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Generally speaking, in Mainland China in recent years, the disclosure of information is improving, and access system has become far easier than it was ten years ago. And yet, the system still undeniably retains the Chinese tradition of placing heavy weight on "personal connections." Many challenges still remain, e.g. the libraries often require a letter of introduction from a Chinese domestic organization, as letters from foreign institutions are considered insignificant; admission is granted only after procedures at several departments and divisions, creating an unnecessary time burden; admission is often determined based on the person-to-person relationships, showing that "an acquaintance is more valuable than 100 letters of introduction." This contrasts sharply with what is happening in the libraries and archives of historical documents in Taiwan. The Shanghai Library and a few other institutions on the mainland are promoting reforms with an awareness of users' needs, but they still remain a minority. If the situation does not change any time soon, how can a foreign researcher use Chinese libraries and archives comfortably? You should at least have a friend - a researcher who works with or belongs to a Chinese institution and is willing to issue a letter of introduction for you with the stamp of the institution. In addition, you should regularly visit libraries with documents you wish to read and make efforts to make sure that the staff come to remember you, and that these memories continue. "Recognition" means remembering who the person is, and it should never be forgotten that in this country, "recognition" makes many things possible. The information introduced so far is based on what I obtained directly from recent visits to the libraries and archives in Beijing, the Yangzi Delta and Taiwan. As stated in the introduction, the situation of the libraries in China (including Taiwan) is changing every year, and therefore the information here is only as of the time of my visit to those institutions. Lastly, I would like to thank Mr. Hitoshi Sato for his great support in writing this report. I also acknowledge my indebtedness to the "Academic Resource Review Chinese Modern and Contemporary History" ("Studies on Information Processing of Chinese Documents," Vol 4, Kobun Shuppan, 2003), which served as a useful reference. Most of the photographs presented here were taken by the author himself, but the following photographs were kindly lent: Fudan University Library, by Sato Hitoshi; East China Normal University Library, by Fukushi Yuki; and National Palace Museum Library and National Central Library, by Egawa Kazuko. Also, the photograph of the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, was taken from a postcard issued by the institute. |
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