Volume 4, No. 2, Fall 1998 (ISSN 1084-9068)
Content
1. President's Message
2. AALLC Committees
3. Minutes of FCIL-SIS Asian Law Working Group Meeting
4. Membership News
5. Electronic Corner: Asian Law Resources on the Internet
6. Korean Legal Research Resources on the Internet
7. LC Will Convert to Pinyin for Romanization of Chinese
8. Recent Publications on Japanese Law
9. Name the Newsletter Contest: Words from the Editor
President's Message
Mon Yin Lung
Time certainly flies by, especially when our schedules are full. It is hard for me to believe that half of the Fall semester is behind us.
This issue of our Newsletter sees the committee list that I compiled right after our annual meeting. To me such a list should never be truly completed because we always welcome participants. If you have not signed up for a committee or two, please consider the opportunities. You say that what you are interested in is not listed? Let me know and we will come up with a way to accommodate your pet projects. We may even start a new committee. You say that you don't know any one? Join a committee and you will get to know a bunch of nice people. Better yet, give us a chance to know you! We have a nice mix of veterans and newer members. It also is the best place to build confidence and to hone professional activity skill. Then, at the end of the day, you will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you have done something worthwhile, as well as something to put down on your annual activity report for office. Finally, Committee work gives us the best opportunity to renew old acquaintances and to get to know new ones. If you are as lucky as I am, you will get to make some very good friends who give you professional and personal support for the rest of your life. All you need is to send me (mylung@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu) your words.
One of my primary goals for this year is to strengthen AALLC membership. To achieve this goal we need to recruit new members, to retain old members, and to reinforce our tie. We can begin by inviting a friend to check out AALLC's website, and read and contribute to our newsletter. This is the first issue edited by our new editor, Hua Li. One of the new features she brings is a column on membership activities. I hope that you would find it fun and inform her any news you want to share with others. Let us stay connected!
AALLC Committees
Executive Committee: Mon Yin Lung (chair), President; Wei Luo, Vice President/President-Elect; Frank Y. Liu, Immediate Past President; Haibin Hu, Secretary/Treasurer.
Directory & Communications: Heija Ryoo, Grace Wong
Membership & Recruiting: Jonathan Franklin, Jindi Zhang
Mentorship: Paul Fu, Xinh Luu
Newsletter: Hua Li
Nominations: Kai Yun Chiu, Vianne Sha
Program: Wei Luo (chair), Mila Rush, Dan Wade
Minutes of FCIL-SIS Asian Law Working Group Meeting
Recorded and written by Wei Luo, Washington University Law Library,
Chair of the Group (1997-98)
Attendees:
Bill McCloy, University of Washington Law Library
Maria Smolka-Day, University of Pennsylvania Law Library
Dan Wade, Yale University Law Library
Mirela Roznovschi, New York University Law Library
Faith Gan, Drew and Napier, Singapore
Rebecca Rungsang, Tilleke & Gibbins
Wei Luo, Washington University Law Library
The Asian Law Working Group business meeting was held at the Anaheim Hilton on July 15, 1998. Wei Luo, the chair of the group, convened the meeting. Because the meeting schedule was on Wednesday and started so early (7:30 am), only eight people attended the meeting this year. A significantly fewer number of librarians joined the meeting than in last year. The meeting started with librarians introducing the current status of Asian law collections from their institutions. A number of interesting topics and issues were raised and discussed during the meeting.
Faith Gan is the first law librarian from Singapore participating the meeting. She offered her willingness to help us in Singapore law if we have reference questions. She can be reached via e-mail at faith.gan@drew-and-napier.com.sg.
Rebecca Rungsang mentioned that her firm in Thailand publishes and maintains a series of introductory articles to Thailand's laws on her firm's website at http://www.tginfo.com. These publications are very helpful for those who are not familiar with Thailand's laws.
Bill McCloy reported the University of Washington Law Library has finished its recon project of all CJK and the new bibliographical records should be downloaded into RLN soon. He is now undertaking a cooperative project to help New York University Law Library to catalog its CJK law collections on RLN. Bill also shared his discovery of the Japanese Supreme Court Website at http://www.courts.go.jp/english/ehome.htm, which includes Japanese Supreme Court decisions published in Japanese.
