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Subject Bibliography (List of Related Publications) Published in the Japanese Language

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by Humanities Room

We would like to show you how to search a "subject bibliography" (a list of specific themes and topics) for content that can be accessed mainly in the Tokyo Main Library Humanities Room.

Please refer to our search guides for separate subject bibliographies for each major theme in general subjects and humanities listed in the Related Search Guides.

Numbers inside the brackets 【　】 indicate our library call number for an item.

1. What is a subject bibliography?

A reading list of specific themes or topics is called a "subject bibliography".

Subject bibliographies often created by specialists and researchers feature a comprehensive selection of related content including materials not for sale or private editions as well as explanations (annotations) of those materials.

Subject bibliographies include items published as monographs (monographic bibliography), portions of monographs (bibliographies at the back of books, etc.), items published as articles in specialized journals, and items published on websites.

Here, we would like to acquaint you with materials for searching bibliographies published in monographs and periodicals (2. A Bibliography of Bibliographies) in the Japanese language and with how to search NDL Search (3. Searching subject bibliographies from NDL Search).

2. "A Bibliography of Bibliographies"

Materials which collect various subject bibliographies and bio-bibliographies (an author bibliography of a certain person and any lists of related literature about that person) are called "bibliographies of bibliographies" such as those listed below. The code for each material is listed as follows:

[Range]: Selected and cataloged materials of interest and the material format
　[Organization]: The contents for each volume in multi-volume works
　[Order]: The filing order of the bibliography
　[Index]: Index type

2-1. Selected and cataloged subject bibliographies published or appearing in print as monographs, portions of monographs, or journal articles

  • Keitaro Amano, editor. "Nihon shoshi no shoshi " (A Bibliography of Japanese Bibliographies), general publications volume, biography volume 1, subject volume 1, subject volume 2, and subject volume 3 (Gennando shoten et al.　1973-2006)
    [Range] Premodern era-1970. Monographs, partial monographs, and journal articles
    [Organization]
    General publications volume: General bibliography (trade catalog, library catalog, etc.), Bio-bibliography (author bibliography), Pre-Meiji Restoration
    Biography Volume 1: Bio-bibliography (Artists and Authors)
    Subject Volume 1: Subject bibliography (general subjects, philosophy, and history)
    Subject volume 2: Subject bibliography (Art, Language, and Literature)
    Subject volume 3: Subject bibliography (the social sciences, the physical sciences, and industry), Biography volume [2] (The rest of bio-bibliography)
    [Order] The biography volumes are arranged in name order. The subject volumes conform to the Nippon Decimal Classification (NDC).
    [Index] Only Subject volume 3 includes an index.
    [Comments] The contents of the General publications volume have been selected and cataloged up to 1965 and those in Subject volume 3 have been selected and cataloged up to 1967.
  • "Shudai shoshi sakuin " (Subject Bibliography Index) [1966～1980], 81/91, 1992-2000, 2001-2007 (Nichigai Associates　1981-2009)
    [Range] 1966-2007. Monographs, partial monographs, and journal articles
    [Order] Individual subject title
    [Comments] This index contains subject bibliographies for the "Shoshi nenkan" below. Includes only humanities and social science related content.
  • "Shoshi nenkan " (Bibliography Yearbook) (Nichigai Associates　1982-　【UP1-13, Z45-53】)
    [Range] 1980-. Monographs, partial monographs, and journal articles
    [Organization] Each edition contains content of the previous year. (Editions up to 1989 include content of the previous fiscal year.)
    [Order] NDC order (-1988 edition), Japanese syllabary order of individual subject titles (1989 edition-)
    [Index] Editor name (-1993 edition) only
    [Comments] Only the first volume of 1982 edition includes bibliographies from 1980. Includes bio-bibliographies (1997- miscellaneous).

2-2. Selected and cataloged subject bibliographies published only as monographs

3. Searching subject bibliographies from NDL Search

Searching subject bibliography is also possible from NDL Search. However, the materials enumerated in 2. A Bibliography of Bibliographies are more suitable to comprehensive subject bibliography searches.

3-1. Subject bibliographies published as monographs

When searching bibliographies published as monographs, we recommend searching by Japanese subject headings.

Input the Japanese keyword (e.g., "文学") for the theme or topic into the "Title" field in the "Refiners" of the NDL Search. You can search for materials by inputting the word "書目" into the "Subject" field. Please note that monographs received before 1948 have no subject headings.

3-2. Subject bibliographies published as journal articles

Subject bibliographies published as journal articles are appropriate for narrow subjects, specific topics, and new subjects.

You can search articles by going to NDL Search "Advanced Search" screen, selecting "Articles" for type of materials, entering keywords for the theme and topic you are searching as well as keywords such as "リスト", "目録", "書目", "解題" and "文献" etc. into the "Keyword" field.

References

Masao Nagasawa, Yuko Ishiguro. "Reference Books: erabikata tsukaikata" (Reference Books: Selection and Use). (Revised edition　Japan Library Association　2015　【UL731-L7】)

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