Hanyu Pinyin was adopted by North American libraries about twenty years ago.Before the 1950s,libraries in North America did not have a shared romanization standard for Chinese language resources.It was not until the late 1950s that the Wade-Giles system was adopted as the standard romanization scheme.Following many years of debates and preparation,the Pinyin Conversion Project was successfully implemented in North American libraries during 2000-2001,with tens of millions of cataloging records'Chinese Romanization forms converted from Wade-Giles to Pinyin.Almost all libraries with relatively significant Chinese holdings participated in this project and went through a complicated process,ranging from initial discussions and deliberations,conducting surveys and reaching agreements,project implementation and completion,to final data cleaning.The project entailed meticulous hard work by individuals and groups and exhibited extensive cooperation among libraries and library organizations.On the 20th anniversary of the completion of this project,we interviewed 12 librarians who actively participated in the Pinyin Conversion Project.This article,based on the analysis of relevant historical documents and oral histories,intends to examine the historical development of the Pinyin Conversion Project and synthesize its important ramifications for now and the future.We'd like to use this article to pay tribute to the librarians who were a part of the project.
关键词
韦氏拼音(威妥玛拼音)/汉语拼音/北美图书馆/汉字罗马化/图书编目
Key words
Wade-Giles/Hanyu Pinyin/North American libraries/Chinese Romanization/cataloging
维普
万方数据