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Bibliographic Data of the National Diet Library Digital Collections

The National Diet Library (NDL) provides basic metadata datasets of the NDL Digital Collections. These datasets include basic bibliographic data for the following:

  • Books, periodicals, rare books, and old materials (title, volume, series title, edition, creator, publisher, publication year, and ISBN or ISSN, extent such as page numbers or size, subject and classification according to NDC, NDLC, subject, or Old Material Classifications) as well as digitized images (persistent ID and access restrictions)
  • Doctoral dissertations digitized by the NDL (title, creator, university, or grantor of degree, dissertation number, degree name, year granted, publication year) as well as digitized images (persistent ID and access restrictions)
  • Historical Recordings Collection (title, lyricist, composer, artist/performer, label name, release date, product number, genre) and persistent ID of digitized recordings
  • When more than one value exists for a single attribute, the values are separated by "||."

Public Domain Mark

These datasets, except for digital images and digital recordings referenced by these metadata, are provided as public domain, and there are no restrictions on use of them.

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Bibliographic Data of Japanese Publications (Most Recent Year)

The National Diet Library (NDL) provides basic metadata dataset of the publications published in Japan. That dataset includes NDL Online URL and basic bibliographic data (FMT (material type), National Bibliography Number, ISBN, ISSN, title and creator, edition, series title, publication information, size and duration).

  • This bibliographic data is metadata about Japanese publications; domestic publications and foreign publications in Japanese. The bibliographic data cataloged by the NDL in the year (from January to December) is included.
  • The information of the bibliographic items is subject to change. There are some cases in which the URL does not navigate to the page of the NDL Online.
  • FMT (material type) comes in six types: BK (books), CF (computer files), MP (maps), MU (music), SE (serials), and VM (visual materials).

Public Domain Mark

These datasets are provided as public domain, and there are no restrictions on use of them.

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Bibliographic ID List

The National Diet Library (NDL) provides the bibliographic data through online services such as the NDL Online, the NDL Search, the NDL Digital Collections. They include different bibliographic items and different target materials. For more efficient use of the bibliographic data, the NDL provides the list of identifiers (IDs) which could integrate individual bibliographic data.

  • (1)The list includes the following IDs:
    • NDL Bibliographic ID (NDLBibID)
    • National Bibliography Number (JPNO)
    • International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
    • Permanent identifier added by the NDL (NDLJP) (PID)
    For further details, please see the About Bibliographic ID List (txt: 6 KB) (Japanese).
  • (2)The list was made from bibliographic data, dated July 25, 2023. The data are subject to change. For the latest data, please see the NDL Search or the NDL Digital Collections. Furthermore, NDL Search and the NDL Digital Collections support only a limited number of concurrent requests to prevent server overload. Access might not be available when web traffic is heavy.

Public Domain Mark

These datasets are provided as public domain, and there are no restrictions on use of them.

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Beta Version of International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations (ISIL) LOD

The ISIL (International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations) is an identifier which can be allocated to libraries and relevant organizations, such as archives and museums. The NDL operates the National Agency for ISIL in Japan and provides ISIL LOD as part of its initiatives to promote LOD. Please contact us if you have any inquiries or opinions.
This ISIL LOD is version 1.2 Beta (November 7, 2022).

Public Domain Mark

These datasets are provided as public domain, and there are no restrictions on use of them.

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Bibliographic Data of Books on Japan in Foreign Languages

The National Diet Library (NDL) has been acquiring books on Japan in foreign languages published in and out of the country. These datasets include selected fields of bibliographic data for such books (URI, bibliographic ID, NDL call number, ISBN, title, creator, edition, series information, publication information, page number, size, language code, country code, NDLC, headings for personal names (authority data ID), and headings for corporate body names (authority data ID).
Two datasets are provided, one of which includes bibliographic data created from January 2002 to September 2023. The other dataset includes data created within six months from April 2023 to September 2023.