Maria Smolka-Day reported that her library may begin collecting Chinese law books sometime in the future because her law school has hired a tenure-track professor who teaches Chinese law.
Dan Wade reported that his library may expand the Chinese law collection because one of the members of the law faculty was appointed by the White House to be an advisor to a program promoting the rule of law in China. Also, many of the law students at Yale are requesting the addition of Chinese law courses to the curriculum.
Mirela Roznovschi raised the issue that the general public cannot access the GLAN database. All the attendees agreed that they would like the FCIL of AALL to negotiate with the Library of Congress to seek the possibility of letting law librarians get access to the GLAN database.
Wei Luo reported that Washington University Law Library (in St. Louis) has been trying to build up its Chinese law collection since 1997. Recently, the law library acquired 400 volumes of Chinese law books published in China in the last years. Among these books, two case report publications are worthy of mention here. They are:
(1) Renmin fayuan anli xuan = Jen min fa yuan an li hsuaan (Selective Compilation of the People's Courts Cases), Pei-ching : Jen min fa yuan ch'u pan she, 1992- , 4 issues annually. This is an official compilation of cases published by the People's Court Press. The Supreme People's Court authorized the Chinese Practicing Law Institute (Zhongguo Yingyong Faxue Yanjiusuo) to select and compile this publication from the influential, important or controversial cases which were tried and decided by various level of courts. In 1997, four volumes of 1992-1996 Cumulative Compilation were published.
(2) Zhongguo shenpan anli yaolan = Chung-kuo shen p'an an li yao lan (Important Collections of Chinese Judicated Cases), Pei-ching : Chung-kuo jen min kung an ta hsueh ch'u pan she, 1992-, annually. This publication is compiled and edited by the Training Center for Chinese Senior Judges and People's University School of Law and published by Chinese People's Public Security University.
The Washington University School of Law Library also subscribes to CEILaw: CEI Chinese Law and Regulation (http://www.ceilaw.com.cn/) on the Web. This website is hosted by the State Information Center, a Chinese central government agency. The contents are in Chinese but some laws and regulations have English version as well. It includes two major databases. One is the National Laws and Regulations Data Bank. It is a free and searchable database for Chinese laws and regulations covering from Oct. 1, 1949 to the end of 1996. The other is the New Laws and Regulations Online Searching. It is free for searching although only subscribers can download the text of laws. The New Laws and Regulations database is updated daily and includes a list of laws published in last 60 days. The databases include not only Chinese laws and regulations, but also cases and judicial interpretations. This website is probably the most reliable place to search and retrieve Chinese laws and regulations on the Internet. However, to download the files from the New Laws and Regulations Online Searching Database is quite complicated. Wei Luo wrote detailed instructions on how to set up the computer system to download the files. This instruction can be accessed at http://ls.wustl.edu/Infores/Library/Webscript/ceilaw.html.
Joan Liu, Serial Librarian from New York University School of Law Library, did not attend the meeting this year because she went to Beijing, China with her boss, Kathleen Price, the Director of NYU Law Library, during the AALL Annual Meeting. She reported they attended a workshop called CHINA CENTER FOR AMERICAN LAW STUDY (July 3-18, 1998) held by the PRC's State Education Commission and Ministry of Justice and the US Committee on Legal Educational Exchange with China. Kathleen Price co-directed the workshop. She and Joan Liu did a program to show how to do legal research via the Internet. Besides introducing the American/Chinese law databases and other resources on the web to the participants, they also emphasized a lot on research methodology and reviewed the most current development of legal information access in the world. They received very good feedback from the participants via e-mail after the workshop.
Membership News
First, let's welcome our new member Faith Gan. Faith attended the 1998 AALL annual meeting. She manages the library in a 120 attorney law firm in Singapore. She is the first professional librarian hired by a law firm in Singapore. She obtained her law degree in 1986 from the National University of Singapore and her Master of Science (Information Management) in 1991 from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. She practiced law for 4 years before becoming a librarian. She spent two and half years of her library career in a university law library in Singapore. Her interests lie in the area of Internet legal research and knowledge management.
