TOWARDS A EUROPEAN DATABASE FOR ASIAN STUDIES 

The ESF Asia Committee was established in March 1994, on the advice of the
standing committees for the Humanities and the Social Sciences of the European
Science Foundation. The secretariat is located at the International Institute
for Asian Studies (IIAS), and Prof. W.A.L. Stokhof will be the secretary. The
Asia Committee is responsible for several tasks which can be summarized as
stimulating the scientific efforts in the field of Asian Studies in Europe.
One way to strengthen Asian Studies in Europe and to make research efforts
more efficient is to create a directory covering all Asian Studies in Europe.

By Paul van der Velde

In the pre-database era several directories and lists of Asian scholars have
been compiled along lines of regional specialization and sometimes per
country. These directories have been set up with different objectives in mind,
generally suiting the needs of regional or disciplinary groups.
These directories have remained isolated attempts to gain an insight into the
breadth of Asian Studies in a regional and or disciplinary perspective.
Furthermore, the protracted production time has meant that these directories
were expensive and outdated before they were published. Also, in the majority
of cases, these directories or lists were produced by scholars with virtually
no administrative assistance. In most instances there was no follow-up. It is
clear that the setting up of a database (directory) must be done in a European
context by a professional organization which can provide a continuous
follow-up or, as it was stated in the terms of reference of the ESF Committee
for Advanced Asian Studies: "The directory will have to be made at a place
with sufficient infrastructural facilities to cover the entire field and with
a substantial secretarial input that can assure a regular flow of
information." 
Apart from these directories, research has been done on the state of the art
of Asian Studies in several countries in recent years. These analyses indicate
the weak and strong points of Asian Studies in the respective countries.
Valuable information pertaining to institutes and universities in the field
of Asian Studies has been gathered in these studies which, in the initial
stages, can be used in setting up the database. Material on Asian Studies has
also been included in national databases about research but such information
is often outdated and far from complete.

THE DATABASE PROJECT 
The secretariat of the ESF Asia Committee will be attached to the
International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden for a period of four years
(1995-1999). The IIAS is linked via Gopher to the global electronic network
which guarantees ready access to the future database on Asian Studies. Three
phases of the project can be distinguished.

PHASE 1: 1994 - 1995
The IIAS mailing and IIAS Guide to Asian Studies in the Netherlands
As outlined above, the creation of directories or databases has been achieved
in individual projects which have similarities but are quite divergent in
nature. Therefore it is advisable to set up the European Database for Asian
Studies [EDAS] from a basic level. This means that in the first phase of the
setting up of the database basic data will be collected including personal
data, institutional affiliation, membership in organizations, disciplinary
and, regional specialization. 
A try-out along these lines, which consisted of a mailing to 650 Asianists,
has recently been carried out in the Netherlands by the IIAS. The main
difficulty in this mailing or mailings in general is to obtain a high return.
The high return of the first mailing [50% of those mailed within one month]
can be attributed to the fact that it takes a person less than 5 minutes to
complete it. Furthermore, the respondents were promised the IIAS Guide to
Asian Studies in the Netherlands free of charge.
This Guide had been produced prior to the mailing on the basis of information
material received from departments at universities and institutes in the field
of Asian Studies. [The guide is divided into the sections: 'Universities',
'Institutes', 'Museums', and 'Newsletters' plus three indexes: on name,
discipline, and region] At the back of the Guide is included a reply card
which the respondent can fill out should the data pertaining to him or her be
incorrect. 
A second mailing to the non-respondents was then effected which had a response
of an additional 15%, so that the total turnout now stands at 65%. Those who
have not responded will be approached by telephone. In this manner we hope to
attain a score of 90%. We firmly believe that such a high rate is necessary
for the database to be used as a tool in scientific policy-making and
scholarly networking. The second edition of the IIAS Guide to Asian Studies
in the Netherlands will therefore provide a more accurate picture of the scope
of Asian Studies in the Netherlands. Future follow-ups will be done by
telephone, guaranteeing an up-to-date database. 

THE GUIDE TO ASIAN STUDIES IN EUROPE
At present an IIAS internal trainee is compiling a draft of the Guide to Asian
Studies in Europe. The division will be somewhat different, more in line with
the example of the directory of the (American) Association for Asian Studies
[AAS]. It has an alphabetical listing:
a. of individuals;
b. according to regional specialization;
c. according to disciplinary specialization and;
d. of the institutes and departments at universities in the field of Asian
Studies (general-Central-South-Southeast-East Asia). 
In addition it will contain short descriptions of the resources (books, maps,
manuscripts, audiovisual material) in the possession of institutes,
universities, and associations pertaining to Asia will be given.
A mailing of the IIAS Questionnaire will be sent to all the addresses at
present in our addressfile. This file contains the addresses of the
Association for Korean Studies in Europe (AKSE), the European Association of
Japanese Studies (EAJS), Excerpta Indonesica, list of South Asian Scholars in
Europe and will be supplemented with the addressfiles of the European
Association of Chinese Studies (EACS) and the European Association of
Southeast Asian Studies (EUROSEAS) and other files. In all 10,000 names of
individuals and institutes have been gathered.

PHASE 2: 1995 - 1996
The information gathered in Phase 1 forms the basis of the European Database
on Advanced Asian Studies. In Phase 2 data collection of a more specific
nature will have to be effected. A new Questionnaire has to be made which will
also cover departments at universities in the field of Asian Studies and
institutes, drawing on the existing expertise of scholars in the field of
Asian Studies who have previously been involved in either directories or
databases. These scholars as well as the representatives of regional
organizations and important institutes will be invited to a meeting during
which a Questionnaire will be drawn up. This will form the basis for the
homogenization of the different, existing data-sets. The coordination of the
existing data-sets is the most important task during this phase.
Once the contents of the Questionnaire has been decided upon, a mailing should
be arranged using the same procedure as in phase 1.

PHASE 3: 1996 - 
Once all data have been collected they should be updated regularly by
telephone or other means of communication (E-Mail etc.). The present state of
Asian Studies in Europe will be reflected in the database. Access to this
database should be free as well as easy. Hard copies of the entire database
or particular segments can be made available and on-line consultation should
be possible from all European Institutes in the field of Asian Studies.