College and Research Libraries


Library Literature 
in Mainland China: 
A Content Analysis 

Douglas W. Cooper 
Library science in mainland China has seen substantial development since 1979. Library edu-
cation and professional activities, organizations, and communications have been spurred by 
the establishment of the China Society of Library Science, a number of library science journals, 
and international exchanges. This study analyzes the library literature published in three of 
the mainland's journals for a recent volume year (1985) and characterizes the profession and its 
scholarly communication. It also compares these writings with reports about the current li-
brary scene in China published in the West and concludes that library science in the P.R. C. has 
yet to be adequately developed. 

umerous recent reports in the 
literature suggest that the li-
brary world in mainland China 
is recouping the losses it suf-

fered during the Cultural Revolution and 
is making great strides toward catching up 
with library science in the West. During 
this period of increased East-West con-
tacts and exchanges, the mainland is play-
ing host to many Western librarians who 
are visiting libraries and librarians to see 
and hear firsthand how the profession is 
doing. 1 Several mainland librarians have 
published reports in Western journals on 
the professional scene in China. 2 Overseas 
Chinese are also taking a closer look at the 
mainland's libraries3 and their role in in-
ternationallibrary cooperation. 4 Two such 
writers recently have shed light on aspects 
of librarianship on the mainland, survey-
ing library education and the profession's . 
scholarlY- production in library science 
journals.5 

In order to arrive at a better understand-
ing of librarianship as it is practiced in 

China today, the authors thought it useful 
to compare reports published in the West 
with writings from the mainland library 
science journal literature. In order to do 
this, several journals recently published in 
mainland China were chosen for analysis. 
First, however, a brief sketch of the ·pro-
fession's governance may help to put the 
following discussion into perspective. 

Mainland China's State Council gov-
erns all libraries through the Ministry of 
Culture's Administrative Bureau of Li-
brary Service. Coordination of the various 
types of libraries on the mainland is cur-
rently accomplished through individualli- _"' 
brary centers, such as Beijing National Li-
brary, which is responsible for all public 
libraries, and the China Academy of Sci-
ences, which is responsible for all science 
libraries that are not a part of the Institute 
of Science and Technology Information 
Center (ISTIC). Prior to 1985, coordination 
was accomplished through the Ministry of 
Education, which is responsible for educa-
tional institutions at all levels. 6 (Through 

Douglas W. Cooper is Reference Librarian at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N. T., Hong Kong. 
This paper was presented in a somewhat different form at the 1986 Library Cooperation and Development Semi-

nar in Taiwan, August 17-18, 1986. Thanks are due to T. H. Chow, librarian of New Asia College, Chinese 
University of Hong Kong, for his indispensable help in coding items in the journals analyzed and to C. F. Lee, 
sublibrarian at the University Library, Chinese University, for his suggestions about journals to consider. 

194 



action taken at the sixth National People's 
Congress, the Ministry of Education be-
came part of the Education, Science, Cul-
ture, and Public Health Committee. 7) The 
State Council also governs the State Com-
mission of Science and Technolo?l and, 
through it, the activities of ISTIC, a na-
tional information center with a staff of 
more than twelve hundred. 9 

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 

Since 1979, the impetus for library de-
velopment in mainland China appears to 
have come from a combination of indige-
nous efforts and foreign professional in-
fluence. One of the first exchanges of pro-
fessional know-how occurred in 
September 1973 directly on the heels of 
the Shanghai Communique of 1972, when 
a ten-member Chinese library delegation 
toured libraries in the United States. This 
visit was followed by a stream of Ameri-
can librarians to the mainland. 10 During 
the next decade, mainland library groups 
hosted delegations from the United 
States, Australia, the Philippines, Thai-
land, and elsewhere, while simultan-
eously sending delegations to the United 
States, New Zealand, the Federal Repub-
lic of Germany, NorwaX, Sweden, Den-
mark, and North Korea. China reclaimed 
its seat in IFLA in 1980. 12 Since then, this 
exchange of professionals and expertise 
has continued through numerous work-
shops, cooperative ventures, visits, and 
exchanges, within mainland China and in 
several host countries. 13 

Hong Kong's university and poly-
technic libraries and librarians have 
played a major role in recent develop-
ments in library science on the mainland. · 
Hong Kong presents the prospect of a de-
veloped country with an advanced library 
technology, a self-assured body of profes-
sionals, and well-developed ties with the 
West. Since the beginning of the 1980s, 
China has sent a steady stream of delega-
tions to visit the libraries of Hong Kong. In 
September 1982 a number of mainland li-
brarians read papers and attended meet-
ings at the International Federation of 
Documentation (FID). In December 1985 
another group attended a conference at 
the Chinese University of Hong Korig. 

