Wonderfull Experiance from Kyoto

By: Sypha Phongsavath [email protected] & Phoukham Thongphanit [email protected] Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University 01/02-30/4/2018

What have we done for three months? • Visiting Libraries • Help with library work • Culture Exchange • Sightseeing in Kyoto City • Home stay in Fukuoka

Introduction By good collaboration of counterpart planning for three months we have done many activities such as visiting many libraries in Kyoto University, Tokyo University and the libraries in urban cities. We have helped the library to catalog Laotian books and make book records. Then we have got the opportunity to exchange Japanese-Lao culture during the Sakura flower blooming (Cherry Blossom). In addition, we had plenty of time to go sightseeing in Kyoto city and in Nara prefecture.

Visiting the libraries in Kyoto University Kyoto University has about 50 libraries. According to the schedule for the first month we had time to visit 9 libraries including Kansai-Kan of the National Diet Library and Ritsumei Kan University. We have learned many things with these libraries like the ways of book and journal preservation, how to classify books, and provide librarian services to customers. It makes us proud that we got an opportunity to see the modernized services in the prefectural library and Kansai-Kan of the National Diet Library that have been using the electronic machine to efficiently provide service to customers. In addition, we have learned how to find books and journals by accessing the databases, and how to bind journals. The following slides contain pictures of our visiting each library:

CSEAS and African Libraries

Medical & Medicine Libraries, Kyoto



The Customer Service Machine in Kyoto prefectural library The Customer Service Machine in Kansai-Kan of the National Diet Library

Agriculture Library, Kyoto

Main library of Kyoto University Circulation & Information Service Scanned rare books to Digital database

Library of Graduate school of Letters Kyoto University

Ritsumei Kan University Self service

Visiting the libraries in Tokyo In the second month we had an opportunity to visit two libraries in Tokyo- Kojima Hall, the Library of Economics at the University of Tokyo. In this library we have learned a lot of things which will help us plan for improving some library sections in Laos such as how to prevent or preserve the library materials and how to access the library databases for finding needed information. This library doesn’t have a photocopy machine, so if the customers need information they can take picture and pay a fee. After visiting this library we continued to visit the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. This Library provides many books and journals of international studies including Laotian books, and newspapers. We had time to tour every section and learned many things with the library staff. In addition, we met a Japanese student who has working in that library that could speak Lao with us.

Library in Tokyo Kojima Hall

Library of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies



Helping the Library For three months we learned library skills in the Central of South East Asia Study Library, such as learning how to access library databases in order to find and analyze the catalog of Lao books, making the records of Lao books and journals, listing out all details of libraries in Laos. Here are some pictures collected when we worked with the library staff:

Helping the Library Learning to access library databases

Cultural Exchange Certainly, learning other cultures is a valuable experience. Therefore, two of us got the opportunity to make relationships with Japanese people, especially librarian staff. We learned about Japanese cooking and some traditional cultural “Do and Do Nots”. We also had time to go to picnics together during the Cherry Blossom (Hanami). It was a good time and fantastic atmosphere for those who came to Japan for the first time. Furthermore, we exchanged the Japanese-Laos dressing styles, as you can see in the following pictures:

Cherry Blossom (Hanami)

Exchanged dressing styles

Picnic on the Kmong River with Cherry blossom

Sightseeing in Kyoto and Nara Prefecture

Future plan • Continuing to collaborate with the CSEAS project • To compile Non Academic and Academic Journal which are published in Laos for making the record of all Lao journals • To create the lists of academic libraries in Laos • To collaborate with the CSEAS project in order to organize the library workshop which will be held in July, 2018 • Improve the data collection in the library in order to exchange interlibrary loan with internal and external libraries • To classify journal catalog in order to make index books.

Opinion and Summary • We would like to thank the CSEAS project and staff for this wonderful opportunity and experience. We will take back what we learned and apply it to our libraries in Laos, changing the way people access books, binding journals, and book preservation. • We would also like to thank our counterpart, Ms. Mikiko ONO for providing us with the facilities and helping us with everything along the way. • We appreciate all the friends we made, not only Japanese people, but many students and researchers from other countries.