UMD Libraries Receives Grant to Support Digitization of Rare Japanese Books

The University of Maryland Libraries has received a $14,000 grant to help digitize rare works published in Japan before 1900 held on campus in Special Collections and University Archives.

The award came from the National Institute of Japanese Literature and North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources through the Comprehensive Digitization and Discoverability Program; it will support the project encompassing 57 titles in 183 volumes including over 6,000 images.

"I'm excited by the opportunity to highlight this 'hidden collection' of Japanese works in our rare books collection," said Amber Kohl, rare books and literature curator. "Digitization supported by this grant will enhance access to and discoverability of these materials for all researchers, including those unable to visit Hornbake Library in person. By making these works accessible online, the depth of our Japanese language digital holdings in Special Collections and University Archives will be significantly expanded."

This digitization project also directly supports teaching and learning at the university. Faculty have already expressed interest in incorporating titles from this project into their classes.

"I expect that these digitized materials will be used in innovative ways in UMD's Japanese Program, for example in courses such as ‘Classical Japanese Literature,’" said Kana Jenkins, curator of the Gordon W. Prange Collection, the world’s most comprehensive archive of Japanese print publications issued during the early years of the Occupation of Japan, 1945-49.

Follow along through the Special Collections and University Archives blog, where the curators will be documenting the process and highlighting the process.