Abstract
Literary museums play a role as specialized libraries for students of modern Japanese literature. However, they have been slow to popularize online searches and there are very few instances where literary museums have actually brought search systems to fruition. Twelve literary museums offer official Web sites with online search systems, but these are the exception and have problems such as 1) data collections with special characteristics, 2) isolated systems. Online searches at literary museums necessitate attention to such issues as 1) credibility as a formal organization, 2) making existing information available to the public, 3) making the location of information available to the public, and 4) providing detailed explanations. Besides the development of online search systems, it is desirable that literary museums function more completely asspecialized libraries for research on modern Japanese literature.
