ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 16 / C&RL News T h e first in te r n a tio n a l c o n fe r e n c e on J a p a n e se in fo r m a tio n By S ach ié N ogu ch i Assistant Japanese Librarian University o f Illinois at Urbana-Champaign A landmark meeting at the University of Warwick, September 1-4, 1987. Japanese achievements in business, industry, and technology have alerted W estern countries to the necessity of monitoring Japanese information more closely and efficiently. Growing awareness of this has been demonstrated in both Europe and North America—in the United States, for example, by the 1983 Congressional hearing leading up to the 1988 Japanese Technical Literature Act. Although Ja­ pan stepped up its efforts to supply means of access to Japanese information more easily to overseas us­ ers, there are still problems, in particular the lan­ guage barrier. The British Library organized a timely interna­ tional conference on Japanese information from September 1-4, 1987. It focused on science, tech­ nology, and commerce aiming: 1) to review exist­ ing information, problems, and solutions in access­ ing it; an d 2) to id e n tify tre n d s, o u tsta n d in g problems, and possible solutions, with emphasis on international cooperation. The conference took place at the University of W arwick under the banner of the British Library Japanese Inform ation Service and the University of W arwick Japanese Business Policy Service, sup­ ported by the United States National Technical In ­ formation Service (NTIS), the Japan Inform ation Center of Science and Technology (JICST), and the Japan Travel Bureau. It was attended by about two hundred delegates from sixteen countries, of which 60% came from Europe (UK, Germany, Finland, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Austria, S w itze rlan d , B elgium , D e n m a rk ), 20% from America, and 17 % from Japan. The delegates rep­ resented universities, research institutions, indus­ tries, information agencies, government offices, and international bodies. The four-day m eeting was opened by L ord Quinton, chairm an of the British Library. There were eleven sessions—background, U.S. policy, patterns of publication, research and collabora­ tion, the Japanese language, language solutions, Japanese online sources, European sources, special sector needs, special sources, and m ore special sources—and tw o sessions of special delegates spots, video and talk. The final panel discussion was chaired by R. J. Samuels of the MIT Japan Sci­ ence and Technology Program. The full paper pre­ prints were prepared and distributed at the time of registration and short oral presentations highlight­ ing the most im portant points were given at the conference. Exhibitions and advertisements by more than thirty book dealers or information ven­ dors were also featured, including transcontinental online demonstrations. Among about forty U.S. participants, sixteen presented papers for eight different sessions and five served as session chairs. In the U.S. policy ses­ sion, chaired by D.B. Shonyo of the National Tech- A C Q U IS IT IO N PERSPECTIVES 5 . M o n o g ra p h s in c o n tin u a tio n an d stan d in g o rd ers are given special a tte n ­ tio n . Y o u r first v o lu m e re q u ire d an d all fu tu re v o lu m e s will be d eliv ered as so o n as th e y b e c o m e a v a ila b le . Write or call for details about our reliable standing order service to li­ braries. CALL TOLL-FREE TODAY 1-800-248-1146 In Canada & Michigan CALL COLLECT (517) 849-2117 OCLC Vendor No. 17397 SAN 169-3859 t h e BO O K H JOBBER O S SER U VING L S IBRA E RIES WITH ANY BOOK IN PRINT SINCE 1962 2C8 WEST CHICAGO STREET JONESVILLE, MICHIGAN 49250 18 / C&RL News nical Information Service (NTIS), R.J. Samuels spoke on “Japanese Scientific and Technological Information in the United States: Public Policy and Private Initiatives,” followed by J. A. Alic, U.S. Of­ fice of Technology Assessment, summing up “Japa­ nese Science and Technology: Some Recent Efforts in the United States to Improve Monitoring” as a preview for N.R. Miller of L C ’s Congressional Re­ search Service, whose presentation was titled “Jap­ anese R & D and U.S. Technology Policy.” S.K. Coleman, North Carolina Japan Center, N orth C aro lin a S tate U niversity, p resented a video, “Coming of Age: A New American Ap­ proach to Japanese Science and Technology,” and gave a talk on “The University Role in Gaining Ac­ cess to Japanese Scientific and Technical Inform a­ tion.” Delegates from university libraries also pre­ sented papers: I.T. Morita, “Information Flow in Ja p a n : Some C h a ra c te ris tic s ,” an d M .H . Donovan, “Mini Com m unications,” both from Ohio State University; T.F. Welch, director of li­ braries at N orthern Illinois University, “U.S.- Japan Bi-national Conferences on Libraries in Higher Education: A Review of the Issues”; M. Williams, “Characteristics and Evaluation of Jap­ anese Life Science Serials,” E.B Davis, “Inform a­ tion Services in Biotechnologically Active Research Organizations in Japan and the United States,” and S. Noguchi, “Literature on “Japanese-Style Management: The Citing of Publications in West­ ern Language Materials, Problems and Some Possi­ ble Solutions,” from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During the conference a wide range of activities were reported and discussed. At the final session special remarks were made on the accessibility of grey literature, preparation of a directory of people working in the field, information utility for non­ paper textual materials, the need to expand ser­ vices beyond JICST, and so on. To w rap up the meeting, the topic of “w hat to talk about at the next conference; where should we go from here?” was discussed and the following issues were sug­ gested: intergovernm ental support, training of Japanese specialists, translation experts, communi­ cation among scientists, dissemination and synthe- sization of information, technology transfer, de­ regulation of telecom m unications, intellectual property protection, and end-users. The Conference provided the first opportunity to bring people active and interested in the field to­ gether to discuss activities, ideas, and problems, and to seek solutions. The efforts of the two British Library organizers, S.V. King and G.J. Sassoon, were very much appreciated, and the aims of the conference will be extended in the future. ■ ■ Two h u n d r e d h i s t o r i c y e a r s o f T he W orld’s n e w s i n m ic r o fo r m . Over 200 years of factual reporting . . . dozens of acclaimed international newspapers like The Times, The Washington Post, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, Asahi Shimhun,The Age, Financial Times, Jew ish Chronicle . . . all of them available on microfilm from Research Publications. This is probably the most inexhaustible, high- quality collection of international newspapers ever 12 Lunar Drive/Drawer AB Woodbridge, CT 06525 preserved in microform — perfect for scholars, re­ Toll-free: 1-800-PEACH-RP searchers, and the general public. TWX: 710-465-6345 FAX: 203-397-3893 For further information, or to order current sub­ scriptions and backfiles, call Research Publications today at 1-800-REACH-RP (1-800-732-2477). From Connecticut, Alaska and Canada, call collect 203-397- 2600.