Library Literature 195 

Since 1981, some twenty-four groups 
have toured the Chinese University li-
brary, and many have also stopped at the 
University of Hong Kong. 

Puring this period, mainland China has 
developed its program of library educa-
tion and its professional activities, organi-
zations, and communications. A number 
of important national conferences have 
been conducted-for example, those held 
at the Chinese Academy of Sciences 
(CAS) in November 197814 and at the Min-
istry of Education in December of the 
same year, 15 and two offered in 197916 and 
1980 by the newly formed China Society of 
Library Science, in conjunction with the 
United States Information Agency. 17 The 
Ministry of Education and the Ministry of 
Culture each called national meetings in 
September and November 1981, 18 and the 
National Standards Bureau met during 
the same period. 19 

It was during this period of intense ac-
tivity that the China Society of Library Sci-
ence (CSLS) was created. The idea for the 
society devel<?fed at a meeting held in No-
vember 1978 and the organization was 
established officially in July 1979.21 The an-
tecedents of the society date back to 1925 
when the Library Association of China 
was founded in Beijing. Although mem-
bership in the earlier group was never as 
large as that of CSLS today-in 1935, at its 
largest, there were 562 individual and 288 
institutional members-it was active na-
tionally and internationally until 1949.22 

Today, the CSLS has some twenty-eight 
branch societies in the various provinces, 
autonomous regions, and direct munici-
palities, and a 1986 membership of 5,000 
individual and 35 institutional members. 23 

A need for improved communication 
within the profession grew out of this na-
tional reorganization of librarians. The 
CSLS initiated its official publication, the 
Tushuguanxue Tpngxun (Bulletin of the 
China Society of Library Science), with the 
June 1979 issue. During this same period, 
a number of other professional journals 
began publishing. The National Library of 
China (formerly Peiking National Library) 
began issuing the influential Beitu 
Tongxun (Peiking Library Newsletter) in 
1979. The CAS started Tushu Qingbao 



196 College & Research Libraries 

Gongzuo (Library and Information Seroices) in 
1980. The Shanghai Municipal (Public) Li-
brary began its nationally read Tushguan 
Zazhi (Library Journal) in 1982. In addition, 
many regional and provincial library soci-
eties began issuing their own journals. By 
1981, there were an estimated fifty library 
science journal publishing, 24 a figure that 
has remained more or less constant 
since. 25 

METHODOLOGY 

This study attempts to determine some 
of the topics of concern to members of the 
profession in mainland China and charac-
terizes the nature of professional writing 
appearing in several mainland journals. 
Some characteristics of the library profes-
sion itself are inferred from these concerns 
and writings. The types of items appear-
ing in the issues of three leading journals 
published in the most recent volume year 
available (1985) were coded and tabulated 
in order to gain a clearer impression of 
what library science is like in mainland 
China today. To complete the picture, this 
study refers occasionally to reports pub-
lished elsewhere that give differing im-
·pressions. 

Several criteria were used for choosing 
the three journals for analysis: (1) national 
reputation; (2) status of the issuing body 
or agency; (3) appeal to a national (and, for 
two of the three, an international) audi-
ence; and (4) availability and influence. 
Although circulation figures for the three 
journals chosen were not readily avail-
able, comments in several recent articles 
support their choice. 26 

All three journals chosen have relatively 
long publication histories compared with 
other mainland Chinese library science 
journals. Further, all three emanate from 
large and well-established corporate orga-
nizations with national support, thus as-
suring at least quasi-official sanction. 

The first journal chosen, the Bulletin of 
the China Society of Library Science 
(1979- , quarterly), has been referred 
to as ''the most important library journal 
in China' ' 28 and is the national organ of the 
society. Long, serious, and often official 
articles appear in its pages. 

