The Academy of Korean Studies has been building Korean Studies Database by digitalizing the old books and documents from the royal Jangseogak Library and the researches done by the Academy of Korean Studies since 1999. With the Korean Studies Database(http://yoksa.aks.ac.kr) now open to the public free of charge, everyone can enjoy easy access to the data whenever and wherever they want them.
In the first phase of the digitalization project from 1999 to 2004, The Academy of Korean Studies has focused on creating an environment where the public can use the Korean Studies data easily. By enabling people to use the data stored in the Jangseogak Library without visiting the Academy of Korean Studies, the digital database is playing a valuable role in cutting the time and cost for collecting data in Korean Studies researches. It is particularly noteworthy that the recordings of traditional songs and folklore used for writing "An Outline of Korean Oral Literature(한국구비문학대계)" are also being serviced online. It is expected that by using the recordings available on the web, researchers can further their studies on Korean oral literature.
The second phase of the digitalization project is focused on vitalizing and upgrading the Korean Studies knowledge information environment while continuing to laying the foundation for user-friendly knowledge information environment. As a way to vitalize the Korean Studies knowledge environment, the journal and diary databases which used to be serviced individually were put together and categorized by year, building a chronicle database. This greatly improved the usability of the existing data. In addition, the database of the root sources of Chinese characters was built based on the Korean ancestors' researches on the forms, sounds and meaning of Chinese characters. This database is to lay the foundation for more thorough understanding of Korean Studies data and create synergy effects by integrating similar data on the web.
Korean Studies Database is now used as important references for other digitalization projects. “Korean Monster Character Contents Development and Scenario Development Project” by Ewha Women's University Liberal Arts Center, and “Andong-Si Local Traditional Character Development Project” by Yeogum Inc. are the example projects that used the recordings provided by the Korean Studies Database. Six recording data from An Outline of Korean Oral Literature were put on display in the Seoul Arts Center's 2005 exhibition of "A Thousand Chinese letters & the Thought, Studies and Letters during the Joseon dynasty."
The data in the Korean Studies Database is helping various researches in Korean Studies. “Leejaenangoh(이재난고) translation project” by Pusan National University and "The Research on King Hun's Mooshinjinchanwoegae(헌종무신진찬의궤) translation" by School of Korean Traditional Arts at KNUA(한국예술종합학교) are some of the research projects that are using the data from Korean Studies Database.
Two articles by Lim Chi Kyung: "Research on Hanjosamsunggibong(한조삼성기봉연구)(2003)," "Research on Hahjinyangmoonrok(하진양문록)(2005)" and Lee, Ji Young's dissertation paper "Analysis of Minghangjungwoerok(명행정의록)(2006)" were written by using Korean ancient literature data provided by Korean Studies Database. Other researches based on the old document data include "Research on Signature format in Korean Old Documents(2003, dissertation at The Academy of Korean Studies)" by Park, Joon Ho, "A study of Chakgwan(着官) sogi in Joeseon period(2005)" by Shim, Young Hwan, and "Chakgwan(着官) form research in official documents in Kyungju during the Joseon dynasty" by Lee, Jung Il.

We expect more researches will be carried out using the data from Korean Studies Database in the near future. These results clearly show that Korea Studies Database is used widely in every corner of Korea studies researches.

Digitalized knowledge information can be accessed much more easily than knowledge information in analogue format. For this reason, in first phase of Korean Studies Database building, we put our greatest effort on digitalizing Korean Studies data, and providing them on the web. Below are some of the major materials and data Korean Studies Database provides.




The Jangseogak Library Old Documents DB digitalized the old documents preserved in the Jangseogak Library which was the library of the royal families during the Joseon dynasty. Now the DB provides 2,560,000 image files of 12,205 books and text files of 4,195 books in 1,234 categories.
Main materials in the DB are the documents on the history and culture of royal court including documents about court ceremonies, military organization and ancient Korean novels preserved in Nakseonjae(낙선재), a small building in Changdeuokgung. These data are useful for fact-checking in TV dramas about Joseon dynasty. The researchers on ancient clothes can also use the data to restore ancient clothes. Ancient Korean novels preserved in Nakseonjae were digitalized in text format so that more researches can be done on ancient literature. The DB also covers folklores and diaries by commoners, which can complement the historic documents of the royal families and the aristocracy. Another important aspect of the DB is eight kinds of genealogical tables which were made into text files and are being serviced online.
At present, original image files and text files of the concise catalogue(간략해제) of 1,038 old books are provided online. More catalogue data will be digitalized and provided on the web in the future.




Old books & documents DB is divided into two parts: one is the books & documents of the royal families preserved in the Jangseogak Library, the other is the books & documents preserved by prominent noble families across the country. Currently 4,570 original image files from the old books in the Jangseogak Library and 15,850 image files, 7,030 original text files and 9,294 catalogues from the books of the noble families are now provided online.
Old documents preserved by noble families such as official documents about inheritance, contracts, trials, appointments to government positions are categorized into nine classes, enabling the users to take a detailed look at the daily lives of the people outside the capital during the Joseon dynasty.

Below are the lists of noble families.

