Page 231 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

230 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol. 7, 2015

Chinese from the 1980s to the 1990s, which are also included into the coverage.
By interpreting Hiromichi Matsumi’s books and papers, meanwhile referring to the related
research both in China and Japan, the paper makes clear the course of the written communication
between Hiromichi Matsumi’s and Northern LIU & Southern DU, reflects the development of
Hiromichi Matsumi’s translation and study.
Hiromichi Matsumi devoted himself to introducing, translating and studying Library Science in
China for more than forty years, which made him famous in China. His most important achievement
was the study on Northern LIU & Southern DU, which made him the excellent oversea expert in
this field. His study includes four aspects. Firstly, Hiromichi Matsumi read their books and papers
and translated them into Japanese, including one paper, The Brief History of Book Classification,
written by DU Dingyou, and two books, Story of the Chinese Books and The Brief History of
Chinese Books, written by LIU Guojun. Secondly, Hiromichi Matsumi wrote several papers to
introduce their academic achievements and personality with high evaluation and respect. By the end
of 1993, he had wrote four papers with titles including the name“LIU Guojun”and two papers
with titles including the name“DU Dingyou”, and there were several other papers mentioning one
or both of them. Thirdly, Hiromichi Matsumi studied Northern LIU & Southern DU in the view of
the international librarianship and Library Science, so he was the first one who evaluated them as
famous library scholars in the world. Fourthly, during his study, Hiromichi Matsumi kept in touch
with LIU Guojun and DU Dingyou by mails, and they sent each other the books needed but hard
to find in their own countries. Besides, Hiromichi Matsumi was so familiar with the literature of
Library Science both in China and Japan that his books and papers offer us a short cut to learn the
communication history of Library Science between China and Japan since the middle of the 1920s.
The paper attempts to find out the origin and the real meaning of the phrase“Northern LIU
& Southern DU”, and defines the specific meaning in the current context. It also collects and
analyzes the academic contributions of Hiromichi Matsumi, and provides reference for the research
on Northern LIU & Southern DU, even for the study on the communication history of Library
Science between China and Japan.

A review of information culture research abroad
1 ∗
Yue ZHAO & Yaolin ZHOU

The research on Information Culture (IC) dates back to the 1970s in the former Soviet Union and
the United States, and began to rise in the 1980s. Foreign scholars have made interdisciplinary
exploration and multiple perspectives on IC issues from different fields and different levels. After
30 years of development, important progress has been made in IC research. With the deepening

* Correspondence should be addressed to Yue ZHAO, Email: zy410070523@whu.edu.cn