1 Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization and Collaborative Collection Susan Xue Electronic...

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers:

Digitization and Collaborative CollectionSusan Xue

Electronic Resources LibrarianUniversity of California at

Berkeley

Hong ChengChinese Studies Librarian University of California at

Los Angeles

March 25, 2010

• Scope of new (post-1949) local gazetteers

• Compilation and publishing• Research value• Digitization and online availability• Strategy for collection

development

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

• Scope

Compilation started from 1950s, 250 counties had draft version, only 29 titles officially published before 1966

By 2007, 5812 first-run new gazetteers at provincial, city and county level (三级志 ) had been published, 99% completion

Second-run gazetteers (续志 ) started in 2000. By 2007, about 400 titles published, increase in vols., particularly for county gazetteers

By 2002, over 4,000 (incomplete statistics) subject, township and village gazetteers have been published since 1949

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

• Compilation and publishing

New local gazetteers are financially supported by governments

Compiled by experts/scholars organized by governments

Distributed through commercial channels Prices in a range of $10-$100 per vol.

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

• Research value

Record local histories in continuity. First-run gazetteers ending time between 1985-1990, not time limit for beginning time, most cover the Republic Era well

Use of archival, original and first-hand materials Maps of localities Statistical data hard to locate elsewhere for 1950s-70s (party

members, zhiqing numbers, commodity prices etc) Sources of revenues and expenditures at local level Accounts of historical events such as the Great Leap Forward and

the Cultural Revolution Biography of well-known local figures Natural disasters and damage caused Development of infrastructure (housing, road, railways etc.)

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

• Digitization

Digitization of new local gazetteers Officially started in 2001

In 2006 “The Regulation on the Work of Local Gazetteers” requires new gazetteers accessible through database/website

Official website of China Local Gazetteers Steering Group created in 2006, with links to provincial gazetteers websites http://www.difangzhi.cn/

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

• Full-text online availability

20 provinces have created shengqing database 省情数据库

Among them, 11 have all, two have some provincial gazetteers in full-text, other seven have catalogs

Five provinces have all city/county gazetteers in full-text, eight provinces have some city/county gazetteers in full-text

Table: Full-text New Gazetteers Online Availability

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

Strong points of digitized gazetteers: Convenient alternatives from print version If preserved and accessible by the public,

print version would not be criticalWeak points of digitized gazetteers: Not yet completed Some searchable, most only viewable by

chapter/section, no original texts Difficulty to browse a book quickly Unstable

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

• Strategy for collection development

Explore options of preserving digital version of new gazetteers by using web archiving technology (California Digital Library Web Archiving project)

Provide access to digital new gazetteers once preserved (cataloging/web presence)

At present, digital gazetteers are not stable, libraries cannot take the risk and totally rely on it

Pursue collaboration in collecting print new gazetteers among libraries, keep at least one print copy in UC system

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization

• Challenge in Collecting Printed Chinese Local Gazetteers

• Collaborative Collection as a Solution

• Expansion and Extension

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Challenge in Collecting Printed Chinese Local Gazetteers

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Challenge in Collecting Printed Chinese Local Gazetteers

Explosion of Local Gazetteer Publishing

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

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According to the Yearbook of Local Gazetteers 2008, the total number of the first round gazetteers published at the county level or higher reached 5,812 titles by 2007, which did not included the titles below the county level.

• Challenge in Collecting Printed Chinese Local Gazetteers

Explosion of Local Gazetteer Publishing

Increasing Needs from Users

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Challenge in Collecting Printed Chinese Local Gazetteers

Explosion of Local Gazetteer Publishing

Increasing Needs from Users

Shrinking of Acquisition Funding

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Collaborative Collection as a Solution

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Collaborative Collection as a Solution

UC Berkeley and UCLA Collaboration

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Collaborative Collection as a Solution

UC Berkeley and UCLA Collaboration

Common Collection at Province and County Levels

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Collaborative Collection as a Solution

UC Berkeley and UCLA Collaboration

Common Collection at Province and County Levels

Collaborative Collection at In-Between and Sub-County Levels

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Expansion and Extension

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Expansion and Extension

Collaboration Strengthens Collection

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Expansion and Extension

Collaboration Strengthens Collection

Expansion of Local Gazetteer Collection: Grassroots Gazetteers

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

• Expansion and Extension

Collaboration Strengthens Collection

Expansion of Local Gazetteer Collection: Grassroots Gazetteers

Local gazetteers below the county LevelTown 鎮 District 區

Township 鄉Commune 社 Brigade 隊 Village 村Street Community 街道Neighborhood Community 社區 / 里弄

Not Including Corporation, Factory, school, hospital, etc.25

Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

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• Expansion and Extension

Collaboration Strengthens Collection

Expansion of Local Gazetteer Collection: Grassroots Gazetteers

Extension of Local Gazetteer Collection: Post-1949 Chinese Genealogies

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection

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29新版《孔子世家谱》在山东曲阜孔庙举行颁谱仪式

Thank YouContact Information

Susan Xue sxue@library.berkeley.eduHong Cheng chengh@library.ucla.edu

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Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization and

Collaborative Collection