The second, Library and Information Ser-

May1987 

vices (1980- , bimonthly), has been 
called ''one of the most important journals 
in the field. " 29 It is issued by the library of 
the prestigious Academia Sinica in Beijing 
(also known as the China Academy of Sci-
ences). Appropriately, it publishes more 
articles concerned with science and tech-
nology than do the other two journals se-
lected. 

The third, Library Journal (1982- , 
quarterly), ranks just behind the others30 

in national importance and coverage of a 
broad range of topics. It is issued by the 
Shanghai Municipal Library, one of the 
largest public libraries in mainland China 
and long one of its most important and in-
fluential cultural, publishing, and library 
centers. 31 Library Journal publishes a large 
number of very short articles, including 
many bibliographical studies of classical 
Chinese works. 

Since their inception, both the Bulletin 
and Library and Information Services have 
provided contents pages in English as well 
as in Chinese. (In 1985, the Bulletin began 
publishing English-language summaries 
of its articles.) Presumably this is done to 
facilitate inclusion in international index-
ing and abstracting services. 

This study codes each item in each issue 
for the volume year of all three journals 
using two categories. These categories 
were devised in order to determine both 
subject matter and what might be called 
rhetorical modes or journal categories. 
While the categories used for this analysis 
may not be entirely adequate to character-
ize fully the items reviewed, they do serve 
to indicate a number of noteworthy fea-
tures, both in form and content. 

DISCUSSION 

One early authority on content analysis 
discussed several uses of the method that 
seem particularly suited to this study. He 
suggested that it could be used to look at 
such aspects as focus of attention, the 
stage of development of scholarship, sty-
listic features, and comparisons of com-
munication content with statements of 
professional objectives. 32 The following 
discussion will focus on each of these as-
pects, summarize findings of the analysis, 
and, whenever possible, cite relevant ob-



servations published in the West. 

Focus of Attention 

Perhaps the most revealing use of the 
content analysis method is what it tells us 
about the focus of attention of the journals 
we chose for our study. Heavy, moderate, 
and slight attention paid to certain broad 
topics were revealed that permit compari-
sons to be made with reports published 
elsewhere about the professional con-
cerns of mainland China's librarians. The 
most heavily discussed topics were li-
braries and society, the library profession, 
technical services, and library resources 
(see table 1). 

All three journals place great emphasis 
on the official role of libraries in society. 
Articles such as "Problems of the Li-
brary's Social Status" (Library Journal, 
no.4:3-7 [1985]) occur often, as do items 
concerned with the role of libraries in fos-
tering proper ideological perspective 

Library Literature 197 

among the nation's population. Many au-
thors view the ultimate function of li-
braries as empirical: Will they help with 
the "four modernizations"? Will they 
help the nation catch up with other devel-
oping nations? For example, a series of ar-
ticles appeared in the Bulletin in 1983 .and 
1984 that dealt with the dissemination of 
Marxism in mainland China and the role 
libraries play in it. A recent article in that 
journal dealt with, as the title indicates, 
how "Teaching and Publicizing Patriot-
ism and Scientific Communism Consti-
tute an Important Task for University and 
College Libraries" (no.3:36 [1985]). How-
ever, the shift in emphasis in government 
policy from ideology to modernization 
since the end of the Cultural Revolution33 

is not yet fully reflected in journal content. 
The library profession itself also comes 

in for extensive discussion in these jour-
nals as well as in the Western library 
press. A new generation of librarians pro-
duced since the Cultural Revolution is be-

TABLE 1 

SUBJECTS 

Libraries and Society 
Lib. Profession 
Mgmt./Admin. 
Technical Services 

acquisitions 
processing 
cataloging 
classification 
computer use 
microfilming, printing, etc. 
other: (binding) 

Public Services 
circulation 
reference (general) 

personal help 
telephone 
user education 
lit. searches 
documentation 
indexing, trans. 
creating aids 
current awareness 
faculty liaison 

Resources 
reference materials 
collections 
preservation 
security 
buildirigs 
other (misc.) 

