Taiwan
Taiwan
| Directory Information | Catalogs, Bibliographies, and Indexes |
| History | Reference and Reader Services |
| Organization | Automation |
| Collections | Statistics |
| Buildings and Facilities |
"The past sixty years have witnessed the development of the National Central Library from its formative years in Nanking and Chungking to its present period of growth and development in Taipei. A national library was first proposed by a resolution of the National Education Conference of 1928, and in 1933 the late President Chiang Kai-shek sent people to direct its establishment in the capital city of Nanking. At that time, the Ministry of Education contributed some 46,000 volumes if rare books and authorized the purchase of the Meng clan of Tientsin's collection of bronze and stone rubbings. In 1934, the Bureau of International Exchange of Publications was set up to handle cultural exchange with other nations. Due to financial constraints, the library did not provide facilities for readers until 1936.
"After the start of the War of Resistance in 1937, the Library, like the capital, moved its most important materials west to Chungking in Szechuan province. Not only did it continue to serve its readers, it also established a special collection of materials on the War. In 1940, with the completion of preparations, Chiang Fu-ts'ung became the NCL's first director. During this period, the Library sent staff throughout the nation, including battle areas, to purchase rare books and to gather stone rubbings--these materials make up a large portion of the NCL's current rare book holdings. After the War, the National Central Library returned to Nanking for three years before further disorder forced the staff to move its rare materials to Taiwan.
"In 1954 under the leadership of Director Chiang, the NCL resumed service in facilities located on Nan Hai Road adjacent to the Botanical Gardens. from 1966 onward, Pro Chü Wan-li, Prof. Pao Tsun-p'eng, Dr. Li Tze-chung and Dr. William L. Chu each served as Director of the Library. In 1977 Prof. Chen-ku Wang was appointed as Director, and in 1986 he oversaw the move to the Library's present quarters on Chungshan South Road, which took place after many years of planning and construction. In August 1989, Dr. Chung-sen Yang succeeded Prof. Wang as the Director of the NCL. Dr. Chi-chun Tseng succeeded Dr. Yang in 1992.
In summary, the Library consists of five departments, one bureau, two offices, five centers, one committee and two branches. Included among the departments are those making up Reader's services--Interlibrary Loans, International Online Information Service, Cultural Activities, Reading Rooms and Special Collections. The Technical Services departments are Acquisitions, Cataloging, Preservation and Authentication, Automation, and ISBN. The international aspects of the NCL are coordinated by the Bureau of International Exchange of Publications and include international memberships and participation, book exhibitions, conferences and workshops, exchange of books and periodicals, transfer of materials, and personnel exchange. Institutions affiliated with the NCL are the Taiwan Branch Library, the Center for Chinese Studies, and the Information and Computing Library. The NCL also is responsible for training and education and local library assistance. In addition, the NCL publishes a variety of materials.
"The new National Central Library, located at 20 Chungshan South Road, faces the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and the Chung-cheng Cultural Center--with these other structures, it forms Taipei's newest cultural education complex. The new NCL building with its two basement floors and seven above-ground levels represents a combination of dramatic line and subtle grandeur worthy of the title "Temple of Knowledge." In side, flexibility of space, tasteful decor and functional design will allow the Library's new facilities to serve the needs of readers for many decades. The architects have combined dramatic open spaces, courtyard gardens, and skylit atria to create a bright and comfortable environment for study. The various reading rooms, finished with fine woodwork, provide seating for over 2,300 patrons. The Library's cultural activity area helps the NCL meet its commitment to encouraging social education by providing space for seminars, briefings, classes and meetings. A 560 seats lecture hall, 220 seats conference hall and 5400 sq. ft. exhibition space provide venues for conferences and exhibitions. a central control room, located on the first basement level, watches over climate, equipment and security operations for the entire structure. No wonder the new building won the 1986 Taipei Outstanding Architecture and Construction Award!
" The new NCL facility is a model for libraries of the future--planners carefully considered the needs of a wide variety of readers as well as the various requirements of the NCL collection itself. Students and scholars will find individual research rooms especially convenient and conducive to their work. The physically handicapped patron will appreciate the ramps located outside the main entrances, the elevators, and the specially constructed desks placed in the various reading rooms. Connoisseurs of rare books will find the special collections impressive: this area includes a large preservation work room and a special storage center for housing the Library's most valuable items. Protected by a Halon fire extinguishing system, this area includes specially constructed sealed-seam storage cabinets that are not only insect, shock and dust-proof but also maintained at a constant 20 degree Centigrade and 50-69 percent relative humidity. The building also contains facilities for fumigation and binding. Finally, material in the regular stacks are transported from stack facilities to the circulation desks by means of a sophisticated electromagnetic book transport system. Thus the National Central Library is well prepared to enter the twenty-first century.