In the past few months, some of us had important changes in their careers or families. Please join me congratulating the following members:
Mon Yin Lung, the president of the AALLC, begins as a law student at the University of Kansas School of Law. She still serves as Public Service Librarian at the University of Kansas Law Library.
Wei Luo has been appointed Director of Technical Services at the Washington University Law Library. He previously held the position of Acquisitions and Serials/Reference Librarian.
Heija B. Ryoo, formerly Head of Technical Service at Southern Illinois University Law Library, has been named Director of Library Systems/Technical Service. Heija is now responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating the use of integrated library systems.
Vianne Sha, formerly Automation and Bibliographic Services Librarian at the University of Missouri-Columbia Law Library, has take a position as the Head of Catalog Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia's Libraries.
Nongji Zhang has a new position at Harvard Law Library. She is now the Bibliographer for East Asian Law and had been Specialist for East Asian Legal Studies.
Haibin Hu and his wife Mary welcomed their second baby Richard on June 13. He weighed 7lb 16oz. Richard was also welcomed by his brother Michael.
Hua Li and her husband Ming Luo welcomed their first baby Angela on June 8, 1998. She weighed 7lb 10oz.
Electronic Corner: Asian Law Resources on the Internet
Vianne Sha, University of Missouri-Columbia Libraries, ShaW@missouri.edu
As the author of the Electronic Corner column, I would like to thank Mon Yin Lung and Hua Li for being so "courageous" to ask me to write this column. Don't we all know that technology is advancing in rocket speed? Who can keep up with this trend?! We can only take one bite at a time. So let's take a look at the Internet resources for Asian laws this time and worry about other things in the next issue.
There are not many primary legal materials for Asian countries on the Internet that are written or translated into English. Most links to those resources are obsolete or under construction. Below is a selective list of Internet resources with current URLs that are worth browsing for performing legal research.
CataLaw: Asia and Pacific
URL: http://www.catalaw.com/region/Asia.shtml
This is a searchable index of other indexes for legal and government information on the Internet. You can browse the legal resources by country under the Asia and Pacific section or search a particular topic in over one hundred major legal sites that collect legal resources around the world.
Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL)
URL: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~felsing/ceal/welcome.html
This site contains information guides to China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, and Asia in general. Each guide provides links to all subject areas. One of which is the Library and Library Science. The Library Science section offers rich online resources for locating information on libraries, conferences, library organizations and associations, professional journals and publications, publishers, book dealers, and bookstores. It is an excellent resource to begin research on Asian librarianship. The Law section offers legal resources for China, Japan, and North Korea in English.
FindLaw: Foreign & International Resources: Index of Country Pages
URL: http://www.findlaw.com/search/list.html
This site compiles links to legal information on sixty-nine international countries. Under each country, legal and government-related sites are collected. The links are current and the list of links is quite comprehensive.
The Library of Congress Country Studies
URL: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/home.html
This site provides studies on 85 countries in the world. Basic information on the countries' geography, society, economy, transportation and communications, government and politics, and national security are provided for each country. It will serve as a nice start point in doing research for a particular country.
Most Asian countries have the full text of their Constitutions available on the Internet in English. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia is available at:http://www.embassy.org/cambodia/cambodia/constitu.htm. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) adopted in 1982 is available at: ftp://cnd.org/pub/InfoBase/China-Intro/Constitution.txt. The Indian Parliament with URL: http://alfa.nic.in/const/a1.htmlcontains the full text of the Constitutions of India and the legislation process. The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia is accessible at: http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/countries/indonesia/ConstIndonesia.html. Constitution of Malaysia
is accessible at: http://star.hsrc.ac.za/constitutions/constmalcont.html. Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines adopted in 1987 is available at:http://pdx.rpnet.com/consti/national.htm. Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand adopted in 1991 and its amendments numbers 1-5 (1992-1995) can be accessed at: http://www.nectec.or.th/pub/info/thai-law/constitution-2538.txt. Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam can be accessed at: http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/constitution.htm.