  • (1)These datasets contain bibliographic data for books in the following categories:
    • Books on Japan in Western languages
      • Books in Western languages on subjects related to Japan
      • Books in Western languages authored by Japanese citizens or people of Japanese heritage
    • Books on Japan in Asian languages
      • Books in Asian languages on subjects related to Japan
      • Books in Asian languages authored by Japanese citizens or people of Japanese heritage
    • Children's books on Japan published in other countries
      • Children's books in foreign languages on subjects related to Japan
      • Children's books in foreign languages authored by Japanese citizens or people of Japanese heritage
  • (2)For the language code and country code, ISO 639-2 and ISO 3166 had been used in the Beta version of this dataset. However, MARC Code List for Languages (external link) and MARC Code List for Countries (external link) are used in the present version.
  • (3)The information of the bibliographic items is subject to change.

Public Domain Mark

These datasets are provided as public domain, and there are no restrictions on use of them.

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Bibliographic Data from "Introduction of Reference Books" in Research Navi

The National Diet Library (NDL) selects reference books from the books and periodicals published in Japan it acquires, and introduces them in the "Introduction of Reference Books" section in Research Navi. The following data sets are provided for the reference books introduced in this section.

  • Basic bibliographic records (NDL Bibliographic ID, National Bibliography No. (JPNO), NDC Assigned in the Introduction of Reference Books, NDL Call Number, Title, Title Transcription, Material Type, Publication Frequency, Edition, Author, Place of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date, Number of Pages, Size, Accompanying Material Information, Price, ISBN, ISSN, Series Title, Note, Contents)
  • Bibliographical introduction about the reference book (limited to certain publications)

Please note the following when using the dataset:

  • (1)The dataset will be posted four times a year (January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December), based on the date the book was recorded in the "Introduction of Reference Books" in Research Navi. The first publication is for October-December 2023.
  • (2)It is not possible to output the same file as this dataset from the "Introduction of Reference Books" page of Research Navi or the search results of the NDL Search.
  • (3)The information of the bibliographic items is subject to change.
  • (4)When using the dataset, you must cite the source of the data as from the "Introduction of Reference Books" in NDL's Research Navi.

These datasets are available in accordance with the Terms of Use of the National Diet Library's website, and may also be used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode, referred to as the CC License) in lieu of the Terms of Use of the National Diet Library's website.

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Bibliographic Data of the Former Collection of the Shanghai Xinhua Bookstore

This dataset includes basic bibliographic data of about 140,000 Chinese books which were formerly owned by the Shanghai Xinhua Bookstore (title, volume, statement of responsibility, edition, place of publication, publisher, publication date, format, series, and the NDL Online URL).

Xinhua Bookstore was a state-owned bookstore originally established in Yan'an in 1937, and as a publishing agent and distributor, played a central role in the publishing industry of China from the 1950s to the 1970s. Its Shanghai branch opened in 1949, and was a major logistics base in the eastern part of China. This dataset is a catalog of this bookstore's holdings. As a substantial collection of Chinese publications from the 1930s to the 1990s, it is a valuable resource that tells the situation of the publishing industry at that time. To learn more about the collection itself, refer to the Research Navi's "Materials held in the Asian Resources Room: ‘Former Collection of the Shanghai Xinhua Bookstore'" (in Japanese).

Please note the following in using the dataset:

  • When the original material is written in traditional characters, they are generally converted into the simplified alternative. However, about 1% of the bibliographic data are inputted in traditional characters.
  • 6,000 children's books are included in the original collection, but are not in this dataset.
  • This bibliographic data is dated July 22, 2020.

If there are any questions or concerns, please contact us using the contact information for inquiries about the Free Data Service.

Public Domain Mark

These datasets are provided as public domain, and there are no restrictions on use of them.

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Contact for Inquiries about Free Data Service

Standardization Section, Digital Information Distribution Division,
Digital Information Department, National Diet Library
E-mail: standardizationat n d l dot g o dot j p

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