International Cooperation

• Exchange of official publications
• Exchange of commercial publications
• Acceptance of deposit materials
• Exchanging materials using the Exchange List

The National Diet Library (NDL) serves as a national institution for the international exchange of publications, in accordance with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention concerning the International Exchange of Publications (6th treaty in 1984) and Convention concerning the Exchange of Official Publications and Government Documents between States (7th treaty in 1984).

Currently, the NDL is registered as an exchange partner with more than 900 institutions in countries and regions around the world.

The National Diet Library Law stipulates that official publications published by agencies of the Japanese government, municipalities, independent administrative institutions, national universities, and other similar organizations must be deposited with the NDL. These materials, together with the NDL's own publications, comprise the bulk of NDL resources exchanged with foreign organizations. The NDL delivers these publications to foreign institutions in return for the official publications of the partner countries. The majority of these materials are not available commercially.

The NDL conducts the exchange of official publications as either a blanket exchange, a specified exchange, or a selective exchange, depending on the purpose and method of the exchange.

Blanket exchanges comprise inclusive exchange of key official publications per agreements concluded either between governments or between the NDL and a partner institution.

The NDL currently conducts blanket exchange of official publications with the following three libraries:

• The Library of Congress in the U.S.
• The Berlin State Library, Prussian Cultural Heritage in Germany
• The National Central Library in Taiwan

Specified exchanges comprise exchange of principal official publications per agreements concluded either between governments or between the NDL and a partner institution.

The NDL currently conducts specified exchange of principal official publications with the following five libraries:

• The United Nations Library in Geneva.
• The British Library
• The Russian State Library
• La Bibliothèque Nationale de France
• The Royal Library of Belgium

Selective exchange comprises bilateral exchange of publications per agreements concluded with foreign entities, such as libraries, universities, and research institutes. The materials offered by the NDL for selective exchanges include publications issued by the NDL, agencies of the Japanese government, independent administrative institutions, and national universities.

Official publications from Japanese institutions are increasingly published in digital format and directly accessible via the Internet.

• Current Digitization of Official Publications in Japan

The NDL exchanges commercial publications with foreign institutions based on agreements concluded through bilateral negotiations.

We actively exchange commercial publications with institutions in China, Russia and Republic of Korea, particularly with the National Library of China, the Russian Academy of Science in St. Petersburg, and the National Assembly Library in the Republic of Korea.

The NDL serves as the central library of Japan and strives to acquire materials related to Japan but published in foreign countries through international exchange. We have therefore concluded agreements with national libraries in the Czech Republic, Poland, and the Republic of Korea to provide these institutions with materials related to our partner countries but published in Japan in exchange for materials related to Japan but published in our partner countries.

The NDL is designated as a depository library by the United Nations (UN), special organizations of the UN, and other institutions. These partner institutions thus deposit copies of their publications with the NDL.

Major institutions include the UN, the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the World Trade Organization (WTO/GATT), the European Union (EU), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Several times a year, the NDL publishes and provides to its partners an exchange list, comprising mainly materials published by the NDL, agencies of the national as well as of municipal governments, independent administrative institutions, and national universities in Japan. Exchange partners may select the materials they desire from this list, within certain limits.

Please contact the address below if your organization is interested in the NDL Exchange List and wishes to become an exchange partner.

Foreign Materials Division
Acquisitions and Bibliography Department
National Diet Library
1-10-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8924 JAPAN

Fax: +81-3-3581-1330
E-Mail: kokan