differently from regular publications. (Hideyuki Morimoto, Columbia University)
A:
It is necessary to check the practices of my company in order to answer the question. (Sei Higuchi, Yushodo)
Subsequently, the following answers were provided by several publishers:
Sei Higuchi, Yushodo: We have published many reprint titles for years. Among them there are a few titles published on an on-demand basis. For us, on-demand publication means on-demand reprinting, therefore we apply our reprint policy to on-demand publication. Usually we print any publications in multiple copies at one time and keep them in stock. On receipt of orders, we deliver them. However in the case of on-demand editions, we print one copy for each order and deliver it in a timely fashion. We (Yushodo) think the difference between ordinary reprints and on-demand reprints is the number of times a work is printed or duplicated. We print the publication year of on-demand editions on the title page and leave the colophon of original edition as it is. From then on, the publication year of on-demand editions will not be changed until the revision of on-demand edition is made. We now understand that the exact date of printing is an important fact for catalogers and we are very sorry not to have considered this question when on-demand reprint copies have been duplicated. The time will come in the near future when publishing brand-new titles on an on-demand basis takes place. When that day comes, however, we are not sure we would apply the same policy to them.
Yuichiro Ishida, Hon-No-Tomosha: Here is an example of one of our "on demand" publications, Kozakai Fuboku Tantei Shosetsu Zenshu. This reprint set, with new introduction, was originally published in June 1992 with ISBN 4938429586 for ¥72,000 (excluding tax), and all the copies were sold out. Later in 2004 when another set of Kozakai was published, we decided to republish Kozakai Fuboku Tantei Shosetsu Zenshu on an "on demand" basis. This republication has the same content as the previous edition, but the price increased to ¥96,000, and we assigned a new ISBN 4894394502 to this set to distinguish from the other previously published set. In summary, we consider "on demand" publication as a new product, and therefore, the colophon of the "on-demand" edition includes the new date of publication.
Hiroshi Kawakami, Yumani Shobo: "On demand" publishing is a mode of publishing in which we store the scanned content of a publication and upon receiving an order, print it out and bind it in a book format. Since the colophon is made earlier, all "on demand" publications have the original publication date and no new colophon is added to them. The same practice was applied to Showa Shoki Sekai Meisaku Hon'yaku Zenshu. That is, all the "on demand" copies produced should have the date of May 26, 2004 in the colophon. Those books expected to sell only a small number of copies that would be difficult to be published in regular mode of publishing are published on an "on demand" basis. An "on demand" publication is made in a different way from regular publications, but they look exactly the same as the set published and bound on the original date of publication.
Q:
"JapanKnowledge" is useful for not only faculty members and graduate students but also for undergraduates. Although there is a users' guide in Japanese ("katsuyo gaido 活用ガイド"), it would be useful if NetAdvance would produce a guide in English especially for undergraduates. (Michiko Ito, University of Kansas)
A:
NetAdvance acknowledges the need of creating a users' guide in English for JapanKnowledge, and we hope to make it available by August 2005. Once the guide is made, we will make it available from the JapanKnowledge home page so that individual users can use it easily by downloading it themselves. (June Tateno, NetAdvance)
Q:
Fujin Sansei Shiryo 婦人参政資料, a new publication from Nihon Tosho Senta, consists of 16mm microfilms. Is any special equipment necessary for viewing these 16mm microfilms? (Kuniko Yamada McVey, Harvard University)
A:
Regular microfilm readers would work to view these microfilms. (Takashi Yoshizawa, Nihon Tosho Senta)
A:
The difference between the 35mm and 16mm microfilms is the reduction ratio. It is necessary to use an appropriate lens for magnifying 16mm microfilms. At some universities in Japan, different microfilm readers are assigned for using 16mm and 35 microfilms. In any case, no special equipment is necessary to view 16mm microfilms. (Sei Higuchi, Yushodo)
Q:
Is the CD-ROM index for Fujin Sansei Shiryo compatible with English Windows XP? (Kuniko Yamada McVey, Harvard University)
A:
Yes, it is compatible. Although the publisher Nihon Tosho Senta could not try it with English Windows XP themselves, the distributor Kinokuniya Bookstores tried it and confirmed its compatibility with English Windows XP, not only for searching but also for printing. (Daikichi Mitake, Kunokuniya)
Q:
Regarding Fujin Sansei Shiryo, is the publisher considering providing online access to the resource instead of selling it in CD-ROM and microfilm formats? (Michiko Ito, University of Kansas)
A:
We understand that library users in North America tend to prefer online products rather than those in CD-ROM format. However, it would be difficult for us to jump into the online service business suddenly. Please understand that Nihon Tosho Senta has extensive experience in publishing reprinted academic print sources. The main body of this particular resource was produced on microfilms, and a CD-ROM index had been produced by the Ichikawa Fusae Kinenkai, the owner of the archives. So, we decided to sell the CD-ROM index together with the microfilm set. It seems that no Japanese publishers specializing in reprinting academic sources provide users with online access to the content of CD-ROMs by allowing the downloading of content to their servers. We work quite differently from online products producers such as Nichigai Associates and NetAdvance Inc. However, we would like to consider permitting network access for the CD-ROM index to libraries that purchased the microfilm set. I hope you understand our position. (Takashi Yoshizawa, Nihon Tosho Senta)
At the conclusion of the session, Toshie Marra thanked the speakers and those who participated late into the evening.