Bulletin 
ofCSLS 

15 
13 
6 
6 

4 
1 
1 

12 

5 
2 

1 
2 
1 

1 

7 
4 
1 
2 

Library& 
Info. Service 

10 
8 

13 
20 

11 
6 
1 
1 
1 

12 

6 
4 
1 
1 

8 
5 
1 
2 

Library 
Journcil 

18 
26 
11 
19 

7 
10 
2 

17 
4 
9 

2 
1 

1 

28 
16 
4 
3 

2 
3 

Total 

43 
47 
30 
45 

18 
20 
4 
2 
1 

41 
4 

14 
2 

1 
10 
6 
1 
3 

43 
25 
6 
7 

2 
3 



198 College & Research Libraries 

ginning to take its place in a profession 
characterized by one overseas Chinese 
writer as "severely disturbed-when-
young."34 Yet only a few of China's large 
number of library staff members have had 
formal training in library science. Accord-
ing to another overseas Chinese, in 1981, 
among more than 1,000 directors and dep-
uty directors in academic libraries, only 8 
percent had any library science training. 35 

The majority of library workers are rela-
tively inexperienced, having begun their 
work in libraries after the Cultural Revolu-
tion. This means, according to the same 
writer, that the profession consists largely 
of the old and the young, with few in be-
tween.36 . 

This age dichotomy has resulted in the 
need to implement a program of educa-
tion for librarianship for an entirely new 
generation. For this reason, the pages of 
these journals carry frequent reports of 
overseas library training programs and 
practice, along with profiles of outstand-
ing figures in the history of Chinese librar-
ianship, and publications translated and 
reprinted from Western library science 
journals-all serving to keep readers 
aware of professional goals and interna-
tional standards. 

Much discussion also centers on how 
improved administration and personnel 
management ccn:t help to foster library re-
form. Reflecting concern for the library 
profession, many writers feel that staff 
should be selected and promoted on the 
basis of merit and training. This contra-
dicts the older practice of a life assignment 
made by a central or a provincial govern-
ment that, in the past, often used libraries 
as a dumping ground for those unable to 
find or hold other positions due to old age, 
poor health, or an inability to do the 
work. 37 One foreign observer says that 
there is ''no established, systematic, an-
nual evaluation of performance" nor any 
merit pay or other incentive system. 38 An-
other observer has summed up the 
present situation thusly: 

Most library staff are relegated from other de-
partments or institutions. The library has no 
power to select its own staff, or to reject anyone 
assigned to it. Consequently, lack of self-
respect and a sense of professionalism among 
staff members is a common problern. 39 

May 1987 

Among topics dealing with technical 
services, cataloging and classification 
proved very popular. Until about 1980, 
three classification systems coexisted in 
mainland China: one at the People's Uni-
versity in Beijing, the CAS' own system, 
and the less widely used one at Wuhan 
University. In March 1981, the Bulletin re-
ported a national conference held in Nan-
ning where a standardized system, the 
Chinese Library Classification Rules for 
Books (CLCRB), was agreed upon. Ac-
cording to a 1985 article in the Bulletin 
(no.1:51-5,76) a nationwide survey 
showed that 90 percent of all libraries now 
use this standard classification system. 

Articles appearing mostly in Library and 
Information Services and Library Journal en-
dorse the new standards while examining 
various problems encountered when ap-
plying them to particular subject catego-
ries. A Chinese MARC system still awaits 
computer software for full implementa-
tion of the CLCRB, so that there are few 
items here dealing with computers in any 
but quite general ways. 

Historical studies also appear frequently 
in the pages of these journals. Many such 
studies trace the development of an espe-
cially significant collection or an unusual 
or outstanding library. Bibliographic stud-
ies examine the history and role of various 
reference sources including many classics. 

Thirty-seven significant occurrences of 
the topic of public services were docu-
mented. Of these, most are concerned 
with literature searches. As reported by a 
mainland librarian writing in a Western 
journal, library staff at Tianjin University 
respond to requests of teaching staff by 
providing manual literature searches 
largely in scientific and technical sources. 
This saves faculty the time and trouble of 
traveling to Beijing, 40 although it is possi-
ble to mail requests for computer literature 
searches directly to the Beijing National 
Library.

41 

A growing concern for readers' services 
has emerged in the last couple of years, 
endorsed by the popular slogan ''Readers 
First, Service First.'' Library Journal, organ 
of the public Shanghai Municipal Library, 
published numerous, if brief, articles in 
the survey year issues, such as "The 
Quantity and Quality of Reader Services 



(no.4:12-13 [1985]). Library and Information 
Services has also carried some discussion 
of "remunerative information service," 
referring to the fee-or-free controversy in 
Western library circles. 