○ Jeong Family of Chogae in Geochang(居昌 草溪鄭氏 桐溪宗宅)
○ Son Family of Gyeongju in Gyeongju(慶州 良洞 慶州孫氏 書百堂)
○ Choe Family of Gyeongju in Gyeongju(慶州崔氏 龍山書院)
○ An Family of Kwangju(廣州安氏 順菴宗宅)
○ Yim Family of Naju in Naju(羅州 會津 羅州林氏 滄溪後孫家)
○ Kim Family of Andong in Taejeon(大田 安東金氏 金英漢 所藏本)
○ Yi Family of Goseong in Andong(法興 固城李氏文書)
○ Yi Family of Yeonan in Sangju(尙州 延安李氏 息山宗宅)
○ Jeong Family of Jinju in Sangju(尙州 愚山 晋州鄭氏 愚伏宗宅 山水軒)
○ An Family of Sunhung in andong(安東 葛田 順興安氏 定峯宗宅)
○ Kim Family of Kwangsan in Andong(安東 光山金氏 後彫堂)
○ Yu Family of Jeonju in Andong(安東 水谷 全州柳氏 무실宗宅)
○ Kim Family of Andong(安東金氏 老稼齋 金昌業 後孫家)
○ Kim Family of Andong(安東金氏 三塘 金瑛 後孫家)
○ Yi Family of Yeoju in Gyeongju(驪州李氏 玉山精舍 獨樂堂 古文書)
○ Bak Family of Bannam in Uijeongbu(議政府 潘南朴氏 西溪宗宅)
○ Jang Family of Indong(仁同張氏 旅軒宗宅)
○ Lee Family of Jinseong(周村 眞城李氏文書)
○ Ha Family of Jinyang in Jinju(晉陽河氏 丹池宗宅)
○ Ha Family of Jinyang in Jinju(晉州 丹牧 晉陽河氏 丹池宗宅)
○ Yu Family of Jinju in Ansan(晋州柳氏 帽山宗宅)
○ Bak Family of Hamyang(咸陽朴氏 九堂宗宅 古文書)
○ Yun Family of Haenam(海南 尹氏 蓮洞 宗家)
○ Lee Family of Jeonju in Yeoju(全州李氏)

Original image files of old documents are serviced in full color, providing the best quality data to researchers. Simple catalogue information for each document is also provided to make searching on the web as smooth as possible.



Folklore and Oral Literature Recording DB is the biggest recordings DB in Korea. 227,300 minute recordings of folklore, traditional songs, shaman songs, dialects are currently provided online. This DB is the compilation of three recording databases of An Outline of Korean Oral Literature, A Catalogue Korean Dialects, and An Outline of Korean Folk Song.
Recordings in An Outline of Korean Oral Literature, which were collected from local people across the country, are very meaningful data for the researches on folksongs and folklore. Recordings of A Catalogue of Korean Dialects are valuable as it provides data for etymological studies of present Korean language and researches on Korean dialects which are now disappearing in a fast pace. Recordings of An Outline of Korean Folk Song, collected on the field in every corner of the country by folk song researchers, are also pricelss information for Korean
Recordings of An Outline of Korean Oral Literature are serviced along with full lyrics of every recording, making it even more useful for researchers. The music scores of 800 folk songs from An Outline of Korean Folk Song were reconstructed and the image files of the music scores are provided on the web.



The Academy of Korean Studies collected 90,000 photographs when it was working on Encyclopedia Korea. Among the 90,000 photos, 28,350 pictures were not used for the Encyclopedia but were digitalized and saved as the Korean Culture Photo DB. All the pictures with short explanations are categorized by topic.



Basic Korean History Dictionary DB categorized major terms and vocabulary of Korean history and culture by concept, name, geography, document, work of art, institution, organization, incidents, events, remains, and philosophies. All the entries in 2,882 categories are serviced online with detailed explanation.

Based on the first phase of the digitalization project which focused on laying the foundation of knowledge environment, the second phase looked into various ways of vitalizing the knowledge environment by making it easier to use the data in the DB. Several ways to vitalize the knowledge environment have been explored and more plans are under way. Shown below are the projects that were carried out to enhance the usability of the DB.



In 2005 the journal and diary databases which used to be serviced individually were put together and categorized by year, building a chronicle database and improving the usability of the existing data.




The old books about the royal ceremonies include a number of pictures describing all kinds of equipment, clothes, materials for ceremonies and the actual scene of the procession of a King. These pictures were put together as a database for users interested in the ceremonies and culture during the Joseon dynasty. A total of 12,696 pictures with caption are being serviced.



When the old Korean novels preserved in Nakseonjae(낙선재) were digitalized into text files, chinese characters in the books were also separately collected and made into a database. The DB is expected to be very useful for the future Korean dictionary editors. Currently 28,943 chinese four-letter proverbs with usage examples are being provided online.



Some old letters contain information on alternative medicine. In 2005, a total of ninety-nine cases of alternative medicine data were collected and categorized using the categorization system of Tonguybogam(東醫寶鑑). forty-nine is not a big number but they are still valuable knowledge information for the improvement of alternative medicine.



In 2006, the database of the root sources of Chinese characters was built based on the ancient researches on the forms, sounds and meaning of Chinese characters. The DB was built to help the digitalization of old books written in Chinese. The DB used the information from fourteen documents