The followings are Web resources that provide laws, legal information, and other governmental information for the Asian countries. Most of them are available for free. Some can only be accessed with paid subscriptions.
China:
Chinalaw Web
URL: http://www.qis.net/chinalaw/
Offered by University of Maryland School of Law, this site provides information about the four legal jurisdictions in China: the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC), the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China, and the Portuguese Colony of Macau. English translations of quite a few of Chinese laws and regulations from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are available for access. Most documents in the "List of Multinational Treaties Applicable to China" can be viewed in English and French. The "reported cases" and the "list of recent laws and regulations of the PRC" are in Chinese and require Chinese GB code to read them. There are also over thirty legal articles on various topics related to Chinese law. It also contains links to information on China in general and news from China.
Japan:
A Guide to Japanese Law
URL: http://home.highway.or.jp/JAPANLAW/
This site is designed to provide accurate and up-to-date information on Japanese law in the English language. It covers FAQs on copyright law, contract law, conflict of laws, and pharmaceutical affairs law. Also available in this site are translated statutes, regulations on particular subjects, as well as selected articles on Japanese visas, judicial system, court procedures, Antimonopoly Act, copyright, private Japanese corporation, international commercial litigation in Japan, and the legal profession in Japan.
House of Councilors (Japan)
URL: http://www.sangiin.go.jp/index-e.htm
This site contains links to government agencies under the "Link" section.
Japan Documentation Center at Library of Congress
URL: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/jdc/
JDC is a project that specializes in Japanese public policy information. It provides links to current resources in fields such as economics, commerce and industry, law and politics, environment, and social conditions.
Japanese Law Links
URL: http://www.law.kyushu-u.ac.jp/~luke/japaneselawlinks.html
This site offers links to over 50 Web sites that contain resources related to Japanese law, particularly business law. It includes links to Japanese governmental and quasi-governmental organizations, academic institutions, associations, law firms and individuals, and selective case laws.
Roderick Seeman's Japan Law Site
URL: http://www.japanlaw.com/
Selected laws and regulations on Japan's foreign trade and foreign exchange, Japan's banking law, regulations concerning the preparation of financial statements, etc.
Korea:
Korean Central News Agency
URL: http://www.korea-np.co.jp/pk/
The official Web site of North Korea government. It contains mainly foreign relations information and documents.
Korea Environmental Law
URL: http://www3.shinbiro.com/~tarega/engindex.htm
This site offers full text of selected environmental laws in South Korea.
Korean Institute of Criminology Publications
URL: http://www.kic.re.kr/publi-e.htm
This site contains articles analyzing the criminal law and procedure of South Korea written by Korean scholars.
Malaysia:
Laws of Malaysia
URL: http://www.jaring.my/msia/law/law.html
Contains the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and the Penal Code of Malaysia in English.
CLJ Legal Network
URL: http://www.cljlaw.com/
This site contains full text of Malaysia's legislation, cases, and current law journals available to subscribers only. The "Features" section offers full text of the article of the month, summaries of cases and legislation updates. Its URL is: http://www.cljlaw.com/features/
Singapore:
LawNet
URL: http://www.lawnet.com.sg/
The site contains legislation, reports, unreported judgments, online research resources for Singapore. Paid subscription is required to use the resources.
Ong Tay & Partners' Links: Singapore Law
URL: http://www.cyberway.com.sg/~lexloci/otplink.htm#SingaLaw
These links direct users to information about the Singapore legal system and business law, the application or features of various laws, and the official Web site for the Singapore Judiciary's Electronic Filing System.
Supreme Court Singapore
URL: http://www.gov.sg/judiciary/supremect/
As the official site of the Supreme Court in Singapore, this site provides basic information on court procedures, civil actions, criminal matters, family matters, legal fees, court mediation center, contact numbers, full text of Practice Directions since 1997, and Registrar's Circulars since 1996 issued by the court to regulate litigation.
