 |
Starr News |
Fall 1999
Welcome to a new academic year. After a one-issue hiatus,
we’re back with all the latest news and information to bring
you up to date on the C. V. Starr East Asian Library, its services,
and its people. We encourage you to keep track of our website,
where you will always find the most up-to-date information about
our services, including the reference and tour schedules, online
versions of our information flyers, as well as an archive of this
newsletter. We are constantly adding more information and links and
improving our web-pages, so check us out at:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/eastasian/index.html
Meet Mihoko Miki
After a year-long search, we are delighted to announce that on
July 1, 1999, Mihoko Miki started work in Starr Library as our new
Japanese Studies Librarian. She comes to us from UCLA where she
worked for many years in a comparable position. Miki-san can be
reached by phone at (212) 854-1506, by email at
miki@columbia.edu, by fax
at (212) 662-6286, and in person at the reference desk (see the
attached reference schedule for her hours).
Tibetan Collection
Starr is now actively collecting modern Tibetan materials from
Chinese areas, India, Nepal and other sources. If you have titles
to suggest, please fill out a Purchase Request form,
available at the circulation and reference desk, as well as
online. Tibetan-language purchase
requests should be directed to Fran LaFleur; Western-language
purchase requests to Ria Koopmans-de Bruijn.
If you need reference help with Tibetan or Chinese language
sources, please address questions to Fran via email, phone, fax or
in person during reference hours. She will answer herself or refer
them to an appropriate staff member, which will help us gauge the
needs of researchers.
CJK Input on Starr’s LWeb Terminals
Last year we were happy to announce the installation of three
LWeb terminals in Starr, including software to accommodate reading
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean web pages. As everyone who has
visited the library over the past year will have noticed, these
terminals have proven to be enormously popular. Although most
people were quite enthusiastic about reading CJK pages, complaints
quickly arose about not being able to input CJK script as well.
This has now been remedied with the installation of the latest
version of the NJ-Star CJK software, which allows both reading
and inputting of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean script.
Recon Activities
Our recon activities — converting card catalog records to
online recordsare continuing at an increased pace. The Korean
collection has already been on-line for a year, and the conversion
of the Chinese records is nearly finished, which will bring at
least 85% of the collection on-line. Conversion of the remainder of
the Japanese and Western- language records is also actively
pursued. The Korean card catalog has been moved to the 100 level of
the stacks, opposite the elevator, while the remainder of the
Western-language card catalog now starts where the Japanese card
catalog ends, opposite the circulation desk (i.e., where the Korean
card catalog used to be).
New Microform Reader-Printers
Over the past summer, three brand new Canon microform
reader-printers have been installed in the microform corridor on
the 100 level of the stacks. They can handle 35 mm and 16 mm
microfilm formats as well as microfiche, are easy to use, and
provide superior (laser) print quality. Instructions on their use
are posted. When you are uncertain about correct use at any point,
please do not experiment with the settings, but ask library staff
for assistance instead.
Refurbishment Plans
In the course of the academic year, our staff space will undergo
refurbishment and reorganization. We hope to get any construction
work involved done over winter break, which might necessitate a
brief closing of the library to patrons. Watch for further
announcements.
In the course of the year 2000, the library entrance/exit will
be reconfigured in order to accommodate the installation of a card
swipe system.
Rearrangement of Periodicals
In the course of the academic year, the periodicals in the
reading room will be re-arranged. Although the periodicals will
still be divided by language group, they will be arranged by call
number rather than title (as the bound volumes already are in the
stacks). We also intend to re-arrange the periodical shelving to
allow integration of all periodicals in one call number range,
including the “overflow” periodicals now housed on the
mezzanine level. If you have questions about this re-arrangement,
feel free to ask library director Amy Heinrich, or any of the
bibliographers.
On-line Periodical Check-in
We are preparing to check-in our periodicals on-line, so that
all current information about periodicals, including the latest
issues, will be available on CLIO. This will eventually eliminate
the need for the somewhat antiquated Kardex files (the small metal
file cabinets in front of the periodical shelving areas) which,
until now, were the only source of up-to-date information on
current issues. The Korean and Japanese periodicals are already
being checked in on-line, and Western-language periodicals check-in
is expected to go on-line in the course of the fall semester. The
Chinese periodicals will, at least for the present, still be
checked in the Kardex file.
Other Staff News
On February 17 of this year, our Korean Studies Librarian,
HyoKyoung (HK) Lee, gave birth to twin boys William and Thomas, who
have already become regular visitors to Starr Library.
Starr Library and Lehman Library have jointly hired Ma Jiao Ba
Ta (Chopathar) as a bibliographical assistant for Tibetan language
materials. In Lehman he will be helping to convert old Tibetan card
catalog records to online records, and in Starr he will be helping
with Tibetan language book orders, preparing new books for
circulation, and assisting in cataloging newly purchased materials.
Mr. Ma can be reached by phone at (212) 854- 1509, and by email at
jm900@columbia.edu
If you know of materials you would like the library to consider
purchasing, please fill out a Purchase Request form,
available at the circulation and reference desks as well as
online.
If there are comments or suggestions regarding Starr Library you
would like to share with us, fill out a Comments and
Suggestions form, also available at the circulation and
reference desks and online.
Or contact us in person. Our primary public service contacts
are:
Library Director: Amy V. Heinrich. 305M Kent. (212) 854-1508.
heinrich@columbia.edu
Access Services: Kenneth Harlin. 319M Kent. (212) 854-1501.
harlin@columbia.edu
East Asian Studies: Ria Koopmans-de Bruijn. 310 Kent. (212)
854-1505.
rkb7@columbia.edu
Chinese and Tibetan Studies: Frances LaFleur. 307M Kent. (212)
854-3721.
lafleur@columbia.edu
Japanese Studies: Mihoko Miki. 308M Kent. (212) 854-1506.
miki@columbia.edu
Korean Studies: HyoKyoung (HK) Lee. 310M Kent. (212) 854-1507.
hl303@columbia.edu
|
