East Asia Department of the Berlin State Library with new director
Press release from 08/01/2006
At the end of July, the Board of Trustees of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation appointed Matthias Kaun, 38, as Head of the East Asia Department of the Berlin State Library. Mr Kaun studied Sinology, Asian History and Public Law. With over 1 million items, the East Asia Department is the largest specialised library for East Asia in Europe. It is funded by the German Research Foundation.
Matthias Kaun already developed new digital services as a subject librarian, such as the "CrossAsia" virtual library with access to subject-relevant databases and internet resources for the whole of Europe, the acquisition of national licences for Chinese digitised journals and participation in the "China Digital Library" programme. The East Asia Department is the central service centre for the supply of literature for all specialist disciplines. In future, it will cooperate even more closely at a national and international level and constantly expand and update its electronic offerings.