Last but not least, some wonderful and handy tools that you will not want to miss are the WWLIA Legal Dictionary and the West Legal Directory. The WWLIA Legal Dictionary with URL: http://wwlia.org:80/diction.htm is a free WWW legal dictionary. It explains legal terms in plain language. The West Legal Directory with URL: http://www.wld.com/ offers more than 800,000 legal professionals and law firms worldwide and their practice areas in a searchable directory. It is a very good site for locating legal counsel and services.
Be sure to browse the metaindex sites for legal resources such as CataLaw and FindLaw from time to time. New information comes up every day. It will not be a surprise if you have one day found that all primary laws are available on the Internet.
KOREAN LEGAL RESEARCH RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET
Heija B. Ryoo
Finding and acquiring Korean legal research resources has been a challenge for researchers outside of Korea, and the scarcity of Korean legal materials in English in print format has added yet another difficulty in doing research on Korean law.
With the availability of Korean legal resources on the Internet, legal researchers are slowly making progress. During the last couple of years, government agencies, especially the Korean Ministry of Legislation, and commercial online vendors have made primary source materials available on the Internet. Unfortunately though, most of these Internet resources are still in Korean only, with very limited access in English. To find English text of Korean statutes and introductory study guides, researchers still have to use print publications. Listed below are some recent print publications on Korean law in English.
Korean Legislation Research Institute published a completely revised set of Korean statutes in English in 1997. The Statutes of the Republic of Korea set is in 20 loose-leaf volumes with two supplements published to date. The set "contains approximately 800 important Acts and Presidential Decrees which are selected from all the Acts and subordinate statutes of the Republic of Korea effective as of June 30, 1997."
Korean Law in the Global Economy by Prof. Sang-Hyun Song, published by Bak Young Sa in 1996, provides a chapter on studying Korean law - "Structure and Approach of Korean Legal Scholarship." The chapter covers "Comparative Study of Korean Law and Society, Korean Language in the Study of Korean Law, Research in Korean Legal Materials and Translation and Citation of Korean Legal Materials."
The Korean Law Study Guide by Prof. Chin Kim, published in 1995 by Cross-Cultural Associates, gives an introduction on Korean law and a selected annotated bibliography of Korean law materials published in English.
Listed below are selective Internet listings on Korean law from the web page Korean Legal Research Resources on the Internetat:http://www.siu.edu/offices/lawlib/koreanlaw/.
Constitution
These sites provide the English full text of the constitution, an overview of the constitution, and general Korean government information.
· The Constitution and Government of Korea -- Korean Embassy (in English)
Address: http:// korea.emb.washington.dc.us/korea/constit.htm
· The Constitution and Government of Korea -- iWorld (in English)
Address: http://www.iworld.net/Korea/politics/in dex.html
Statutes and Regulations
There are major database sites that provide the comprehensive text of statutes and regulations, current revised statutes and regulations, proposed legislation, presidential enforcement decrees, and treaties. However, all of them are in Korean only. A few provide limited English information. The following is an annotated list of sites that provide Korean statutes and regulations.
· Ministry of Legislation -- Korea Ministry of Legislation (in Korean and some English)
Address: http://www.moleg.go.kr/
The Ministry of Legislation is the most reliable site to retrieve Korean laws and regulations, and is available free. The site provides a comprehensive Korean legal information database for current statutes, proposed and revised laws and regulations, administrative decisions, treaties, court cases, Presidential decrees; Prime and Vice-Prime Ministers' decrees; administrative decisions; "Bup Je" a monthly journal on laws and regulations; and announcements on legislation activities. These are all in Korean.
Materials available in English include the table of contents for the 20 volume set of Statutes of the Republic of Korea, general information about the Ministry of Legislation, and information on Korea Legislation Research Institute.
· LawKorea -- NetLaw (in Korean)
Address: http://www.lawkorea.com/lawkorea.asp
This is a fee subscription service, but provides free access to proposed legislation, treaties, and directories for Korean lawyers and law offices. Databases are available on CD-ROM and web versions. LawKorea is available free when connected to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea site first.
· NetLaw: Intelligent Source of Legal Information on the Net -- NetLaw (In Korean)
Address: http://www.netlaw.co.kr/
The service is available free but requires a user registration. It also includes legal theses and dissertations, a hot issue collection; Labor Department decisions, legal forms, legal news, and other law-related information.
