Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization and Collaborative Collection

1. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization and Collaborative Collection Susan Xue Electronic Resources Librarian University of California at Berkeley Hong Cheng Chinese Studies Librarian University of California at Los Angeles March 25, 2010

2. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization • Scope of new (post-1949) local gazetteers • Compilation and publishing • Research value • Digitization and online availability • Strategy for collection development

3. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization • Scope • Compilation started from 1950s, 250 counties had draft version, only 29 titles officially published before 1966 • By 2007, 5812 first-run new gazetteers at provincial, city and county level (三级志) had been published, 99% completion • Second-run gazetteers (续志) started in 2000. By 2007, about 400 titles published, increase in vols., particularly for county gazetteers • By 2002, over 4,000 (incomplete statistics) subject, township and village gazetteers have been published since 1949

4. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization • Compilation and publishing • New local gazetteers are financially supported by governments • Compiled by experts/scholars organized by governments • Distributed through commercial channels • Prices in a range of $10-$100 per vol. 4

5. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization • Research value • Record local histories in continuity. First-run gazetteers ending time between 1985-1990, not time limit for beginning time, most cover the Republic Era well • Use of archival, original and first-hand materials • Maps of localities • Statistical data hard to locate elsewhere for 1950s-70s (party members, zhiqing numbers, commodity prices etc) • Sources of revenues and expenditures at local level • Accounts of historical events such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution • Biography of well-known local figures • Natural disasters and damage caused • Development of infrastructure (housing, road, railways etc.) 5

6. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization • Digitization • Digitization of new local gazetteers Officially started in 2001 • In 2006 “The Regulation on the Work of Local Gazetteers” requires new gazetteers accessible through database/website • Official website of China Local Gazetteers Steering Group created in 2006, with links to provincial gazetteers websites http://www.difangzhi.cn/ 6

7. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization • Full-text online availability • 20 provinces have created shengqing database 省情数据库 • Among them, 11 have all, two have some provincial gazetteers in full-text, other seven have catalogs • Five provinces have all city/county gazetteers in full-text, eight provinces have some city/county gazetteers in full-text Table: Full-text New Gazetteers Online Availability 7

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10. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization Strong points of digitized gazetteers: • Convenient alternatives from print version • If preserved and accessible by the public, print version would not be critical Weak points of digitized gazetteers: • Not yet completed • Some searchable, most only viewable by chapter/section, no original texts • Difficulty to browse a book quickly • Unstable 10

11. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization • Strategy for collection development • Explore options of preserving digital version of new gazetteers by using web archiving technology (California Digital Library Web Archiving project) • Provide access to digital new gazetteers once preserved (cataloging/web presence) • At present, digital gazetteers are not stable, libraries cannot take the risk and totally rely on it • Pursue collaboration in collecting print new gazetteers among libraries, keep at least one print copy in UC system 11

12. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection • Challenge in Collecting Printed Chinese Local Gazetteers • Collaborative Collection as a Solution • Expansion and Extension 12

13. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection • Challenge in Collecting Printed Chinese Local Gazetteers • Explosion of Local Gazetteer Publishing • Increasing Needs from Users • Shrinking of Acquisition Funding 13

14. According to the Yearbook of Local Gazetteers 2008, the total number of the first round gazetteers published at the county level or higher reached 5,812 titles by 2007, which did not included the titles below the county level. 14

15. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection • Collaborative Collection as a Solution • UC Berkeley and UCLA Collaboration • Common Collection at Province and County Levels • Collaborative Collection at In-Between and Sub-County Levels 15

16. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection • Expansion and Extension • Collaboration Strengthens Collection • Expansion of Local Gazetteer Collection: Grassroots Gazetteers Local gazetteers below the county Level Town 鎮 District 區 Township 鄉 Commune 社 Brigade 隊 Village 村 Street Community 街道 Neighborhood Community 社區/里弄 Not Including Corporation, Factory, school, hospital, etc. 16

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18. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Collaborative Collection • Expansion and Extension • Collaboration Strengthens Collection • Expansion of Local Gazetteer Collection: Grassroots Gazetteers • Extension of Local Gazetteer Collection: Post-1949 Chinese Genealogies 18

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20. 新版《孔子世家谱》在山东曲阜孔庙举行颁谱仪式新版《孔子世家谱》在山东曲阜孔庙举行颁谱仪式 20

21. Post-1949 Chinese Local Gazetteers: Digitization and Collaborative Collection Thank You 21