"The National Central Library, as the official depository of books and documents for the Republic of China, has assembled an impressive collection of books, periodicals, Rare editions, microforms and other types of materials in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean as well as a variety of Western languages. The Library acquires these materials through purchases, exchanges, and donations and gifts.
"The treasures of past generations of Chinese civilization comprise the most precious jewels of the NCL's collection. The rare editions the Library brought from Nanking numbered some 12,000 titles; these include Tun-huang manuscripts, oracle bone fragments, Han dynasty bamboo tablets, stone and bronze rubbings, and ancient map fragments. Sung editions include the Li Ho ko shih pien (The Collected Poems of Li Ho), the Wen-hsuan Li Shan chu (Selected Writings Annotated by Li Shan), and the Tung-tu shih lueh (A Brief History of the Northern Sung). The red and black Chin-kang ching or Diamond Sutra, printed during the Yuan, represents an early example of multi-color printing. A variety of Ming and Ch'ing editions help make the NCL's rare book collection one of the world's most valuable sites for original text research.
"In terms of collections, the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS) focuses its efforts on obtaining rare book editions or reproductions, micrographic copies of Tun-huang manuscripts, doctoral dissertations submitted to foreign universities on subjects related to Chinese studies, and publications from the China Mainland.
"According to the National Publications Law, the NCL must keep a copy of each book published within the Republic of China. As a result, the Library has accumulated a rich selection of Chinese works covering such subjects as the humanities, social sciences fine arts, natural and physical sciences, current events, biography and reference. Such variety is also reflected in the Library's periodical holdings which contain over 18,000 journal, magazine and newspaper titles. Readers will also fine a sizeable collection of Western language books and periodicals available for their use.
"Those researchers investigating subjects related to the government of the Republic of China will find a complete collection of documents, reports, legislative records, standards and other materials available at the National Central Library. In addition, the collection includes documents from over ten other countries including an extensive selection of United States records and reports. A variety of United Nations publications provides those researching international relations with many valuable sources.
"Microfilm technology makes a wide variety of resources available to the NCL patron. The Library's rare book holdings, for example, are readily accessible on microfilm. Other items available through this flexible technology include publications from the U.S. Government Printing Office, newspapers, and theses and dissertations.
Catalogs, Bibliographies, and Indexes
"The National Central Library publishes a variety of materials. These include the Index to Chinese Periodical Literature of the Republic of China, Bulletin of the National Central Library, Chinese Cultural Organization Directory, National Bibliographic Information Network Newsletter, ISBN Newsletter, The Chinese MARC Format, National Union List of Chinese Periodicals in the Republic of China, Bibliography of the National Central Library's Rare Book Collection, Index to Official Gazettes of the Repubic of China, Selections from the National Central Library's Special Collections, National Central Library Newsletter (in English), National Central library News Bulletin, New Year's Prints in the National Central Library Collection, and many other works.
"The National Central Library has not forgotten that the primary purpose of a library is to serve the needs of its patrons. The NCL is open daily from 9 o'clock each morning until 9 o'clock each night, national holidays excepted. Anyone above nineteen years of age may apply for a reader's card and take advantage of the Library's collections and facilities each day. Patrons will find the well-trained staff members of the Readers' Services Department eager to answer the simplest or most complex questions; the Reference Room staff is prepared to help those with complex research-related questions.
Services of the NCL include Interlibrary loans. Since the NCL holds memberships in the Science and Technology Library and Information Network of the Republic of China and the Library Consortium on Humanities and Social Sciences of the R.O.C., readers have access, for a nominal fee, to the resources of any library in the Republic of China which participates in either of these organizations. For materials located at foreign institutions, the NCL has set up the International Online Information Service. The Library is actively involved in cultural affairs and hosts a wide variety of conferences, workshops, seminars, symposia, and lectures.
