One Language, Different Romanization Rules: The 20th Anniversary of the Pinyin Conversion Project

Abstract

2020-21 marks the 20th anniversary of the Pinyin Conversion Project of North American libraries. In 2000, American and Canadian libraries started to use Pinyin as the standard romanization scheme to process Chinese materials in all library operations. In about one year, by the superb leadership of the Library of Congress (LC), the Research Libraries Group (RLG), the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), and the Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL), American and Canadian libraries converted thousands of bibliographic records from Wade-Giles to Pinyin. This has been one of the largest data conversion projects in the modern library history. Deeply involved in the project was the professional network of East Asian libraries (EALs), which constitutes the backbone to curate and maintain a sound Chinese bibliographic system in America and Canada. Despite the significance of the Project, memories about it are gradually fading away in the EAL community. In 2021, four East Asian librarians started an interview project to meet and talk with library administrators and librarians who had participated in advocating, planning, and carrying out the Project. This poster presentation shares what we have learned about the Project, its complexity, significance and lasting relevance to the profession of East Asian librarianship.