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

The 8th International Conference on Asian Digital Libraries (ICADEL2005) was held in Bangkok, Thailand. From the NDL, Mr. Yasuro Nakao (Chief of Digitization Section, Digital Library Division, Projects Department) participated in the conference.

The NDL held an open seminar on the documentary heritage damaged by the Indian Ocean Tsunami in the Tokyo Main Library of the NDL, inviting Ms. Marie-Thérèse Varlamoff (Director, IFLA/PAC International Focal Point), Mr. Dady P. Rachmananta (Director, National Library of Indonesia), Mr. Upali Amarasiri, (Director, National Library of Sri Lanka).

The Training Program for Information Specialists for Japanese Studies in FY 2005 was held under the joint sponsorship of the NDL and the Japan Foundation (JF). 11 trainees from 10 countries (Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Korea (Republic of), Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and the United States) participated. The report of this program is available in NDL Newsletter No. 147.

The 3rd mutual visit program between the National Assembly Library of Korea (NAL) and the NDL was held. Dr. Hyun-chool Lee (Legislative Research Officer, Legislative Research Division 1, Legislative & Digital Information Library Management Office) and Dr. Jong-hyun Park (Legislative Research Officer, National Assembly Library Legislative Research Division II) visited the NDL. Participants gave presentations on "Determining customer needs and improving services" and "New development of digital information supply service" and exchanged questions and answers. For more information on the program, see  "Mutual Visit Programs between the National Diet Library and the National Assembly Library of Korea"

The 7th CO-EXIST-SEA Workshop was held in Bangkok, Thailand. From the NDL, Ms. Aya Ogasawara (Asian Resources Division, Collections Department, Kansai-kan) participated in the workshop, making a presentation titled "Asian Contents on the National Diet Library Website."

The 25th Mutual Visit Program between the National Library of China (NLC) and the NDL was held in China. Headed by Mr. Masashi Murakami, Director General of the Bibliography Department, five delegates visited the NLC and other libraries. Participants gave presentations on "Acquisition, preservation and provision of digital resources" and exchanged questions and answers. (For more information, see Mutual Visit Programs between National Diet Library and National Library of China.)

International Conference " Preserving the Digital Heritage: Principles and Policies" was held in Hague, the Netherlands. From the NDL Mr. Kazuo Takehana (Assistant Director, Digital Library Division, Projects Department, Kansai-kan) participated the meeting.

The 60th year anniversary symposium of the National Library of Korea (NLK), "21st Century Cataloging and National Bibliography Policy, " was held at the NLK in Seoul. From the NDL, Mr. Yukio Yokoyama (Assistant Director of the Bibliographic Control Division, Bibliography Department) was invited to the symposium, making a presentation titled "Bibliographic Services and Bibliographic Control of the National Diet Library."

The Annual Directors' Meeting of ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) Centers was held at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. From the NDL, Ms. Naoko Osachi (Senior Librarian of the Bibliography Department) participated in the meeting.

The 16th annual conference of the European Association of Japanese Resource Specialists (EAJRS) was held in Lund, Sweden. From the NDL, Mr. Hiroo Horiuchi  (Assistant Director of the Modern Japanese Political Documents Division, Reference and Special Collections Department) participated in the conference, making a presentation titled "Modern Japanese Political History Materials: Modern Japanese Political History Materials Room of the National Diet Library ."

An International Policy Seminar titled "Present situation and Future issues of the EU, with a focus on the economic matters" was held at the Tokyo Main Library. Prof. Corrado Molteni was invited as the lecturer from the University of Milan, Italy.

An agreement was signed between the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (national library of the Netherlands) and the National Diet Library. It states that, for the common interest in widening access to their own catalogs and collections and the preservation of the digital heritage and national paper heritage, both libraries will build a strong working relationship, share information and experience and promote the joint development of solutions for storage of and long term access to digital documents. The agreement was concluded on August 22,2005 and is effective for four years. Based on this agreement, both libraries will develop exchange and cooperation.

The 71st annual conference World Library and Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) was held in Oslo, Norway. The theme this year was "Libraries: A voyage of discovery." Five NDL staff members participated in the conference, led by Mr. Akio Yasue (Deputy Librarian). Mr. Yasue also attended the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) on behalf of Mr. Takao Kurosawa (Librarian).

The International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL) held a symposium titled "For a Wider Dissemination of Books for Children with Disabilities" which was co-hosted by the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY). Mr. Bror Tronbacke (Director of the Centre for Easy-To-Read, Sweden) and some specialists engaged in such activities in Japan were invited as lecturers and panelists. A report of the symposium will be available on the ILCL website.

The 9th Mutual Visit Program between the NDL and the National Library of Korea (NLK) was successfully held in Japan. From the NLK, three representatives, Mr. In-Yong Shin (Director of the Thesis Library), Ms. Sun-Hwa Lee (Thesis Library), and Ms. Sook-Hee Han (Library Policy and International Relations Division) visited Japan. Participants gave presentations under the theme of "Children's Services" and exchanged questions and answers. (For more information on the Mutual Visit Program, see Exchange Activities with Foreign Libraries.)

The 13th meeting of the Conference of Directors in Asia and Oceania (CDNLAO) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. From the NDL, Mr. Mikio Wanaka (Director-General of the Public Services Department) participated in the meeting on behalf of Mr. Takao Kurosawa (Librarian). The report of the meeting is available in CDNLAO Newsletter No. 53.

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 Chicago, USA. From the NDL, Ms. Kiyoko Murakami (Assistant Director of the Domestic Materials Acquisition Division, Acquisitions Department) and Mr. Ryuichi Okawa (Assistant Director of the Asian Resources Division, Collections Department, Kansai-kan of the NDL) attended the meetings. At the NCC meeting, Ms. Murakami gave a presentation titled "The Collaborative Reference Database Project of the National Diet Library of Japan."

Dr. Elisabeth Niggemann (Director General of Die Deutsche Bibliothek) was invited to the NDL and gave a lecture titled "Die Deutsche Bibliothek: the German National Library."

The International Newspapers Conference "Asia and the Pacific: Newspapers in the 21st Century" was held in Canberra, Australia. From the NDL, Mr. Kazuto Yamaguchi (Senior Secretary of the Administrative Department) participated in the meeting.

Dr. Barbara B. Tillett (Chief of the Cataloging Policy and Support Office at the Library of Congress, USA) was invited to the NDL and gave a lecture titled "Virtual International Authority File."

The NDL invited Mr. William G. Lefurgy (Digital Initiatives Project Manager, the Library of Congress Office of Strategic Initiatives) and Ms. Martha Anderson (Project Manager of the same Office) as the lecturers at the lecture meeting titled "Digital Preservation at the Library of Congress."

The 8th Biennial Conference of the Association of Parliamentary Librarians of Asia and the Pacific (APLAP) was held in New Delhi, India. From the NDL, Mr. Keiji Tsuchiya (Senior Specialist of the Research and Legislative Reference Bureau) and Mr. Yukihide Watanabe (Assistant Director of the Research Planning Division of the same Bureau) attended the conference.