The National Central Library Has several reading rooms and special collections. The general reading rooms are the Open Access Reding Room, the General Reading Room, New Books, and the Recent Releases Reading Room. There is a Reference Room which includes reference materials in Chinese and in Western languages, a Periodical Reading Room featuring a wide selection of Chinese and Western periodicals and periodical indexes, and a Rare Books Room which provides space for those using the Library's rare manuscripts and other precious materials. Some of the NCL's special collections include the Audiovisual Collection, the Microform Reading Area, the Japanese/Korean Collection, Government Documents, the Center for Chinese Studies Materials Division, the Law Collection, the Map Collection, and the Fine Arts Collection.
"Recent developments in modern technology have made dramatic changes in library operations possible. The National Central Library together with the Library Association of China (LAC), prepared the Chinese Library Automation Planning Project, the first step towards an automation program, in April of 1980. The main purposesof the project were to develop the Chinese MARC format, to standardize cataloging regulations and classification schemes in the Republic of China, to set up a data base for Chinese publications, to introduce data bases from overseas to meet research needs, and to eventually establish a national information network.
"By 1981, after successfully developing and testing the Chinese MARC format, the NCL installed a Wang VS-100 system and initiated the Chinese Naitonal Bibliography Data File the following year. The Library has successfully developed three other data files: the Index File to Chinese Periodical Literature and Government Documents, the Chinese Rare Books Data File, and the Union List of Chinese Serials Data File. The NCL has also automated its in-house acquisition and serial management processes and established a Sinologist Data File and Cultural Organization Data File.
"In 1984, the Library began to disstribute computer-produced catalog cards and magnetic tapes on a purchase basis and provide copies of the NCL automation system's software to domestic libraries without charge. As for cataloging Western language materials, the NCL purchased magnetic tapes from the Libray of Congress and in 1986 successfully converted the U.S. MARC system into the Chinese MARC system. BIBLIOFILE, which uses optical disc technology, was purchased and put into service at the end of the same year and has proved to be a most useful tool in cataloging Western language works.
Information exchange and interlibrary cooperation have become key projects for NCL automation experts. In 1987 the National Central Library, with 16 major libraries throughout the country, embarked on a cooperative cataloging project. The result of this venture is the NCL's Bibliographic Service Center, established in July 1990. The Center promotes a national bibliographic network through the use of a Tandem TXP computer running the Chinese CATSS Package developed by Canada's UTLAS. To help promote information exchange within the international community, the Library signed an agreement with the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) in 1985 to exchange bibliographic information; such exchange came on-line in May of 1988. It is hoped that the li braries of the Republic of China will be able to exchange bibliographic information as well as resources with libraries throughout the world via the OCLC. In 1991, the Library completed the task of transferring the Chinese books catalog and the index of periodical articles to CD-ROM. To fully accomplish the goal of information sharing, the NCL has expanded the availability of NBINet and was linked up with TANet (Taiwan Academic Network) in 1993. This will enable libraries all over Taiwan to share their information resoures.
"The NCL further expanded its servies when it set up a special reading area--the Information and Computing Library (ICL)--on the thirteenth floor of the Information Science & Technology Exhibition Center. The Center provides space for those working to develop the field of information science and has become the ROC's permanent center for educating and training public and private sector personel as well as advancing projets related to information technology."
"The National Central Library, as the official depository of books
and documents for the Republic of China, has assembled an impressive collection
of books, periodicals, rare editions, microforms and other types of materials
in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean as well as a variety of Western Languages.
The Library acquires these materials through purchases, exchanges, and
donations and gifts. As of June 1992, the NCL had a total collection
of more than 1,700,000 volumes divided as shown below.
National Central Library
Types of Materials Number
Books
Chinese Rare Books 186, 388 volumes
Chinese Books 536,659 volumes
Foreign-language Books 410,274 volumes
Total 1,133,321 volumes
Additional Items
Rubbings and prints 13,046 items
Han Dynasty Bamboo Slips 30 items
Microfiches and Microfilms 359,247 items
Maps 9,727 items
Audio & Video Tapes, and other Media 31,162 items
Periodicals
Chinese Periodicals 9,085 titles
Foreign-language Periodicals 10,268 titles
Total 19,353 titles
Newspapers
Chinese Newspapers 307 titles
Foreign-language Newspapers 65 titles
Total 372 titles
Taiwan Branch Library
Books
Chinese and Foreign-language Books 595,776 volumes
Braille Materials 36,086 volumes
Microforms 28,618 items
Staff 460 people
Source: Material supplied by the National Central Library of
Taiwan including National Central Library, Taipei, Taiwan. c1993
and a brochure entitled National Central Library