CDPS was established in order to continue the process of expanding the boundaries of historical research. At the Center, we collect informaetions regardeing premodern Japanese sources, research on them and make them in a structure by using the computers and the networks with the intention to establish them in the cultural society as a historical information in the end. Our research is promoted in three areas.

The first area researches how to collect informations about the historical materials both at home and abroad which are not investigated yet. We make up a international-standardized collection system of historical informations by the advancing an annotation system and dealing several languages.

The second area aims to build up an information system of digitized images of historical sources, which is able to supply the academic world with a research base by digitizing our microfilms and the newly collected pictures of the historical sources from all over Japan. We develop a digitizing system of microfilm images, a research system of digitized images of historical sources, a supply system of information about images and a system for security and administration of our intellectual properties.

The third area focuses on a knowledge database regarding compiling historical sources. We research on developing intellectualization of compiling historical sources in order to own the fruits of the research of the historical sources with the academic world and the society. We mainly work on the research on a basic system of the historical knowledge, the research for sharing the knowledge by the reference ontologie, the advanced research on internationalizing the glossary for historical terms and the research on developing a tool for compiling historical sources.

Along with those three areas, the Institute has a support group of the information, which administer the database system as a social base for the historical science, to be a base where we put out our informations about the Japanese history to the world.

STAFF EBARA Masaharu, Head of the Center, Professor HAYASHI Yuzuru, Professor (Also Center for the Study of Visual Sources) KOMIYA Kiyora, Professor (Also Early Modern Materials Department) YANBE Koki, Professor ENDO Motoo, Associate Professor (Also Old Documents and Diaries Department) SUEGARA Yutaka, Associate Professor (Also Medieval Materials Department) OUCHI Hidenori, Assistant Professor