To Know, to Understand, to Envision and Act | Yasutake Miyashiro, Director, SFC Media Center / Associate Professor, Faculty of Policy Management
December 26, 2023
Although I have been using the Media Center since I was a student, my knowledge has increased dramatically now that I am involved not just as a user but also from the operational side. It is not just that my position has changed that I have more to learn. In response to changing circumstances, how must the SFC Media Center change, or what must not be changed? To consider this, the number of things I must understand also increases. For someone like me who lacks specialized knowledge and skills, what I can do is limited. Nevertheless, since being appointed Director this past October, my situation has been one of trying to gradually learn and understand what is currently being done and what has been done in the past by having the administrative staff teach me, reviewing various materials, and observing events when my schedule allows.
If you do not know the past, you cannot understand the present, and if you do not know the present, it is futile to try to understand the past. This is a rough summary of a historian's words, but I would add that without understanding both the past and the present, one cannot envision and act for the future. Haphazard actions will not suffice.
According to the "History of the Keio University Libraries, Volume II," published this October, the SFC Media Center began services in the Sigma Building in April 1990 when SFC was founded, and moved to the Mu Building in April of the following year. The library organizations on each of Keio University's campuses are now all called Media Centers, but the pioneer was the SFC Media Center. Looking ahead to a future of advancing information multimedia, the name "Media Center" was chosen to refer to a "facility that combines the functions of a library with those of a base for information dissemination." It is said that this was the first time this name was used for a library, not only within Keio but in all of Japan. The "History of the Keio University Libraries, Volume II," which tells the story of the SFC Media Center, including information about other campuses, is available for anyone to download as a PDF file at any time by accessing the Keio Associated Repository of Academic Resources (KOARA) (*1). While this is not uncommon today, it was likely not a realistic prospect around 1990. KOARA was launched in November 2006 (although the acronym remains the same, its official name at the time was "Academic Information Archive" rather than "Academic Information Repository"). Even just looking at the choice of the name "Media Center," we can see that it embodied a vision of the future of society and the mission of the facility.
At the time of SFC's founding, the roles of the SFC Media Center were threefold: 1) information systems, 2) academic information, and 3) educational material systems (from "The University that Creates the Future: The Trajectory of Challenge at Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC)" ). Information systems are now under the jurisdiction of the Keio Information Technology Centers (KIC). The other missions have not changed significantly, but updates in various aspects are being made daily. In the 30th issue of "MediaNet," published this fall (*2), initiatives at the SFC Media Center for social justice and environmental issues are introduced. At our center, we are promoting initiatives such as the establishment of the "AT ROOM" for students with visual impairments, permission for those with entry qualifications to be accompanied by children, and air conditioning settings to save electricity. Furthermore, at the "Challenge from the Ducks" welcome event for new students, which was also held this spring, efforts were made to enable non-Japanese-speaking students to participate. This can also be described as a measure for fairness.
At the Open Research Forum held at SFC on November 25 and 26, we offered a self-guided tour of the SFC Media Center, the first such attempt since its opening. We also set up a 3D printer hands-on corner and a booth for the WRC (Writing & Research Consultants), which consists of graduate students in the Doctoral Programs. On both days, we were fortunate to have many visitors, including those who toured the Library of Nursing and Medical Care, and among them were people who appeared to be residents from the area surrounding the campus. Although services for viewing and borrowing materials have been available to residents and employees of Fujisawa City since September 1991, I believe our participation in the Open Research Forum has once again shown that the SFC Media Center can be one of the crossroads where the local community and SFC intersect.
I hear that there are growing expectations for libraries in general, not just university facilities like the Media Center, to contribute to social justice and regional revitalization. Envisioning a future for the campus and society where these values are realized, the SFC Media Center—which is both a library and a base for information dissemination—is taking action.
*1 Editorial Committee for the History of the Keio University Libraries, Volume II, ed. "History of the Keio University Libraries, Volume II." Keio University Media Center, 2023. (Last accessed December 26, 2023)
*2 Keio University Media Center. "MediaNet" no. 30, 2023. (Last accessed December 26, 2023)