This section summarizes news on international cooperation such as international conferences attended by NDL staff, and NDL's international exchange activities.

Mr. John P. Wilkin, the Executive Director of HathiTrust, Associate University Librarian for Library Information Technology and for Publishing at the University of Michigan was invited to the NDL to give a lecture “HathiTrust: Strategies and challenges in consolidating the digitized published record” at the Tokyo Main Library. He also had a discussion session with Dr. Ohmukai, (Associate Professor of National Institute of Informatics), Mr. Takeuchi (Professor, Japanese Culture Studies Division, Faculty of Letters, Chiba University; University Librarian and Director of Academic Link Center, Chiba University), and Mr.Oba (Director of Digital Information Distribution Division, Digital Information Department, National Diet Library).

The 4th Mutual Visit Program between the National Assembly Library (NAL), the National Assembly Research Service (NARS) of Korea and the NDL was held at Seoul. Ms. Makiko Izumi (Director, Social Welfare and Labor Division, Research and Legislative Reference Bureau) and Mr. Takashi Orimoto (Assistant Director, Parliamentary Documents and Official Publications Division, Research and Legislative Reference Bureau) visited the NAL and NARS and gave presentations. The report of this program is available in NDL Newsletter No. 187 (For more information on the Mutual Visit Program, see Exchange Activities with Foreign Libraries.)

World Digital Library Partners Meeting was held in Washington DC, USA. Mr. Mamoru Fujimoto (Modern Japanese Political Documents Division, Reader Services and Collections Department) attended the meeting.

The 14th International Conference on Grey Literature was held in National Research Council in Rome, Italy. The theme this year was “Tracking Innovation through Grey Literature.” From the NDL, Ms. Juri Fukuyama (Business, Science and Technology Division, Reader Services and Collections Department) attended the conference.

The 31st Mutual Visit Program between the National Library of China (NLC) and the NDL was held in Beijing. Headed by Mr. Yukio Ikemoto (Deputy Librarian), five delegates visited the NLC, and gave presentations under three themes and had discussions. The report of this year's program is available in NDL Newsletter No. 187. (For more information on the Mutual Visit Program, see Exchange Activities with Foreign Libraries.)

The Vietnam Parliament Workshop was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, under the theme of “Experience of other countries - Library of Parliament.” Mr. Kazuto Yamaguchi (Deputy Director General, Research and Legislative Reference Bureau) attended the conference and made a presentation titled “Organization and Operation of the National Diet Library of Japan” (Presentation file: [PDF500KB])

The 2012 Workshop for Overseas Korean Studies Librarians was held in Seoul, Korea. Mr. Junzo Fukuyama (Asian Resources Division, Kansai-kan) participated in the workshop and made a presentation titled “NDL’s Korean related materials and information services” (Presentation file (Korean): PDF 396 KB)

Ms. Amy E. Ryan (President of the Boston Public Library (BPL)) was invited to the NDL to give a lecture “Fulfilling the Public Library’s 21st Century Potential: The Power of a Strategic Plan” at the Tokyo Main Library. The summary of Ms. Ryan’s presentation is available in NDL Newsletter No. 186.

The 9th International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects (iPRES2012) was held in Toronto, Canada. Mr. Masaki Shibata (Senior Librarian, Kansai-kan) attended the conference. Mr. Shibata also attended International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) Working Group Meetings.

The 23rd Conference of the European Association of Japanese Resource Specialists (EAJRS) was held in Berlin, Germany. Ms. Tomoko Okuda (Digital Library Division, Kansai-kan) attended the conference and made presentations titled “Digital Library Services of the NDL after the Mass Digitization: Please use the NDL Collections from Europe!” (Presentation file: [PDF1.81MB])

The 15th Mutual Visit Program between the National Library of Korea (NLK) and the NDL was held, and Ms. Oh Hye-Yeong (Director, The Bibliographic Control Division), Ms. Kim Sunmi (Librarian, Collection Management and Service Division), and Ms. Kwak Suyoung (Librarian, Collection Management and Service Division), of NLK visited Japan. The report of this program is available in NDL Newsletter No. 185. (For more information on the Mutual Visit Program, see Exchange Activities with Foreign Libraries.)

The International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications 2012 was held in Kuching, Malaysia, under the title of Metadata for Meeting Global Challenges. Ms. Yoko Shibata (Digital Information Distribution Division, Digital Information Department) attended the conference.

The 33rd International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) World Congress 2012 was held in London, England. Ms. Kazuko Sakata (Director General, International Library of Children's Literature) attended the conference.

The 20th Meeting of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries in Asia and Oceania (CDNLAO) and the 15th Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL) were held under the title of "National Heritage: Preservation and Dissemination" in Bali, Indonesia. Mr. Hidetoshi Kanebako (Director General, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department) was among the 21 delegates from 17 countries who attended the conference, as a proxy of Mr. Otaki, Librarian of the NDL, and made a presentation titled "The Great East Japan Earthquake and libraries".

ISO/TC46 Plenary Meeting was held in Berlin, Germany. Mr. Naoto Kawase (Digital Information Distribution Division, Digital Information Department) attended the conference.

The International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) General Assembly was held in Washington DC, USA. Mr. Masaki Shibata (Senior Librarian, Kansai-kan) attended the assembly and made a presentation titled "Web archiving in 2012 at the National Diet Library, Japan" (Presentation file: PDF [293KB]).

"Tools of Change for Publishing" was held in Bologna, Italy. Ms. Yumi Mitobe (Planning Cooperation Division, International Library of Children’s Literature) attended the conference.

The annual meetings of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and the Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL), and the meeting of the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC) were held in Toronto, Canada. Ms. Terumi Fukushi (Library Counsellor, Reader Services and Collections Department) and Mr. Seiya Takashina (Assistant Director, Digital Information Planning Division, Digital Information Department) attended the meetings. In the CEAL meeting, Ms. Fukushi made a presentation titled "Introduction to the National Diet Library: remotely available resources on site access archival and research materials" (Presentation file: PDF 1.46 MB); in the NCC meeting, Ms. Fukushi and Mr. Takashina gave a report "National Diet Library 2011: Launching New Services and Building the Digital Archive of the Great East Japan Earthquake" (Presentation file: PDF 1.75 MB)