1:45-3:15 pm; Room 309 – Third level
T 3.7    API Children, Representation and Memory
Chair: Heawon Paick, Los Angeles Public Library, APALA

ABSTRACT
It is often said that children are to be seen and not heard. In the case of Asian Pacific Islander children this notion needs to be shattered if children are not only going to have rich and widely available representations of themselves in children’s books, have a say in their informations needs and play a role in preserving community memory. Park will discuss Korean American picture books and the portrayal of Korean American children as the “new kid” in school. Lu will describe Asian American children's reading interests. Wong will describe an oral history project whereby AA children of Castelar Elementary School conducted oral histories of their parents/grandparents. Multicultural education serves to provide a window to the world as well as a mirror to oneself; however, when put to the test multicultural children’s literature still has a long way to make this a reality. The panelists describe how this is changing in published chidlren’s literature, in children’s determination of their reading interests and in children actively creating, and subsequently being users, of primary source materials for research in Asian American history.

Panelists:

Sarah Park, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science
The New Kid in School: Korean American Children in Picture Books
Abstract
There are currently twenty-eight picture books that include one or more main characters that are Korean or Korean American. Seven of these stories take place in school or are premised on problems that arise at school, such as language barriers, and being shy or embarrassed of cultural differences. Asian Americans are clouded in society by the perpetual foreigner image, which gets further perpetuated in children's books when Asian American students are constantly portrayed as the "new kid" in school, or more specifically the new kid dealing with new cultures, shedding old (foreign or embarrassing) cultures, etc. This presentation seeks to identify the most frequently recurring themes in picture books depicting specifically Korean American youth, and explain some of the possible reasons that these themes recur over and over again. A related question raised by this research topic is, “At what point can we stop writing stories about negotiating cultures, and just write stories that are framed by our cultural backgrounds, but not driven by them?” Therefore, the main objective of this presentation is to consciously and constructively contribute to and raise questions within the growing dialogue about Korean American children’s books.

Ya-Ling Lu, University of California Los Angeles

Pauline Wong, Chinese American Museum
Children Making and Remembering Family History at the Chinese American Museum
Abstract
The importance of passing along family history to each passing generation is embodied in the "Footsteps Through Time" exhibit on view at the Chinese American Museum.  As part of the 2004 History Channel's "Save Our History" initiative, a 5th grade class at Castelar Elementary School created and helped organize a family history exhibit that features oral histories, photographs, drawings, and real shoes.  This exhibit demonstrates the ongoing commitment that the Chinese American Museum has towards community-based projects and involving children as active participants in museum practice.

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Friday, April 22

FREE ~ REGISTRATION NEEDED ~ we have 52 spots. BOX LUNCH can be ordered to eat on bus .

>>> view SCHEDULE & TOUR ROUTE

TO REGISTER: Prior to April 20th, send an email to Pauline Wong paulinew@ucla.edu with your Name, E-mail and hotel/local/cell phone. At the conference, register at the Hospitality Desk.

and TO ORDER BOX LUNCH: Prior to April 20th, email Pauline Wong paulinew@ucla.edu with your Name, lunch option and quantity . At the conference, order at the Hospitality Desk.

Lunch boxes ($8.00, including tax) from Royal Hawaiian BBQ, 158 W Foothill Blvd. in Monrovia, CA 91016. (626)303-1148. Proprietors: Derek and Christine Leong.
Two options are available:

1. Chicken Combo - BBQ chicken, chicken katsu, rice, raw cabbage, macaroni salad, slice of spam and Hawaiian Sun drink.
2. Oriental Salad - salad, rice, raw cabbage, macaroni salad, and Hawaiian Sun drink.

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Saturday, April 23

1:45-3:15 pm; Room 303– Third level
S 13.3   Library and Information Organization (LIO) Roundtable
Facilitators: Florante Ibanez, UCLA Depts. of Information Studies and Asian American Studies; Lindy Leong, UCLA Dept. of Film, Television and Digital Media

An opportunity for API cultural organizations/associations to dialogue with AAAS conference participants, and to present for 5 minutes each describing their orgn/assoc., how it supports/has supported AAS and how the AAS community can support it. API libraries, librarian organizations, archives, museums and others are invited to participate.

3:30-5:00 pm; Room 303– Third level
S 14.3   Archives, Community History and Digital Access
Chair: Lindy Leong, UCLA Dept. of Film, Television and Digital Media

ABSTRACT
The memory of Asian Pacific Islander (API) communities, especially from the community perspective, is lost when those who live the API experience die with it. This has been true until more recently when there is an effort to document this history by libraries, archives, museums, arts institutions, community organizations, individuals, among others. These efforts include text, image and sound collections; which are now available as print, moving image or digital media for research, educational or entertainment purposes. The experiences of documenting the history of various API communities and the resulting collections and published works will be described, including SEAAdoc which focuses on the Southeast Asian American Experience, fiction on Japanese Diaspora history and experiences, and others.

Panelists:

Anne Frank, University of California, Irvine AND Linda Vo, University of California, Irvine
SEAAdoc: Documenting the Southeast Asian American Experience
Abstract
This presentation will introduce the web portal on Southeast Asian Americans created by the University of California, Irvine Libraries Southeast Asian Archive. This digitalization project was funded by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (2003-005). SEAAdoc: Documenting the Southeast Asian American Experience web portal is an educational web site that focuses on the cultural, economic, educational, political, and social experiences of refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Its objective is to present a sampling of historical and contemporary primary and secondary materials about the diverse Southeast Asian populations in the United States, which can be used by students, educators, researchers, and the general public for research and teaching purposes. The documents in this project are from the collections housed in the Southeast Asian Archive, unit of the Department of Special Collections and Archives at Langson Library located at the University of California, Irvine.

