Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T23:01:27.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The saveMLAK project: the Great East Japan Earthquake and new developments in museum-library-archive collaboration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Maki Yamamura
Maki Yamamura*
Affiliation:
saveMLAK Project, Japan Art Documentation Society, Museum Service Laboratory, 3-106-20 Mihara, Nagareyama-shi, Chiba, 270-0103, Japan
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 was a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions even for a country that is one of the most earthquake-prone in the world. The saveMLAK project, which came into being in response to this earthquake and its related disasters, comprises an online network of museums, libraries and archives, as well as kōminkan, or community centres (hence the acronym MLAK), and is the first organisation of its kind in Japan. What was the genesis of saveMLAK, and what kind of activities does it engage in? Who are saveMLAK’s participants? What needs to be done to help the saveMLAK network develop further and become even more effective in coping with future natural disasters?

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 38 , Special Issue 2: Special Issue: Art Documentation in Japan , 2013 , pp. 40 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. http://www45.atwiki.jp/savelibrary/.Google Scholar
2. http://www45.atwiki.jp/savemuseum/.Google Scholar
3. http://www47.atwiki.jp/savearchives/.Google Scholar
4. The saveMLAK URL is http://savemlak.jp/. To see the press release (in Japanese only), go to http://bit.ly/savemlakpress20110411.Google Scholar
5. ‘Museums’ include science museums, history museums, planetariums, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and other similar institutions. saveMLAK’s list of museums was prepared with help from the administrators of the museum network portal site Internet Museum, http://www.museum.or.jp/.Google Scholar
6. The website now also carries information on the damage suffered in the flash floods in Japan’s southernmost main island Kyūshū that began in the early hours of July 12, 2012. See http://bit.ly/savemlakkushu/.Google Scholar
7. Some of saveMLAK’s activities are reported in ‘saveMLAK: News’ and the ‘saveMLAK: Newsletter’ (a monthly round-up) on the saveMLAK wiki, http://bit.ly/savemlaknews/.Google Scholar
8. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/toukei/chousa02/shakai/index.htm.Google Scholar
9. The Zenkoku hakubutsukan sõran (Directory of museums in Japan) compiled by the Japanese Association of Museums and published by Gyōsei (March 1986), lists roughly 3,000 museums. The Zenkoku bijutsukan gaido (Guide to galleries in Japan) published by Bijutsu Shuppansha (December 2006), lists roughly 1,800. The Internet Museum at http://www.museum.or.jp/ lists roughly 7,000 institutions. Museum-related organisations in Japan include the Japanese Association of Museums, the Japanese Council of Art Museums, the Japan Association of Art Museums, the Japan Council of Science Museums, the Japan Planetarium Association, the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Japan Society of Archives Institutions, the Japan Council of Literary Museums, the Museological Society of Japan, the Japan Museum Management Academy, and the Japan Society for Exhibition Studies. Organisations concerned with libraries include the Japan Library Association, the Japan Association of Private University Libraries, the Japan School Library Association, and others. The disaster information collected is only from museums or libraries who are members of those organisations.Google Scholar
10. A registration form for experts willing to offer their help pro bono is available online (at present only in Japanese): http://bit.ly/savemlakprobono/.Google Scholar
11. https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=ja&fromgroups#!forum/savemlak/.Google Scholar
12. See saveMLAKProject ‘saveMLAK Newsletter No. 8’ (in Japanese), issued September 10, 2012, http://savemlak.Jp/savemlak/images/9/9e/saveMLAK-newsletter-201209.pdf.Google Scholar
13. See http://savemlak.Jp/wiki/saveMLAK:Event/20120701.Google Scholar
14. As of August 2012, saveMLAK’s funds topped 1.7 million yen (roughly £13,200).Google Scholar
15. saveMLAK official goods comprise t-shirts, clear folders, and postcards. We also sometimes produce eco-bags and t-shirts in collaboration with other institutions. See http://bit.ly/savemlakgoods/.Google Scholar
16. http://www.jcic-heritage.jp/information/information_120808.html.Google Scholar
17. Committee for Salvaging Cultural Properties Affected by the 2011 Earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku and Related Disasters, http://www.tobunken.go.jp/english/rescue/index.html.Google Scholar