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

The NDL signed an Agreement with the Library of Congress (LC) to take part in the World Digital Library (WDL).
The WDL is a digital library project proposed by Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress, in 2005. In cooperation with UNESCO, it aims to construct a website with which you can have a panoramic view of distinctive materials including manuscripts, maps, rare books, films and photographs from cultures around the world by region, by theme, and in chronological order, based on the contributions of partner institutions.
As of December 2008, 27 institutions including LC are participating in the WDL. The NDL is planning to select 15 contents from “Rare Books of the National Diet Library - The 60th anniversary,” “Modern Japan in archives – 100-years history from the opening of the country to the San Francisco Peace Treaty,” etc, to provide their digital images, metadata and English descriptions. The WDL website is scheduled to open in April 2009.

Mr. Nigel Spencer, Head of Research/Business Development Manager, Business & IP Centre, British Library, was invited to the NDL to give a lecture “Services developed by the British Library to support entrepreneurs and small business development." A brief report of the lecture and discussion is available in NDL Newsletter No.166.

The 2nd Mutual Visit Program between the NDL and the National Assembly Library of Korea (NAL) was held in Korea. Mr. Kaoru Omagari (Director, Politics and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Research and Legislative Reference Bureau) and Ms. Yoko Iwata (Assistant Director, Parliamentary Documents and Official Publications Division, Research and Legislative Reference Bureau) visited the NAL. They gave presentations on two themes, "Expertise of public institutions’ information and expanded use" and "Expertise of legal information service and public sharing," and exchanged questions and answers. (For more information on the Mutual Visit Program, see Exchange Activities with Foreign Libraries)

11th International Conference on Asian Digital Libraries (ICADL) was held in Bali, Indonesia. Mr. Masaru Nishimura (Digital Library Division, Kansai-kan) participated in the conference.

From October 20 to 22, the NDL hosted the 16th Conference of Directors of National Libraries in Asia and Oceania (CDNLAO). The theme was “Cooperation in Knowledge-based Society.” Directors of national libraries (or proxies) from 23 countries participated in the conference and discussed further cooperative relationships between national libraries in Asian and Oceania. On October 21, as a related event of the CDNLAO, an open seminar “Asia and Oceania NOW! –Libraries in the Changing Information Environment–” was held where representatives of the national libraries of Mongol, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines and the National Diet Library reported the current situation in their countries. A brief report is available in CDNLAO Newsletter No.63.
On October 23 and 24, the NDL invited delegates from the National Library of China (NLC) and the National Library of Korea (NLK) to have discussion sessions among the three countries. The theme was “Trilateral Cooperation between NLC, NLK and NDL in a Digital Archiving Project.” At the Tokyo Main Library, we confirmed the background of the trilateral cooperation and points related to future cooperation. Then at the Kansai-kan of the NDL, we discussed more specific and practical issues. A brief report is available in NDL Newsletter No.164.

The 33rd annual Directors' Meeting of ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) Centers was held in Tunis, Tunisia. Mr. Hatsuki Nishio (Director of the Serials and Non-book Materials Division, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department) participated in the meeting.

An International Policy Seminar titled "Australian Foreign Policy and the Rudd Government” was held at the Tokyo Main Library. Mr. Allan Gyngell (Executive Director, The Lowy Institute for International Policy, Australia) was invited as the lecturer.

An International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications (DC2008) was held in Berlin, Germany. Mr. Kei Shiraishi (Acquisitions Administration and Bibliographic Control Division, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department) participated in the conference.

The 19th annual conference of the European Association of Japanese Resource Specialists (EAJRS) was held in Lisbon, Portugal. From the NDL, Mr. Kosaku Oshima (Assistant Director, Reference Service Planning Division, Reference and Special Collections Department) attended the conference, giving a presentation titled "Online Gallery of the National Diet Library." (Presentation file: PDF[174KB])

The 12th European Conference on Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries was held in Arhus, Denmark. Mr. Masaki Shibata (Digital Library Division, Kansai-kan) and Mr. Akira Fukuda (Planning Division, Administrative Department) participated in the conference. Mr. Shibata also attended the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) Webstorming Sessions held in the same venue.

The 31st International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) World Congress 2008 was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. From the NDL, Ms. Satoko Konuma (Resources and Information Division, International Library of Children's Literature) participated in the conference.

