Electronic resources for Chinese studies and East Asian libraries

摘要

This paper examines electronic resources, including journals and databases for Chinese studies, collected in North American East Asian academic libraries. A small survey of 26 East Asian academic libraries in North America was conducted in May 2003 in order to learn more about collection development practices and accessibility issues for Chinese electronic resources. Based on the eight-question survey, 57 per cent of the responding libraries have collection development policies for their electronic resources, 36 per cent do not, while 7 per cent were unsure. Budget constraints, time constraints, lack of technical support, lack of training, and Chinese/English computer operating system incompatibilities were given as the top five constraints in the collection of Chinese electronic resources and providing access to them. After analyzing the collection, classification, and accessibility issues, the author provides some suggestions on the future development of Chinese electronic resources in East Asian academic libraries.