· National Assembly of the Republic of Korea -- The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (in Korean and some English)
Address: http://www.assembly.go.kr/
The National Assembly provides the Legislation Information Service database on current legislative activities. From this site, the same database LawKorea can be accessed free.
· Legalese Links - Korean Law -- oomph.net (in English)
Address: http://www.oomph.net/law/html/index.htm
This site provides selected Korean statutes including Constitutional Laws; National Assembly and Election Laws; Administrative Laws; Judicial Laws; Financial and Economic Laws; Tax, Tobacco and Ginseng Laws; Currency and Monetary Laws; Laws on Commerce, Trade, Industry and Mining; Labor Laws; Laws on Maritime Transportation; Laws on Communications; and Laws on Foreign Affairs.
· BKL News B Bae, Kim & Lee (in English)
Address: http://www.bkl.co.kr/I-bkl.html
The Bae, Kim & Lee site provides their law firm's articles on the Korean legal system such as Korean Mergers and Acquisitions Laws; Key Amendments to the Korean Commercial Code; The Changing Labor Laws of Korea; Proper Methods of Dispute Resolution in Korea; Legislative Trends in the Information Society; Obtaining Visas for Ex-Patriated Employees; Dealing with Commercial Disputes in Korea; Guide to Portfolio Investment by Foreigners in Korean Company Shares; Trademark Protection in Korea; Franchises and Fair Trade Law; Anti-Dumping Cases in Korea; and Cargo Claims in Korea. It also includes the full text of the firm's Intellectual Property Newsletter in English.
Court Cases
The following sites provide decisions from the Korean Supreme Court, lower courts, and Constitutional Law Court. The Supreme Court of Korea site has recent case digests; various information on civil cases; Supreme Court news and announcements; and summary of major 1998 decisions and statistics; NetLaw, LawKorea also provides court cases in Korean.
· The Constitutional Court of Korea -- Constitutional Court of Republic of Korea
Address: http://www.ccourt.go.kr/english/emain.html
This site provides information on justices, history; organization; jurisdiction and procedure; decisions; statistics; and legal links. It also includes abstracts of a selected number of major constitutional law cases in English.
· LawKorea -- NetLaw (in Korean)
Address: http://www.lawkorea.com/lawkorea.asp
· Ministry of Legislation -- Korea Ministry of Legislation (in Korean and some English)
Address: http://www.moleg.go.kr/
· NetLaw: Intelligent Source of Legal Information on the Net -- NetLaw (In Korean)
Address: http://www.netlaw.co.kr/
· Supreme Court of Korea -- Supreme Court of Korea (in Korean)
Address: http://www.scourt.go.kr/menu_eng.html
The Supreme Court site is the mirror site of the Ministry of Legislation database for all court cases. In addition, the court provides commentaries in English on Korean judicial procedures for civil, criminal and other cases including domestic relations, administrative, and juvenile protection cases.
General Korean Law Resource Guide on the Internet
There are a number of guide sites that provide links to Korean law resources on the Internet.
· Korean Legal Research Resources on the Internet
Address: http://www.siu.edu/offices/lawlib/koreanlaw/
· The U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library B Korea
Address http://law.house.gov/71.htm
· Center for Korean Legal Studies -- Columbia Law School
Address: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/korealaw/index.html
LC Will Convert to Pinyin for Chinese Romanization
According to the LC Cataloging Newsline: Online Newsletter of the Cataloging Directorate (Vol. 6, no. 12, Sept. 1998), the Research Libraries Group (RLG) has announced that it will work with the Library of Congress to convert its Chinese records from Wade-Giles to pinyin. The conversion will start in the spring or summer of the year 2000.
The Library of Congress is now about to release its pinyin romanization guidelines. The new guidelines will follow standard Chinese pinyin romanization procedures, with certain exceptions. Tones will not be indicated.
LC's Pinyin Task Group has begun the task of identifying and assessing the many effects of pinyin conversion on subject headings and classification schedules. Major changes are anticipated in the DS, G, and PL schedules of the LC classification. Conversion of subject headings may be initiated before the year 2000.