Reference services and bibliographic in-
struction receive little attention in main-
land China despite their popularity in the 
West. Few items deal with assistance, 
whether rendered through personal con-
tact or indirectly through user education 
or faculty liaison. While there is some 
awareness of bibliographic instruction is-
sues among library science students, there 
was none in evidence for several observ-
ers, 42 and only one item dealt with instruc-
tion in all fourteen journal issues exam-
ined. In contrast, the topics of resources 
and collections hold a continuing interest 
for writers, with numerous bibliographic 
studies of reference sources and the clas-
sics. 

This concentration on sources, classics, 
and collections suggests that in a dichot-
omy between access and archives, 43 the 
greater weight in these journals rests with 
archives. This is the notion that resources, 
properly preserved, cataloged, housed, 
and protected, take precedence over ac-
cess, whether this access means easy 
availability through open shelving, interli-
brary loans, or, more importantly, per-
sonal assistance from librarians who are 
able and interested in helping the patron 
locate and use them. 

Perhaps this emphasis on resources is to 
be expected on the mainland, with its rich 
cultural heritage, political system, and 
population crunch. Further, there is less 
emphasis on individual achievement and 
self-discovery in mainland China than in 
the West. It also has less need for a well-
informed electorate than Western democ-
racies. And because libraries in Commu-
nist countries are more concerned with 
serving the economic advancement of the 
nation, perhaps little need is felt to teach 
the average person how to use libraries as 
places to find information for personal de-
velopment. 

The emphasis on the archival function 
of libraries there tends to be confirmed by 
the reports of a number of Western librar-
ian observers. During the latest of several 
consultative tours of some eight univer-

Library Literature 199 

sity libraries and theISTIC, one of these li-
brarians found a ''dosed-access approach 
and almost complete lack of reader ser-
vices as we know them today. ''

44 
This 

same writer found that 

There were no signs anywhere of what we 
would think of as an enquiry desk. . . . What is 
perhaps even more indicative of the very lim-
ited activity in reader services was that we did 
not meet any members of staff, apart from at 
Huazhong, who were engaged in such reader 
services activities, nor indeed was there any 
mention of them in the syllabuses of the various 
Library Schools. 45 

Generally, other Western scholars and 
librarians concur in the impression of little 
or no reference service, 46 bureaucratic in-
conveniences, 47 only minimal concern for 
facilitating research, 48 and ''more concern 
with collections than services.''

49 

However, a number of articles on public 
services seen in this study show some con-
cern for adjusting the balance between the 
two poles of the resources-access dichot-
omy. Perhaps a part of this impulse to-
ward balance comes from the fairly recent 
influence of Western library practice. This 
influence takes the form of translated re-
prints, abstracts, summaries, and digests 
of foreign library publications that appear 
frequently in these journals. The same in-
fluence may also come from accounts by 
members of Chinese library delegations 
who have visited the West or by students 
returned to mainland China. 

The State of Development of Scholarship 

A few of the students returning from the 
West and others concerned with library 
and social science literature in the West 
have been exposed to other forms of schol-
arly writing in library science. But, except 
for the work of a few, the stage of develop-
ment of scholarship in mainland China 
seen in the three journals surveyed ap-
pears to be less sophisticated than that in 
the West. The relative absence of volume 
numbering, article abstracts, notes on au-
thor affiliation, and citations to other pub-
lished literature have all been noted in 
previous studies. 50 

The exhortation in 1982 of two writers in 
the Bulletin to spend less time on studies of 
the classics and more on substantive li-
brary science research51 seems to have 



200 College & Research Libraries 

gone largely unheeded. Only eight re-
search articles turned up in this content 
analysis. The analysis further revealed 
that of the total number of articles (233, in-
cluding 16 bibliographic essays) only 15 
percent had a bibliography appended and 
a mere 6 percent provided citations in 
footnotes. 

While editorial policy can influence arti-
cle format, nonetheless the results of the 
analysis imply little concern with contrib-
uting to a cumulative body of scholarship. 
Another possible explanation is that li-
brarians in mainland China have a view of 
library science quite different from that of 
their counterparts in the West and do not 
see the discipline as one of the social sci-
ences with an established and growing 
body of knowledge. Nowhere in any of 
the three journals surveyed was there evi-
dence of-or reference to-any essay re-
sembling an annual review of scholarship 
(see table 2). 