Karen Tei Yamashita, Associate Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz
Circle K Cycles:  Researching the Fictional Ethnography
Abstract
In 1975, I traveled to Brazil and began my research of the Japanese Brazilian community.  Over a period of three years, I interviewed and captured the oral histories of several hundred people to understand and create basis for a novel of historic fiction, Brazil-Maru. Years later in 1997, I traveled to Japan to again research the Japanese Brazilian community living in Japan, and once again I traveled, visited in homes, institutions and businesses, read and collected written documents, and interviewed dozens of Brazilians working as migrant labor in Japan.  This new body of research became the basis for a second book, Circle K Cycles.  While the end product of my research is classified as fiction, the research itself is based in factual materials.  For my current projects, I am and will continue to make extensive use of Asian American archives, institutional and private resources, and I am very interested in promoting the continued archiving of such resource materials.

Florante Peter Ibanez, UCLA Depts. of Information Studies and Asian American Studies
Looking Forward From the Past – Obstacles to Developing a Filipino American Museum (FAMRL) & Creating a Memory Space on the World Wide Web – Virtual Filipino American Museum (V-FAM)
Abstract
Through three distinct waves of immigration, Filipinos have contributed much to the history, economy and culture of America. Establishing a Filipino American Museum and Research Library (FAMRL) would fulfill the void of a much needed resource center for historians, scholars and researchers to conduct historical and cultural research on this community. In establishing FAMRL many obstacles to its establishment will have to be overcome. This study of some of those possible obstacles was conducted through interviews and research with similar ethnic based museums which could be future models: the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) and the more recent Chinese American Museum (CAM-LA). In addition a Preliminary Business Plan to Create a Memory Space on the WWW – A Virtual Filipino American Museum (V-FAM) as a viable pre-physical institution step, was developed by researching the two multimedia educational/archive websites of the DENSHO Project (http://densho.org), focused on the Japanese American Internment Camp Experience and the Go For Broke Education Foundation (http://goforbroke.org), depicting the stories of Japanese American Veterans of WWII. V-FAM using today’s technology could serve as both a “starting point” for a physical museum as well as a marketing tool and donation fundraiser for a physical FAMARL.

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LIO Exhibit Schedule

An LIO exhibit table schedule when representatives will staff the exhibit table for a 2-hour time period or more. During the dedicated time slot organization staff will interact with conference participants and personally share information about their programs, services and resources. LIO may display their materials/publications at the exhibit table throughout the conference as space allow.

Exhibit Table Coordinator: Edward Pai epai@pacbell.net Please contact Ed to schedule an exhibit time slot for your organization or to volunteer to staff the booth.
Exhibit Hours: Thursday, 4/21-Saturday, 4/23: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Exhibits area: Concourse Ballroom

Exhibitors

• Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) http://www.apalaweb.org/
• Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) http://www.cala-web.org/
• Chinese Historical Society of Southern California http://www.chssc.org/
• Center for Information as Evidence (CIE), UCLA http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/cie/
• Filipino American Library (FAL) http://www.filipinoamericanlibrary.org/
• Filipino American National Historical Society - Los Angeles (FANHS L.A.) http://www.fanhsla.org/
• Friends of Chinese American Museum http://www.camla.org/
• Go For Broke http://www.goforbroke.org
• Icy Smith, Author of The Lonely Queue: The Forgotten History of the Courageous Chinese. East West Discovery Press. (310) 532-1115
• Korean American Librarians and Information Professionals Association http://kalipa.apanet.org/
• Japanese American National Museum (JANM) http://www.janm.org/
• UCLA Department of Information Studies (Virginia Walter) http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/walter/
• Visual Communications http://www.vconline.org

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Visit Local Museums - Complimentary Admission

Our local cultural institutions welcome you to Los Angeles. Show your conference badge during the conference to receive complimentary admission to the following museums. We look forward to meeting you.

• Chinese American Museum http://www.camla.org
• Japanese American National Museum http://www.janm.org

Participation by library and information organizations (LIO) @ AAAS 2005 An opportunity for library and information organizations to engage with the Asian American Studies (AAS) community, inform them of what our institutions can do/have done to support AAS, and have them share with us their needs and interests.  More importantly, our organizations and members can network and get acquainted with each other. Conference Theme Description The pace of transnational migration and of capital movements across national boundaries has only quickened in recent years. These dynamics, in turn, have been accompanied by greater distances between those with power and privilege and those without. Los Angeles is an important site to witness the development of these central themes: as a world city, it is a place where Asian transnational capital now underwrites massive urban redevelopment, while at the same time community activists uncover hyper exploitive labor practices in garment factories in El Monte and restaurants in Koreatown. Affluent suburbs in the region draw increasing numbers of professional Asian Americans, while communities of Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders in Long Beach and Hawaiian Gardens are some of the poorest in the United States. Asian Americans of divergent class backgrounds now complicate racial and ethnic politics, locally and nationally. And while the entertainment industry in Southern California still produces and distributes stereotypical images of Asian Americans, Asian American communities in and beyond Los Angeles have created their own counter-narratives.