Ohio State University's Shashi Collection

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オハイオ州立大学付属図書館社史コレクション

Comprising more than 3,000 titles and covering a wide range of industries and services, Ohio State's collection of Japanese company histories is a major research resource on Japanese business and culture.

Using Ohio State's Shashi collection

Japanese company histories in the Ohio State University Libraries collections are cataloged in the library catalog where they can be searched by title, subject, keyword, etc. Most are available for circulation and/or use on the premises according to the Libraries' policies. They can also be searched in OCLC's Worldcat and are available through [1].

Origins of the collection

Ohio State's shashi collection began in 1984 with the purchase of over 800 titles from Nagatoya (a used book store in Kanda Jinbocho, Tokyo) with funding provided from two sources: 1) donated funds from the founder of the Honda Corporation, Soichiro Honda, made at the time he received an honorary doctorate from Ohio State; 2) a special allocation that University President Edward M. Jennings made available that year to the Libraries.

The original idea to collect Japanese company histories was suggested by Professor Bradley M. Richardson, Director of the Institute for Japanese Studies. A proposal to acquire Nagatoya's current stock of shashi with a portion of the special funds was made by the Japanese studies librarian and accepted by the library administration. With the recent arrival of Honda of America Manufacturing to Ohio, the Libraries welcomed the opportunity to develop research resources on Japanese business and culture. The Japan Publications Trading Company, Ltd. handled the transaction on the Libraries' behalf.

Exhibition

In November 1984 an exhibit of shashi was held in Ohio State's Main Library to commemorate a donation from Honda of books in Japanese and English supporting Japanese studies.

Ongoing collection development

Beginning in the late 1980s, the Libraries began contacting Japanese companies directly to request donations of their company histories for the collection. The response from Japanese companies has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. Without their cooperation this collection could not have been achieved!

Correspondence with Japanese companies has been handled mainly by graduate student assistants (GAAs) and other students working under the direction of the Japanese studies librarian. Form letters are used to simplify the process. An archive of the correspondence is being maintained.

Donations of shashi have also been received from Japanese libraries who made their duplicates available to help build this collection. Their cooperation has also been essential to the success of this project.

Donations of shashi are greatly appreciated. Please use the following address:

The Ohio State University Libraries
Japanese Company History Collection
1858 Neil Avenue Mall
Columbus, OH 43210-1286 USA

Or contact the Japanese studies librarian, Maureen Donovan, by email.

In addition to the shashi received as donations, each year some shashi are also acquired by purchase, either from the companies (which charge in some cases) or from used book dealers.

Shashi collection databases and wiki

A database constructed initially as a means of keeping track of correspondence and acquisitions was revised into web pages and posted in 1995, a pioneering effort to promote awareness of these research materials. This was enhanced with scans of some tables of contents. In 1997 the data was incorporated into a searchable database. Unfortunately no additions to that database were possible after 1999. The library's catalog therefore provides the best access to the collection.

This wiki project is being initiated as the successor to the earlier databases. The goal is to promote awareness of shashi, coordinate with other librarians, support the activities of the Shashi Interest Group, and reach out to researchers in a more interactive way.