Stylistic Features 

Stylistic features in the journal issues ex-
amined also reflect less-developed schol-
arship. Some of the effects of a Socialist-
Communist political system turn up in the 
numerous items of exhortation and com-
mendation. Sloganizing appears in the 
writing of all three journals and perhaps is 
heaviest in the official Bulletin, which em-
phasizes the social importance of propa-
ganda. Exhortation to work, improve, and 

May1987 

reform recur constantly. While research 
reports are very few, all three journals 
tend to have a large number of work expe-
rience accounts. An even greater number 
of speculative essays and opinion pieces 
stimulate discussion and response from 
the reader. Letters from readers are given 
greater prominence than in Western jour-
nals and add to the discussion. The arti-
cles themselves tend to be short as well as 
tentative,: especially in Library and Informa-
tion Services and Library Journal, with items 
fitting the description of ''articles'' or '' es-
says" averaging only 5.3 pages in the Bul- . 
letin and less than 2.4 pages in Library Jour-
nal. 

Comparisons of Communication Content 
with Statements of Professional Objectives 

Finally, content studies may be useful 
for auditing communication content 
against formal statements of professional 
objectives or policy. One official policy 
statement can be taken to demonstrate 
this possibility. As the official organ of the 
China Society of Library Science, the Bul-
letin recently published "Library Work 
Regulations for Higher Education Sys-
tems in the People's Republic of China." 
Two sections concerning reference ser-
vices read as follows: 

#8. University and college libraries should en-
hance readers' service work and, according to 
needs and conditions, set up various circulation 
counters and reading rooms, strengthen the 

TABLE2 

RHETORICAL MODES/JOURNAL CATEGORIES 

Bulletin CSLS 
Library & 

Info . Service 
Library 
Journal Total 

Articles 43 (4b/1c) 62 (15b/1c) 107 (13b/11c) 217 
factual 28 27 65 120 

description 12 2 32 46 
history 6 9 20 35 
research 2 4 2 8 

work ex~erience 8 12 11 31 
speculative 15 35 47 97 

Letters 5 (2b) 6 (2b) 4 (1b) 15 
Commendation 2 2 4 
Exhortation 10 4 6 20 
Bib. essay 4 1 11 (2b/2c) 16 
News 14 6 6 26 
Reviews 5 ?b/2c~ 3 4 (1b/1c) 12 
Reprints, etc. 3 1b/1c 6 9 
Editorials 1 1 2 
Note: b-includes bibliography; c-includes citations 



service system, and increase the utilization of 
the collection. 

#9. University and college libraries should de-
velop reference and information service work, 
compile various subject bibliographies and in-
dexes, help the reader to find reference materi-
als, and provide information retrieval and in-
formation analysis services. 52 

One can compare the official statements 
quoted above with the number and kind 
of items found in our analysis. One can 
also compare them with the published re-
ports of Western observers. Despite a 
number of exhortations, slogans, and arti-

Library Literature 201 

tion, much remains to be done. As one 
mainland librarian wrote (in a Western 
journal), "services and automation are 
backward. China is aware of her weakness 
... and is trying to change." He was 
quick to admit that there are numerous 
difficulties to overcome before moderniza-
tion of library and information service can 
be accomplished. 53 

_._ des in the three journals studied here, one 
must conclude that mainland China still 
has much further to go in developing true 
access for the average user of libraries. 

Nonetheless, the presence of extensive 
professional channels of communication, 
an increasing awareness of foreign profes-
sional standards and practice, and numer-
ous programs of exchange are bringing 
hope for change. This study reveals a new 
self-consciousness among a growing body 
of library professionals. It demonstrates a 
strong concern for reform in various mat-
ters including personnel management. 
And it indicates an increased awareness of 
the need to provide and improve services. 
During the next decade, Chinese librari-
ans should be able to consolidate the gains 
of recent years and demonstrate signifi-
cant improvements in collection manage-
ment and services. 

-1 

CONCLUSION 

While mainland librarians appear to 
have made much progress in professional 
awareness, increased communication, 
and intensified determination to bring 
about reform since the Cultural Revolu-

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12. Wong, "Cooperation with China," p.339; "Libraries," p.651-52. 
@ Sharon Chien Lin, ''Education for Librarianship in China after the Cultural Revolution,'' Journal of 

Education for Librarianship 24, no.1:24-25 (Summer 1983); Wong, "Cooperation with China," 
p.339; Lee-hsia Hsu Ting, "Library Services in the People's Republic of China: A Historical Over-
view," Library Quarterly 53, no.2:155-56 (1983); Evans, "Pre-Ming to Post-Mao," p.392; Harry 
Campbell, "The Present Revival of Scholarly Publishing in China," Scholarly Publishing 16, 
no.3:223-24 (Apr. 1985). 



