고려대학교 민족문화연구원 로고

Classical Korean materials are scattered across a multitude of places and until recently it was difficult to precisely quantify them. Now however, a computerized system that displays a list of classical materials housed in each relevant organization has been developed, but it will take some time until a comprehensive inventory can be compiled. A list of classical texts in the possession of each institute or university has been made and a collection of these lists has been published, but the creation of detailed descriptions of major materials and the digitization of their original images, which can only be performed after cataloging is complete, are still a work in progress.

Although it has been helpful to introduce the classical Korean materials held by other countries and their approximate quantity to Koreans, a simple list is not enough to satisfy the intellectual needs and curiosity of the public and of researchers. In order to understand the specific contents of these materials beyond the basic information available on the list, their detailed descriptions and original images must also be provided. In particular, the fact that these materials are in the possession of foreign institutes make this research project more urgent.In this context, our project of making available overseas classical Korean texts through the creation of detailed information regarding them and their digitization will proceed through the production of a thorough catalog of classical Korean materials held by other countries.

For highly valuable materials and major texts, detailed descriptions are created by specialists, and their original images are also digitized.

The Center for Classical Korean Materials also strives to enhance the value of the database by sharing the materials collected in this process with domestic metropolitan and regional research centers participating in the classical Korean material DB project. Along with the Center for Classical Korean Materials, the Academy of Korean Studies (central hub), the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, the Jangseogak Archives, and the Yeongnam and Honam regional centers are participating in this project. In addition, our research center is endeavoring to establish a system of academic cooperation with overseas research institutes and public libraries holding classical Korean materials, and to maintain these cooperative relationships.

The Center for Classical Korean Materials conducted a research project focused on the classical Korean materials in the possession of the University of California, Berkeley, in the U.S. from November 2008 to June 2011. Since July 2011, it has been working on another research project focused on the classical Korean materials held by the Oriental Library in Japan.