Challenges to cataloging with Japanese romanization: history, literature and data analysis
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Date
2025-03-06
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Japanese romanization history begins in the late 19th century and keeps evolving in two systems, one of which is the Japanese-government preferred, the other of which is English-speaking-country preferred. The latest revision of the ALA-LC Japanese Romanization Table (2022) adopts these two systems: ISO 3602 and Hepburn romanization. Regardless of the adoption, a lot of Japanese romanization appearing in library metadata does not make good sense to English speakers because it is “phonologically incorrect” for them. ALA-LC Romanization Table is based on the mixture of Hepburn and ISO 3602. In the real world, Hepburn romanization is prevalently used in personal, corporate-body or geographic names. Therefore, as far as Japanese romanization is concerned, the real-world scenario sometimes contradicts what the library metadata displays. This proposed presentation will follow that which was presented for 2024 Core Interest Group Week titled Hepburn romanization revisited that includes the review and examination of the past literature and research on Hepburn romanization in library metadata as well as the history of Japanese romanization and the ALA-LC Japanese Romanization Table. The proposed presentation will briefly discuss the above and focus on the analysis of local data extracted from the Indiana University Libraries’ database. In addition, the research goals and plans and future research prospects will be shared with the participants. The research outcome will shed light on the best approach to Japanese romanization for libraries, in order to improve discoverability.
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cataloging, Japanese language, romanization, discovery
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Reichert, K. (2025, March 6). Challenges to cataloging with Japanese romanization: history, literature and data analysis [Conference presentation]. 2025 Core Interest Group Week, United States.
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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator. It allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form and for noncommercial purposes only.
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Presentation