202 College & Research Libraries May1987 

(!Y Chi Wang, ''An Overview of Libraries in the People's Republic of China,'' China Exchange News 
~ 12, no.3:2 (Sept. 1984). 

C§-· You-mei Wang and A. R. Rogers, "Thirty Years of Library Development in the People's Republic 
of China," International Library Review 14:404-5 (Oct. 1982). 

16. Wang, "Overview," p.2. 
17. Lin, "E~ucatio?," t;;27. . " . , 
18. Wang, Overview, p.2; Lm, Education, p.25. 
19. Lin, "Education," p.27. 
20. Lin, "Education," p.20. 
21. Anis Khurshid, "Libraries in the Far East," in Encyclopedia of Library and Infonnation Science, v.37, 

ed. Allen Kent (New York: Marcel Dekker, 1984), p.135. 
22. Tsuen-hsuin Tsien, ''China Library Association,'' in Encyclopedia of Library and Infonnation Science, 

v.4, ed. Allen Kent and Harold Lancour (New York: Marcel Dekker, 1970), p.656-57. 
23. Personal correspondence to the author, China Society of Library Science, Beijing, July 20, 1986. 
24. Lin, "Education," p.24. 
25. Huixiang Wang, "A Proposal Concerning Deciding on Awards through Discussion for Excellent 

Library Science Journals," (in Chinese) Bulletin of the China Society of Library Science, no.2:44 (1986). 
26. In personal correspondence with the author Guly 20, 1986) the China Society of Library gave the 

Bulletin's circulation figures as follows: 30,000 total, of which the domestic number is approxi-
mately 28,000, and those sent outside the P.R.C. approximately 2,000. 

27. Lin, "Serial Publications," p.17-19; Su, "Journals in China," p.103-4; C. Wang, "Overview," 
p.2. 

28. Lin, "Serial Publications," p.17; Su, "Journals in China," p.103. 
29. Lin, "Serial Publications," p.19. 
30. Ibid. 

@ ''Thirty Years of the Shanghai Library,'' (in Chinese) Bulletin of the China Society of Library Science 
no.3:3-6 (1984); Ting, "Historical Overview," p.141-42. 

32. Bernard Berelson, Content Analysis in Communication Research (New York: Free Pr., 1952), p.31-34, 
43-52,66-72,98-105. 

33. Lin, "Education," p.7. 
34. Su, "Journals in China," p.97. 
35. Yeh, "Profile," p.501-2. 
36. Yeh, "Profile," p.502. 
37. Ibid.; Ting, "Historical Overview," p .154. 
38. Yeh, "Profile," p.502. 
39. Chou, "China Revisited," p.3. 
40. Fan, "Consulting Service," p.483, 485. 
41. Rogers, "Academics Abroad," p.401. 
42. Rogers, "Academics Abroad," p.401-2. 
43. Kenneth L. Stubbs, "Academic Research Libraries: Recent Studies," Bowker Annual of Library & 

Book Trade Infonnation (New York: Bowker, 1985), p.417-23. 
44. Evans, "Pre-Ming to Post-Mao," p.384. 
45. Evans, "Pre-Ming to Post-Mao," p.388. 
~ Carl E. Walters, "Facilities Offered for Research on Contemporary China by the National Library 

of Beijing," China Quarterly, no.85:146 (Mar. 1981). 
47. "Focus on Library and Archival Research," China Exchange News 12, no.3:5-19 (Sept. 1984). 
48. Chou, "China Revisited," p.3. 
49. Rogers, "Academics Abroad," p.402. 

<"so-. Su, "Journals in China," p.96-98. 
51. Qui Chang and Huang Xin, "Study of Library Science in China's New Period," (in Chinese) Bulle-

tin of the China Society of Library Science, no.1:32, 36 (1982). 
52. Bulletin of the China Society of Library Science, no.4:14 (1981) (in Chinese). 
53. Luo, "Libraries in China," p.31.