Japanese Collection

Bibliographic information for almost the entire Japanese collection is available in catalog.

Japanese reference collection is located in the East Asia Collection Reading Room on the 4^th floor in McKeldin Library. 

YEARBOOKS:  The last two issues of  current yearbooks are in the Reading Room's reference books area.  Non-current yearbooks are shelved with general collection in the compact shelves on the 4^th floor west end.  Some less used, older books and bound periodicals are in off-site storage (*Location symbol MOSS).

PERIODICALS:  Up-to-date information of holdings for currently receiving Japanese serials can be found in catalog. (*However, some Japanese periodicals which have not been electronically converted are not yet in catalog.)

NEWSPAPERS:  We subscribe to Asahi shinbun.  This is in the Reading Room.  We, also, subscribe to three monthly bound newspapers called shukusatsuban.  They are: Akahata,  Asahi shinbun and Yomiuri shinbun.

For more assistance, please contact Kenneth Tanaka, the Japanese librarian at East Asia Collection at 301-405-9084.

Accessing Catalog (http://catalog.umd.edu)

• Go to UM Libraries' home page: http://www.lib.umd.edu

• Click on Catalog

Understanding Modified Hepburn System

Japanese language materials in East Asia Collection are cataloged using the Modified Hepburn System.   The standard dictionary for this system is:  Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary (PL679.K4, located in the Japanese Reference Book shelves in the East Asia Collection's Reading Room).  Since catalog does not have capability to display vernacular characters, user must use a query in romanized (transliterated) form.  When entering a query, diacritics, such as macron for long vowel (-) and alif for syllabic nasal (') [e.g. Man'yÇshã] should not be included since catalog will ignore them.  Also, catalog is not case sensitive, so capitalization of proper noun, etc. is unnecessary.

When dealing with  romanization in Japanese language, one must be aware of problems of word division.  For example, the book "日本にとってアメリカとは何か" will be "Nihon ni totte Amerika towa nani ka" in transliteration.  Since titles are arranged by word alphabetically in catalog, a title rendered into different forms will appear in two places in the alphabetical sequence.

e.g.  Dai hyakka jiten  vs  Daihyakka jiten  大百科事典

e.g. Otogi-zoshi  vs  Otogi soshi   御伽草子

e.g. Nihon shi  日本史 vs  Keizaishi 経済史 (*Generally the word after proper noun is separated.)

Thus, it is sometimes necessary to try various ways of dividing words in catalog searching.

Searching on Catalog

1.  Keyword:  Search by words and dates in titles, subject headings and other parts of the catalog record.

          Ex:  Sensō  戦争            Sekinin 責任         21-seiki  21世紀    

2.  Name/Author:  Search by persons or organizations as author, editor or subject.

     Ex:  Yosa Buson   与謝蕪村           Minakami Tsutomu  水上勉

3. Call Number:  Search by call numbers

    Ex:  DS889.16 (Japanese history - Allied Occupation period,1945-1952 日本占領期史)  

Finding Japanese Periodicals ( Current Japanese Periodical List )

1.  Use a periodical index:

• Go to UM Libraries' home page: http://www.lib.umd.edu

• Click on Database

• Click "M"; then, click "MagazinePlus" (*Japanese periodicals database)

• Click IME icon at right bottom for "Japanese"; then, change to "Zenkaku Hiragana (全角ひらがな)"

2.  Type in keyword/name of author/source

          Keyword:  Sensō   戦争      Sekinin  責任     Kenpō  憲法  

(*All the keywords must be in Japanese vernacular characters.)

     Author:  Ide,  Magoroku  井出孫六

              Article:  Dōtokuteki songen towa nani ka  道徳的尊厳とは何か

               Source:  Sekai  (世界), No. 591 (Feb. 1994) p. 172-175

     3.  Use catalog to see if UM Libraries owns the periodical:  

• Go to UM Libraries' home page: http://www.lib.umd.edu

• Click on Catalog

• Click "Journal" on left top

• Search by title on the journal name, "SEKAI"

4.  Identify your title on the screen display.

Click on the title of the journal "SEKAI" to see the full record.  You will find call number for SEKAI :  AP95.J3S4

5.  Find the shelf location of your periodical. 

EASIA JPNSTK : This periodical is located at Japanese compact shelves in East Asia Collection on the 4^th floor in McKeldin Library.  

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Language-Specific Internet Resources

1. Japanese Studies Internet Resources :
   • Japanese-Language Journals in EAC
   • Selected Electronic Resources
     1. BookPlus ( Inclusive coverage of over 1,610,000 books published in Japan from 1926 to the present, includes contents note and summaries since 1986, updated weekly)
     2. Magazine Plus (Includes the indexes of the ZASSHI KIJI SAKUIN (edited by the National Diet Library of Japan) and of the JANAEU INDEKKUSU. Indexes over 8,500 journals, faculty papers and annual reports of academic institutions published in Japan. Areas covered include medicine, science, humanities, popular culture, business, and social sciences. Inclusive coverage from 1975 to the present; updated weekly)
     3. Sakka Shippitsusha Jinbutsu Fairu (Japanese Writer's Who's Who, inclusive coverage of over 90,000 Japanese writers data from 1868 to present, updated monthly)
     4. University of Massachusetts-Online Resources for Japanese Studies ( This web page was created by Sharon Domier, Japanese Librarian of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst )

2. East Asian Studies Internet Resources :
   • Bibliography of Asian Studies (Index to western-language materials related to Asia)
   • EASyHelp ( East Asian Scholars Help Desk )
   • The Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR, an English search system for official documents and historical materials concerning modern Japanese and relations between Japan and Asian countries)

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