Library and Information Science

This is an analysis of who is publishing what type of reference books and in what subject areas publishing seems most active through the statistical survey of reference books published in Japan. The survey is limited to those published during the period from 1965 to 1969, and each of the findings is classified as follows: (1) The number of reference books published each year; (2) the type of reference books in each subject; (3) the number of revisions of earlier works; (4) the type of publishers of reference books; etc.

The number of reference book published each year is increasing from 328 titles for 1965, to 352 (1966), to 354 (1967), to 370 (1968), to 378 for 1969, and it might be safe to assume that the number of new reference books published yearly will increase in proportion to the increase in the total book production in Japan. Concerning the subject matter of these reference books, the field of engineering and technology is the most prolific, followed by the social sciences and the sciences. An analysis of the type of reference books published indicates the steady popularity of handbooks and dictionaries. As for the type of publishers of new reference books, 65.2 per cent were trade publishers in 1965, this had decreased to 60.8 per cent in 1966 and to 62.9 per cent in 1967, and the figure increased again to 66.5 per cent in 1968 and to 70.9 per cent in 1969. It is not surprising that reference books are published predominately by the trade publishers. Learned societies and professional associations, too, contribute much in the publishing of reference books, though the actual number of reference books published each year is decreasing.