BEIJING, Sept. 9 -- Mao Zedong never visited the National Library of China (NLC). However, from 1949, he held the No 1 membership card, which his secretary would use to borrow and return books on his behalf.
If it were today, Chairman Mao, who was a voracious reader with eclectic interests, would have had far easier access to the NLC's more than 180 terabytes worth of digitalized items available online, and indeed an avalanche of information on the World Digital Library, of which the NLC is a founding partner. All he would have needed to do was tap a few buttons on his mobile phone to connect with the library's information service.
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National Library of China (NLC), celebrating its 100th birthday today, is on a fast-track progress toward modernization with a series of ambitious projects.(Photo Source: China Daily/by Feng Yongbin)
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National Library of China, which is 100 years old today, probably never looked more youthful and in sync with the times. The futuristic oblong transparent top floor of its newest building, in Beijing's Haidian district, is only a reflection of the institute's fast-track progress toward modernization.
"The National Library of China is not only among the world's finest libraries, but with its comprehensive collections, new facilities, dedicated and talented staff, it stands in a singular class of exceptional national libraries," says Peter Young, in charge of the Asian division of the American Library of Congress.
"By sponsoring meetings and symposia on a full range of library and archive related topics, such as the preservation of ancient Chinese books, NLC is maintaining a tradition of scholarship and learning that is critical for the future."
One of the library's biggest and most enduring programs at the moment is digitalizing the entire collection, except those protected by copyright or intellectual property laws, by the end of 2010. From the images and bibliographical records of the oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty (c.16th-11th century BC) to modern texts, such as Eileen Chang's Love in a Fallen City (Qing Cheng Zhi Lian), published in 1985, an awesome range of Chinese literature can now be accessed.
"Setting up the digital library was only part of the job," says Wei Dawei, deputy director of the library in charge of Digitalization and Networking, recalling the proud moment on Sept 8, 2008, when the online resources were thrown open to the public for the first time.
But it's an ongoing process, he points out. "We still have many more goals to fulfill, such as internationalization and modernization."
Introduction of modern technology has, however, thrown up new challenges to deal with. "Acquiring the physical texts of the material submitted online is a major crisis area," points out Gao Hong, in charge of the Foreign Acquisition and Cataloguing section.
Already partnering the world's two best-known libraries - the British Library and the American Library of Congress - NLC's global dimension extends to collaborating with the national libraries of New Zealand, the Czech Republic and others.
The director of NLC meets his counterparts from the libraries of Japan and South Korea every year, besides attending the Conference of Directors of National Libraries in Asia and Oceania, and this often leads to collaborative projects and meaningful relationships.
For example, the International Dunhuang Project, which now allows interested people to access tens of thousands of paintings, textiles, manuscripts, historical photographs and maps as well as cataloguing and contextual information on the ancient Silk Road, evolved in collaboration with the British Library (http://idp.nlc.gov.cn ).
Hooked to the British Library Document Supply Center, NLC now has access to the world's largest database and remote document delivery service, pertaining to science, technology, medicine and humanities.
Immediately after the devastating Sichuan earthquake last year, the Water Conservancy Committee of Yangtze River asked NLC to set up a database on how other countries dealt with quake lakes and NLC responded within two days, recalls Fang Zijin, in charge of NLC's Reference Department. "In this information age we have moved from passive service to positive service," he says, with understated pride.
One of the high points of the 100th year celebrations is the setting up of Research Center of Overseas Studies in Ancient and Modern Chinese Texts. It's an ambitious and herculean effort to collect any text written by foreigners in Chinese, and indeed any material on China written in any language, irrespective of the nature of the content, informs Sun Yigang, director of the anniversary celebrations.
The idea is to use the material as reference for research with government funds and there is a possibility that foreign scholars might be invited to participate.
The NLC's journey through the past 100 years looks almost like a mirror image of the nation's struggles through difficult times till it came into its own and gradually established itself as a world leader, now going from strength to strength.
"After China signed the He-Umezu Agreement with Japan in 1935, the staff of NLC took great care to pack the collection and move it to south China, which was relatively safe," informs Chen Li, deputy director with the library. The collection thus survived the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
Again, during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), it was thanks to the efforts of the library staff that the collection remained largely unharmed.
But when almost all of the library's books and academic articles are digitalized (going at the target rate of 100 million items a year), and made available at the click of a mouse, would the spectacular old and new buildings at Zhongguancun and the cheerful traditional courtyard house at Beihai Park, that houses the ancient and rare collections, lose their relevance in people's lives?
Not at all, says Gao Hong, who has worked with the library for the past 20 years. "In fact, I see more and more young people using the library. It's no longer just a reading room but a public space where you have video shows, lectures and exhibitions. Its function has been extended."
"People still prefer to read physical books," adds Sun Yigang. "Digitalization is only a convenient way for readers to have access to books, but it's not the only choice they have."
Besides, he adds, paper will surely disappear from the face of the earth one day. All the more reason why some of the largest repositories of the world's publications, such as the National Library of China, ought to be preserved and celebrated - as a tribute to man's engagement with the written word.
Guo Shuhan and Jing Haixing contributed to the story.
(Source: China Daily)