The 74th annual World Library and Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) was held in Quebec, Canada. The theme this year was “Libraries without borders: Navigating towards global understanding.“ Six NDL staff members participated in the conference, led by Dr. Makoto Nagao, Librarian. Dr. Nagao also attended the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL).

Dr. Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada, was invited to the NDL to participate in the Lecture and Discussion “Looking Toward Legislation for Internet Archiving.“ He made a presentation titled “The Future is Now: Internet Archiving in Canada,“ followed by a report on Internet archiving of the NDL, by Mr. Hisanori Tanaka, Director, Digital Information Planning Office, Administrative Department of the NDL, and discussion with Dr. Makoto Nagao, Librarian of the NDL. A brief report of the lecture and discussion is available in NDL Newsletter No.163.

The KOREA-CHINA-JAPAN International Conference on Preservation was held at the National Library of Korea in Seoul. From the NDL, Ms. Kaoru Oshima, Director of the Preservation Division, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department, and Ms. Satoko Muramoto, Assistant Director of the same division, participated in the conference. Under the theme of ”Preservation Cooperation and Update Conservation Techniques in Asia,” Ms. Oshima made a presentation titled “National Diet Library’s Efforts in Information Sharing and Cooperation on Preservation,” and Ms. Muramoto reported “Condition Survey on Japanese Books Held by the National Diet Library.” A brief report of the conference and their presentations is available in NDL Newsletter No.162.

ISO/TC 46 plenary, sub-committee and working group meetings were held in Stockholm, Sweden. Mr. Kenji Uetsuki (Library Counsellor, Administrative Department) participated in the meeting.

International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) General Assembly meeting was held at the National Library of Australia, Canberra. Mr. Hisayoshi Harada (Assistant Director of the Planning Division, Administrative Department) participated in the meeting.

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 Atlanta, USA. Mr. Hideki Takeuchi (Assistant Director of the Planning Division, Administrative Department) attended the AAS and CEAL annual meetings and made a presentation on the NDL Digital Archive Portal (PORTA). (PDF[182KB]). Mr. Tadahiko Motoyoshi participated in the NCC meeting and gave a lecture titled "E-Learning: National Diet Library's Training Programs for Librarians Through the Internet" (PDF[82KB])

Dr. N. Varaprasad, Chief Executive, National Library Board, Singapore, was invited to the NDL and gave a lecture titled “Undertakings of the National Library Board, Singapore, in the Digital Information Era.” A brief report of the lecture and the handout are available in NDL Newsletter no.160.

Mr. Beacher J. E. Wiggins (Director for Acquisitions & Bibliographic Access, Library of Congress) was invited to the NDL and gave a lecture titled “Developments and Trends in Technical Services at the Library of Congress and Beyond.” A brief report of the lecture is available in NDL Newsletter no.160.

Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin (Japanese-German Center Berlin) hosted “German-Japanese Symposium: Perspectives of Developments of Academic Libraries in Germany and Japan” and a workshop "Researching Japan Information for the Japan-related Libraries in Europe" in Berlin, Germany. Ms. Yuko Sawai, Reference librarian of the Humanities Division, Reference and Special Collections Department, attended the workshop as a lecturer.

Mr. Andrew Malotle (Executive Head, Development, Communication and Marketing, National Library of South Africa) and Mr. Lesiba Stephen Ledwaba (Executive Head, Information and Communication Technology, National Library of South Africa) were invited to give a lecture titled “The National Library of South Africa and its Digital Library Projects.” A brief report of the lecture meeting and the handout are available in NDL Newsletter no.160.

2nd International IFLA Presidential Meeting 2008 was held by the German IFLA National Committee in Berlin, Germany. Mr. Takashi Tsukamoto participated in the meeting and gave a lecture titled “Preparation of information for the general public.” (Presentation file : PDF[268KB])

Ms. Kris Carpenter (Director, Web Group, Internet Archive) and Mr. Julien Masanès (Director of the European Archive) were invited to the NDL for a lecture meeting titled “Present and future prospects of web archiving - for international partnerships.” The lectures of the two experts were followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Masaru Kitsuregawa (a professor and a director of the Center for Information Fusion at the Institute of Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo). A report of the lecture meeting is available in NDL Newsletter no.160, and slides of lectures are available at "Lecture meeting and discussion "Present and future prospects of web archiving - for international partnerships".