615 research outputs found

    Multiethnic Societies of Central Asia and Siberia Represented in Indigenous Oral and Written Literature

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    Central Asia and Siberia are characterized by multiethnic societies formed by a patchwork of often small ethnic groups. At the same time large parts of them have been dominated by state languages, especially Russian and Chinese. On a local level the languages of the autochthonous people often play a role parallel to the central national language. The contributions of this conference proceeding follow up on topics such as: What was or is collected and how can it be used under changed conditions in the research landscape, how does it help local ethnic communities to understand and preserve their own culture and language? Do the spatially dispersed but often networked collections support research on the ground? What contribution do these collections make to the local languages and cultures against the backdrop of dwindling attention to endangered groups? These and other questions are discussed against the background of the important role libraries and private collections play for multiethnic societies in often remote regions that are difficult to reach

    Retracing the 1910 Carruthers Royal Geographical Society Expedition to the Turgen Mountains of Mongolia – Reconstruction of a Century of Glacial Change

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    The Turgen Mountains lie in northwestern Mongolia, roughly 80 kilometers south of the Russian border. The area was visited in 1910 by a Royal Geographical Society (RGS) expedition led by Douglas Carruthers. They undertook an extensive survey of the range and produced a detailed topographic map. They also documented the extent of the glaciers with photographs. This modern study consisted of three phases. The first step was to procure the historical documents from the RGS in London, including copies of the photos, journal entries, and the map. Field work in Mongolia entailed traveling to the remote study site and retracing portions the 1910 expedition. Camera locations were matched to the historical photographs and repeat images taken. In addition, the termini of the two main glacial lobes were surveyed by GPS. Finally, spatial analysis was conducted in the computer laboratory using a GIS to generate a „historic‟ elevation model from the 1910 map and compare it to a modern DEM generated from SRTM data. Map analysis software was employed to evaluate cartometric accuracy of the 1910 map against modern Russian topographic sheets. The results of the DEM and map analysis were then validated using the field GPS data and remotely sensed imagery to quantitatively describe the changes in the glacial system. The repeat photography was analyzed using photogrammetric techniques to measure glacier changes. Also, a custom cartographic product was produced in the style of the 1910 Carruthers map. It displays the extent of the glaciers in 2010 and the locations of repeat photography stations for future expeditions. Placing the results of this study alongside previous work paints a clear picture of the Turgen glacial regime over the last century. The results suggest that while the snow and ice volume on the summits appears to be intact, lower elevation glaciers show significant ablation. This study successively demonstrates the utility of using historic expedition documents to extend the modern record of glacial change

    Multiethnic Societies of Central Asia and Siberia Represented in Indigenous Oral and Written Literature

    Get PDF
    Central Asia and Siberia are characterized by multiethnic societies formed by a patchwork of often small ethnic groups. At the same time large parts of them have been dominated by state languages, especially Russian and Chinese. On a local level the languages of the autochthonous people often play a role parallel to the central national language. The contributions of this conference proceeding follow up on topics such as: What was or is collected and how can it be used under changed conditions in the research landscape, how does it help local ethnic communities to understand and preserve their own culture and language? Do the spatially dispersed but often networked collections support research on the ground? What contribution do these collections make to the local languages and cultures against the backdrop of dwindling attention to endangered groups? These and other questions are discussed against the background of the important role libraries and private collections play for multiethnic societies in often remote regions that are difficult to reach

    The Glacier Complexes of the Mountain Massifs of the North-West of Inner Asia and their Dynamics