The Library of Congress has been using Wade-Giles system for the romanization of Chinese for almost a century. However, the pinyin system is now generally recognized as standard throughout the world. Most federal agencies, international agencies, the news media, and many foreign libraries have used pinyin to romanize Chinese for many years. If American libraries are to provide adequate service to their users, conversion to pinyin will be necessary.
The National Library of Australia (NLA) has recently converted over 500,000 Chinese records to pinyin, utilizing conversion software that identified and converted Wade-Giles data in MARC records.
For more information about the conversion, you can contact Philip Melzer, team leader, Korean/Chinese Team, Regional and Cooperative Cataloging, atpmel@loc.gov.
Recent Publications on Japanese Law
Compiled by Yukino Nakashima
Amnesty International. Amnesty International Japan: Abusive Punishments in Japanese
Prison. New York, NY: Amnesty International USA Publications, 1998.
Baum, Harald & Luke Nottage. Japanese Business Law in Western Languages: An
Annotated Selective Bibliography. Littleton, Colo.: F.B. Rothman, 1998.
Copyright Research and Information Center. Copyright Law of Japan. Tokyo:
Chosakuken Joho Senta, 1997.
Del Vecchio, Peter. Big Bang or Whimper?: Essential Insight into Japan's Financial
Deregulation. Hong Kong: Asia Law & Practice Pub./White & Case, 1998.
FTC International Affairs Division, ed. Antimonopoly Legislation of Japan. Tokyo:
Kosei Torihiki Kyokai, 1998.
Gibney, Frank, ed. Unlocking the Bureaucrat's Kingdom: Deregulation and the Japanese
Economy. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1998.
Haley, John Owen, ed. The Spirit of Japanese Law. Athens: University of Georgia Press,
1998 (The Spirit of the Laws).
Japan Immigration Association, ed. Gaikokujin no tame no Nyukoku, Zairyu, Toroku
Tetsuzuki no Tebiki = A Guide to Entry, Residence, and Registration Procedures
in Japan for Foreign Nationals.Tokyo : Nihon Kajo Shuppan, 1998. Japanese
text, parallel English translation.
Port, Kenneth L. Japanese Trademark Jurisprudence. London & Boston: Kluwer Law
International, 1998.
Reszat, Beate. The Japanese Foreign Exchange Market. London & New York:
Routledge, 1998 (Routledge Studies in the Growth Economics of Asia; 12).
Rider, Barry, Yutaka Tajima & Fiona Macmillan, eds. Commercial Law in a Global
Context: Some Perspectives in Anglo-Japanese Law. London & Boston: Kluwer
Law International, 1998.
Shimazu, Naoko. Japan, Race, and Equality: the Racial Equality Proposal of 1919.
London & New York: Routledge, 1998 (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese
Studies Series).
Name the Newsletter Contest: Words from the Editor
Hua Li
Mon Yin Lung, our AALLC president proposed to invite members to name our newsletter. This is a brilliant idea. We need a name that can tell people who we are and attract readers. As the editor of the newsletter, I invite all our members and readers to participant this name contest. Just send me your ideal name for the newsletter by email. The criteria for selecting name are welcomed as well. A special committee will select a final name from the proposed names. The selected name and winner will be announced in the newsletter.
As I present you my first issue of the newsletter, I would like to thank all the contributors for their supports. I am also looking for new contributors and volunteers who want to join the Newsletter Committee. Please send me your commends and suggestions. The holiday season is right at the corner, I wish all of you have a lot to celebrate this year. See you all in 1999, a year full of hopes, opportunities, and successes for everyone.
To contact the editor, please send email to huali@culaw.creighton.edu.
Contact the Editor
This Newsletter is edited by Hua Li, Cataloging/Reference Librarian, Creighton University Law Library. For comments or suggestions, please call the editor at (402) 280-2283 or email: Huali@culaw.creighton.edu.
For technical assistance, please contact the webmaster for the Newsletter Wei Luo (LUO@wulaw.wustl.edu), Washington University School of Law Library, St. Louis, MO.