C-DATS | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

5. Activities of the Centre for Documentation

In this project, firstly, the Centre for Documentation will participate in the comprehensive preservation, sharing, and digitalization project for Asian and African language documentation promoted by such overseas institutions as the British Library, the Library of Congress (U.S.A.) and the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago. The Centre will function as a part of this network of institutions while pursuing various activities that are not exploitative in nature as a Documentation Centre in the Asian-Pacific region.

Secondly, the Centre will organize collaborative research whereby documentation and research activities are combined organically to pursue studies on the various issues related to the establishment and transformations and changes of an area. As a point of focus, the Centre will concentrate on the collection, preservation, and sharing of information in forms which traditional documentation activities and official history writing have often overlooked, such as "oral history" and "Asian symbolism culture", where the records are in non-literary or non-biblical formats. The Centre will then work towards the digitalization of such resources and the establishment of a methodology to disseminate information. In this process, the Centre will reflect on the history of colonization and the existence of the Diaspora phenomenon, and expand the scope of research to Europe and the Americas as well. Based on the results obtained from the above, the Centre will endeavor to unlock the secret of the establishment of area cultures and the spread of globalization as the new branches of area-transcultural studies to be promoted.

Specifically, the Centre will establish the following organizational structure:

A station leader will be designated as the responsible party for the collection, preservation, sharing, and digitalization of historical materials from a comprehensive management perspective. An operations management group will promote collaboration with the various overseas institutions to execute the operational procedures required of a Centre for Documentation. This group will consist of the five representatives of the historical documentation collection and research groups as indicated in "2" below, as well as a librarian of the University Library with specialized skills and knowledge and several members of the Information Processing Centre who will be assigned to the group to support the research.

The focus objects of historical documentation collection, preservation, sharing, and digitalization will be divided into four different groups based on the formats they take: on-site unique documentation; printed matter; oral archive; and hieroglyphic documentation. Each group will have a designated historical documentation collection and research group assigned to it. Each group will not only promote the collection and related activities of each type of historical documentation, but will also be responsible for executing research based on the materials.

A "21st Century Area and Culture Studies Group" will be established to study the global factors that influence change in the localized world, as well as a group to study the methodologies of social sciences, area research, historical documentation, and other disciplines. This group will also be responsible for making recommendations on the format area-transcultural studies should take in response to the developments of the 21st century.

Liaison offices (overseas offices) will be established in various affiliated institutions and documentation libraries overseas to facilitate and promote the collection, preservation, and sharing of historical documentation and provide a platform for graduate students to gain experience working and studying overseas.

Thirdly, the Centre will promote the nurturing of young researchers. The Centre will endeavour to nurture individuals with a comprehensive understanding of the world in the 21st century and a good understanding of local languages in the various areas so that they can communicate directly with the area societies and its members to absorb and appreciate the living environment and cultural heritage of the peoples as a basis for functioning as intermediaries between the various idiosyncratic needs of area societies as well as the demands bestowed on them as a part of a global order.

To this end, the Centre offers its students a curriculum that enables them to master area languages to a sophisticated degree while promoting their deep understanding of the modern world. At the same time, through participation in the various projects of the Centre as collaborative researchers and assistants, the students will be offered the opportunity to access intensive on-site training in the various Asian and African areas. Through this, the students will not only hone their linguistic skills and enhance their understanding of the local communities in the areas, but will also develop the sophisticated capabilities to utilize those for the collection and deciphering of historical documentation. Furthermore, the students will be encouraged to actively participate in the various international symposia and workshops held at the Centre and overseas offices to utilize and develop further their ability to communicate and express themselves in a multi-lingual environment, using not just English but other languages as well. The results of such activities will be announced and made available to the public through the Centre's web site and the planned publication of working papers and research reports.

The fruits of the Centre project will be announced publicly in a timely manner through the website as well as through special presentations and open lectures so that the public can enjoy them. Simultaneously, the Centre will host workshops and international symposia around the world to establish a track record as one of the leading institutions in area-transcultural studies. The research results will be published in book form, while the documentation will be publicized and released through multiple media. The Centre for Documentation & Area-Transcultural Studies is a comprehensive and collective body for such activities, and there is no doubt that it will become a unique global centre for area-transcultural studies that responds to the world in the 21st century.