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    The subject of this paper is the glaciation of the mountain massifs Mongun-Taiga, Tavan-Boghd-Ola, Turgeni- Nuru, and Harhira-Nuru. The glaciation is represented mostly by small forms that sometimes form a single complex of domeshaped peaks. According to the authors, the modern glaciated area of the mountain massifs is 21.2 km2 (Tavan-Boghd-Ola), 20.3 km2 (Mongun-Taiga), 42 km2 (Turgeni- Nuru), and 33.1 km2 (Harhira-Nuru). The area of the glaciers has been shrinking since the mid 1960’s. In 1995–2008, the rate of reduction of the glaciers’ area has grown considerably: valley glaciers were rapidly degrading and splitting; accumulation of morainic material in the lower parts of the glaciers accelerated. Small glaciers transformed into snowfields and rock glaciers. There has been also a degradation of the highest parts of the glaciers and the collapse of the glacial complexes with a single zone of accumulation into isolated from each other glaciers. Reduced snow cover area has led to a rise in the firn line and the disintegration of a common accumulation area of the glacial complex. In the of the Mongun-Taiga massif, in 1995– 2008, the firn line rose by 200–300 m. The reduction of the glaciers significantly lagged behind the change in the position of the accumulation area boundary. In the past two years, there has been a significant recovery of the glaciers that could eventually lead to their slower degradation or stabilization of the glaciers in the study area

    Central Asian Sources and Central Asian Research

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    In October 2014 about thirty scholars from Asia and Europe came together for a conference to discuss different kinds of sources for the research on Central Asia. From museum collections and ancient manuscripts to modern newspapers and pulp fiction and the wind horses flying against the blue sky of Mongolia there was a wide range of topics. Modern data processing and data management and the problems of handling five different languages and scripts for a dictionary project were leading us into the modern digital age. The dominating theme of the whole conference was the importance of collections of source material found in libraries and archives, their preservation and expansion for future generations of scholars. Some of the finest presentations were selected for this volume and are now published for a wider audience

    The picture of Dongmun Yuhae : lexicographic description and review of its functions as a dictionary

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    This thesis addresses the problem of situating Dongmun Yuhae, a Chinese-Korean-Manchu dictionary published by Joseon’s Bureau of Interpreters in 1748, within the crisis of identity afflicting the Joseon Dynasty. To achieve this, it is proposed that an analysis concerning a dictionary focuses on its inherent nature as a lexicographic tool, through a lexicographic description and review of its functions. Understanding Dongmun Yuhae’s functions ensures that the dictionary is not analysed according to its individual parts in separation from each other, but rather according to its whole design to produce a more comprehensive representation. The analysis mainly compares the functions of Dongmun Yuhae that have been explicitly stated in the postface of Dongmun Yuhae (Manchu vocabulary consultation) and the presumed function described by other research (vernacular Chinese consultation). Based on the results of macrostructural, microstructural and mediostructural analysis, Dongmun Yuhae is proven to be designed to fully support the consultation of Manchu vocabulary for its target users, students and interpreters of the Bureau of Interpreters. Against the crisis of identity of Joseon, Dongmun Yuhae reveals the diplomatic function of Manchu and its importance in Joseon’s search for legitimacy as the last bastion of Confucian cultures and value. Historical sources support the description and review of Dongmun Yuhae’s main function and shows that despite the crisis of identity and need for Joseon’s court and intellectuals to prove to be the deserving heir of Ming’s legacy, Joseon court still needed to maintain diplomatic relationship with Qing Dynasty. DMYH was one of the many steps taken to augment its cultural identity. To sum up, the cultural and political crisis of identities and linguistic situations are reflected in DMYH’s design and functions

    Investigating Multilingual, Multi-script Support in Lucene/Solr Library Applications

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    Yale has developed over many years a highly-structured, high-quality multilingual catalog of bibliographic data. Almost 50% of the collection represents non-English materials in over 650 languages, and includes many different non-Roman scripts. Faculty, students, researchers, and staff would like to make full use of this original script content for resource discovery. While the underlying textual data are in place, effective indexing, retrieval and display functionality for the non-Roman script content is not available within our bibliographic discovery applications, Orbis and Yufind. Opportunities now exist in the Unicode, Lucene/Solr computing environment to bridge the functionality gap and achieve internationalization of the Yale Library catalog. While most parts of this study focus on the Yale environment, in the absence of other such studies it is hoped that the findings will be of interest to a much larger community.Arcadia Foundatio
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