China Academic Digital Associative Library Opens Its 1.75 Million E-book Collection to Columbia University

From Columbia University Libraries/Information Services:

Columbia University Libraries/Information Services is pleased to announce the opening of the CADAL (China Academic Digital Associative Library) database of 1.75 million Chinese e-books to Columbia University.
The CADAL, which originated from the China-US Million Book Digital Library Project, is one of the two major consortia academic libraries in China with partnership ties to more than 70 Chinese university libraries, including the top 10.
Its database is recognized as the largest and most significant repository for e-book resources of material published during the Chinese Republican Period from 1911-1949.
CADAL resources include valuable research materials in sciences, social sciences, humanities, medicine, agriculture, architecture, and arts.
“The resources available to scholars through CADAL have opened new opportunities for research on Chinese modern society in all of its many dimensions,” said Madeline Zelin,Dean Lung Professor of Chinese Studies and Professor of History and East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University. “As a result of this global collaboration scholars in China will have access to materials no longer readily available in Chinese libraries and scholars throughout the world will be able to deepen their knowledge of the full range of published sources produced and preserved in China.  I am delighted to know that Columbia will play a role in this important project.”
CUL/IS formed a partnership with CADAL in 2010 and has contributed its own unique digital resources to the CADAL database, such as the Ling Long Women’s Magazine, Shanghai, 1931-1937 and Chinese Paper Gods Collection during the 1930s. 
Other planned joint projects include the digitization of the titles in Columbia’s microfilm collection that do not exist in the CADAL database, and the transfer of the other related digital resources from Columbia to CADAL.
“It will be invaluable to the scholars and students at Columbia to have access to this vast resource, specifically the unique resources that related to the Chinese Republican Era,” said Jim Cheng, Director of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library. “Many of the CADAL materials are still difficult for scholars in the U.S. to access, and many of the CUL/IS materials related to the Chinese Republican Era are difficult for scholars in China to access, so we hope to continue and expand our cooperation with CADAL for the benefit of both American and Chinese scholars.

See Also: Mechanical Translation (via Google Scholar) of CADL Web Site

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