"Research Techniques: Secret Reference Tips from the National Diet Library"

2023/04/28

When I published this book at the end of last year, I was very surprised to see it become a weekly bestseller at famous stores like Tokyodo Shoten in Jimbocho and the Maruzen Marunouchi Main Store.

It all started when the president of a publishing company I was visiting asked me to write a series for their email newsletter. So, I decided to write down the routines and research know-how I practiced daily at my former workplace—the National Diet Library (hereafter, NDL).

I took early retirement from the NDL in 2021 because I wanted to research the history of publishing and reading, but perhaps because I had been a salaried worker for so long, I felt it was better to have a place to "commute" to. Therefore, I decided to continue as a part-time lecturer at the Juku, while also visiting Koseisha (the publisher of my book) in Jimbocho once a week.

There, I organized the Modern Publishing Study Group and published an annual research fanzine titled "Modern Publishing Research" in April 2022. This was also very well-received by readers, even briefly hitting number one at Tokyodo—my history of "browsing books while standing" was a hit—but my current book seems a bit different.

It seems the people who initially bought it were those who do research for a living, such as writers and proofreaders. I wrote about the routines of the NDL Humanities Division, but contrary to my expectations, it sold as a business book. Its breakthrough in bookstores also began when the business book buyer at Book First Shinjuku stacked it on a display table. The buyer said, "I wanted to read it myself." Even at the Maruzen Marunouchi Main Store, it was the business book buyer who promoted it. Books are all about how they are sold.

Come to think of it, my book can also be used for writing graduation theses. According to scholars who have read it, it might be a bit difficult for undergraduates and is better suited for professors who supervise thesis writing, but it should still be useful for undergraduates and graduate students writing their theses. The fact that it became the number one bestseller at the Kyoto University Co-op Bookstore in January is likely a reflection of that expectation.

Actually, shortly after my book was published, the NDL's important "Digital Collections" database was greatly expanded. It mainly consists of pre-war books and official gazettes, but it's like having the Imperial Library built right next to your house. Since this will rewrite Japanese humanities and social sciences, I hurriedly resumed my email newsletter series titled "Reference Tips in the Age of Great Searching" (available on the publisher's website).

"Research Techniques: Secret Reference Tips from the National Diet Library"

Masaki Kobayashi

Koseisha

184 pages, 2,200 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.