The Taiwan Resource Centre at the KB Chen China Centre Library
The Taiwan Resource Centre for Chinese Studies (TRCCS) opened in April 2015 at the Bodleian KB Chen China Centre Library. It has received a donation of more than 500 books and DVDs from the National Central Library in Taipei, which has initiated an international programme to promote Taiwanese scholarship by improving access to resources.
The co-operation agreement between the National Central Library and the Bodleian Libraries also includes the use of some of the unique databases held by the National Central Library and university libraries in Taiwan. Joshua Seufert, HD Chung Chinese Studies Librarian, explains, ‘Bodleian readers now have access to important research material that most other places in the UK could not offer.’
The publications donated are all related to areas of China studies being pursued at Oxford, and cover not only the history, religion, culture, literature, society and politics of Taiwan, but also the subject of cross-strait relations with mainland China. They can be consulted in the TRCCS, a dedicated carrel at the Bodleian KB Chen Library.
The National Central Library has also presented the Bodleian with two facsimile editions of rare Chinese books from its collection. The Bodleian in turn has agreed to provide bibliographical records of its Chinese rare books, currently being catalogued, to the publicly available Union Catalog of Chinese Rare Books hosted by the National Central Library.
Overall, this new collaboration between two major research libraries provides an exciting new opportunity for the international study of the history, society and culture of Taiwan.
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