Located in Northern Taipei, Academia Sinica is the highest academic institution in Taiwan and was founded in Nanking on June 9, 1928. It consists of 25 research institutes, conducting research in Mathematics & Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Humanities & Social Sciences. The 25 institutes were scattered in a number of buildings among the trees, fields and streams – a pleasant and tranquil site most ideal for research.
Academia Sinica has 20 libraries in all. We visited three libraries
and one museum.
1. Museum of Anthropology & the Library of the Institute of Ethnology and Sociology
The building that houses the Museum and the Library resembles a Buddhist temple. The Museum is to the left of the main entrance whereas the Library is to the right. The Museum collects over 8,000 artefacts from the island's various aboriginal groups as well as Han Chinese through archaeological excavations. Going through the exhibits, we visualized the historical socio-cultural change among Taiwan's aborigines and Han Chinese.
The Library collects various formats of materials on anthropology, sociology
and psychology. The building is not a perfect setting for a library;
the ceilings are low and the floors are crammed with bookshelves. The librarians
there face a real challenge of making the library user-friendly.
One of their ways is to establish comfortable reading areas between the
shelving areas. We were surprised to find real antiques on display
and began to wonder if thefts had ever been reported!
2. Fu Ssu-nien Library of the Institute of History and Philology
This is the largest library of Academia Sinica and is named after its first director, Fu Ssu-nien. We first visited the Library's rare book collection. We not only had a glimpse of a number of valuable rare books, but were also introduced to their meticulous preservation system. The Rare Book Room was under stringent air quality control and safeguarded by a well tested fire system. Thread-bound books were sandwiched between two pieces of wood and sat in infestation-resistant wooden book cabinets. We also found pure camphor at the corners of the book cabinets.
After leaving the Rare Book Room, we had an eye-opening session on the
Library's digitalization projects. These projects make the Library's
collections accessible through the World Wide Web. Resources to be
digitized include rare books, Han bamboo slips, rubbings, Ming/Ching documents
and archaeological artefacts. Overseas researchers will no doubt
benefit a great deal from these exciting developments.
3. Library of the Life Sciences
The Life Sciences Library (LSL) is the most the advanced library of Academia Sinica. As biochemistry is a fast changing field, the Library captures the most current updates by its extensive journal collection. Not surprisingly, the print journal collection takes up most of the library's space. The Library also holds a large collection of electronic journals and databases. Various library services are also journal-oriented, like the document delivery services, Table of Contents (electronic and print) and Current Contents services.
It is worth mentioning that the LSL setting is more like an arts library than a science library. Its reading areas are dotted with cosy sofas and table lamps. You will also find local artworks on display on the walls and corridors of the Library. These rotating exhibits surely add an artistic touch to its environment.
The above is just bits and pieces of personal impressions. Each library contains a wealth of information on its own. To find out more, do visit their homepages at:
1. Academia Sinica
http://www.sinica.edu.tw/
2. Museum of the anthropology
http://www.sinica.edu.tw/ioe/tool/museum/index.html
3. Library of the Institute of Ethnology and Sociology
http://www.sinica.edu.tw/ioe/tool/library/index.html
4. Fu Ssu-nien Library of the Institute of History and Philology
Digitalization projects:
http://www.sinica.edu.tw/~tdbproj/handy1/
http://140.109.139.11/
5. Life Sciences Library
http://www.sinica.edu.tw/lib/lsl/
Happy web surfing!
Reported by Eugenie Ng
Lingnan University Library