In 1989, the National Diet Library (NDL) of Japan, was designated as the IFLA/PAC Regional Centre for Asia and drew up a preservation cooperation program, whose main aims are preservation information services and educational and PR programs.  Based on the program, the Centre started its activities formally in 1990.  This report outlines our activities to date, including a report "Activities of PAC Regional Centre for Asia from January to December 2002" that was submitted to the PAC International Focal Point.

I. Activities of IFLA/PAC: Regional sharing of responsibilities and sharing of field of excellence

PAC (IFLA Core Activity for Preservation and Conservation) is one of the core activities of IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions)'s proprity matters.  The purpose of PAC is to ensure that library materials, published and unpublished, in all formats, will be preserved in an accessible form for as long as possible.  At present, PAC International Focal Point in France and six Regional Centres all over the world are responsible for each assigned region, and they cooperate with each other in carrying out PAC activities.

At the 2001 meeting of PAC Regional Centre directors held in Boston it was decided that each Centre should establish its own field of excellence.  As a result, digital preservation was assigned to be shared by the Library of Congress and the National Library of Australia; deacidification, audiovisual carriers and photography to the Library of Congress; IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and newspapers preservation to the National Library of Venezuela; training to the Library for Foreign Literature (Russia); paper conservation to the National Diet Library; and risk preparedness to Bibliothèque nationale de France (See Figure 1).  Each Centre is required to open its information and share the knowledge acquired in its field of excellence by contributing to the IFLA/PAC publication "International Preservation News" and other channels.

1. Preservation information service

The preservation information service includes the following activities:
  (1) Collection and provision of information about preservation
  (2) Reference service
  (3) Drawing up and distributiing publications

(1) Collection and provision of information about preservation
The staff of the Preservation Division, which acts as the secretariat of the Centre, and some supporting staff in the NDL are collecting information on preservation (for the reorganization of the NDL in fiscal year 2002, see the "Activities of PAC Regional Centre for Asia from January to December 2002").  Among others, the pH surveys on newly-acquired materials, which have been carried out by the NDL for sixteen years, will be described here.

The pH surveys on newly-acquired materials and announcement of results
In Japan, interest in the deterioration of library materials caused by acid paper deepened in the 1980s.  We need to take measures for newly published library materials, as well as for preservation of the intellectual property of the past.  Since 1986, the NDL has been conducting the annual pH survey on newly-acquired materials and publicizing the results in the "National Diet Library Monthly Bulletin."  At the same time, the NDL made and distributed a leaflet "Please use acid-free paper - for the future of books" to raise awareness in the publishing industry and amomg people in charge of official publications of the need to use acid-free paper.  As a result, the use rate of acid-free paper for commercial publications reached 80 % in 1993 and that for official publications exceeded 80 % in 2001.  For details of this project, please see our contribution to "International Preservation News" No. 28 - December 2002.  It is the first report from the Regional Centre for Asia on preservation of paper, in compliance with the decision at the above-mentioned meeting of PAC Regional Centre directors.

(2) Reference service
IFLA/PAC Regional Centre for Asia responds to about 30 inquiries about preservation annually. 

(3) Drawing up and distributing publications
The Centre distributes publications issued by the International Focal Point, such as "International Preservation News" and "IFLA Principle for the Care and Handling of Library Material," to the organizations within the region it is responsible for.  It has edited and published the proceedings of symposiums held by the Asia Regional Centre, which will be mentioned later.

2. Educational and PR programs

Educational and PR programs consist of:
  (1) Holding symposiums and workshops 
  (2) Sending lecturers, receive trainees 
  (3) Lending audio-visual materials related to preservation education 
  (4) Drawing up and distributing pamphlets and posters for educational or PR use 

I report on (1) and (2) here.

(1) Holding symposiums and workshops
International symposium 
From the "Library collection in crisis" in 1990 to the "Networks in Asia: Preservation Cooperation Hereafter" in 1999, we have been holding an international symposium every year under such themes as preservation of newspapers, cooperation for preservation, preservation of electronic information and permanent paper. 

As a result of the wide variety of panel members participating and the urgent issues on preservation taken up in the symposium, we have increased domestic interest in preservation. The proceedings were edited by the National Diet Library and published by the Japan Library Association. All the proceedings were issued in Japanese only. Though some of the outlines of the symposiums are provided on the NDL website, we have not yet managed to share the results of the symposiums in the area of our responsibility. We have to enhance our transmission of information in Asia with its many languages, so we consider beginning by enriching our English website. Holding symposiums on timely themes and sharing the fruits with colleagues in Asia are our future challenges.

Forums on preservation
We have held fourteen forums on various preservation issues intended for Japanese specialists since 1990, under the theme of "Deterioration of paper and effectiveness of deacidification."

In 1998, we had Mr. Naoshi Saito of the National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster and Mr. Shuûzô Kino of Kino architect’s office as lecturers in a forum on "How to put out a fire? – fire extinguishing facilities in libraries and archives." In 2000, we had Mr. Yujiro Ogawa, Executive Director of the Asian Disaster Reduction Center as lecturer in a forum on "Making a disaster prevention plan and putting it into practice." Preparation against every kind of disaster to prevent library materials from being damaged is one of the PAC's important tasks. Japan is prone to suffer from earthquakes. The Asia Regional Centre should draw up a salvage plan for library materials immediately. We are going to hold a forum on  "Preparing against disasters - Disaster prevention and salvage planning for library materials" with Mr. Kazunori Oryu, Associate Professor of Kyoto University of Art & Design, as lecturer in March 2003.

Preservation and Conservation Training Program
Most Japanese libraries do not have expert conservation staff. However, librarians strongly hope to be able to repair damaged materials and make  them available again. To meet their demands, we have been holding an annual preservation and conservation training program titled "You too can  repair library materials" since 1997.

(2) Sending lecturers, receive trainees
The NDL has received eighteen trainees from eight nations and regions at the request of the Japan Foundation or the trainees’ institutions.

Sending of professional conservators abroad
Under the Japan Foundation’s program or invitations, the National Diet Library has sent a total of eleven staff members to ten countries up to the present.
 

3. Cooperation with other IFLA/PAC Regional Centres and overseas libraries

(1) Questionnaire on UNESCO "Memory of the World" program (1995)
In 1992, UNESCO started the "Memory of the World" program as part of the "World Heritage Activity" in collaboration with the IFLA and the ICA (International Council on Archives). The objective of this program is to preserve on a global basis documentary heritage in danger of disappearing and to assure their availability. In 1995, to make a list of present activities to preserve documentary heritage, we sent a questionnaire for a survey of preservation activities in libraries made by the IFLA/PAC Regional Centre for Oceania and South East Asia (National Library of Australia) to fifteen national libraries of fourteen nations. We also conducted another survey of 300 institutes such as public libraries and university libraries  in Japan that asked about the general condition of their holdings and so on. Results of this survey were published in the National Diet Library Monthly Bulletin No. 433 (April 1997). 

(2) Cooperation with the IFLA/PAC Regional Centre for Oceania and South East Asia (National Library of Australia)
In 2001, the Centre cooperated with the IFLA/PAC Regional Centre for Oceania and South East Asia (National Library of Australia) and conducted a survey to figure out the microfilming needs for preservation. Based on the result of this survey, the National Library of Australia is developing the Preservation Microfilming Training Materials.

(1) Cooperation for the preparation of preservation section of the National Library of Korea
Please refer to the Annual Report of Activities of PAC Regional Centre for Asia to be mentioned later and "The report of study tour (China and Japan), News from the National Library of Korea."

(2) The 6th Preservation and Conservation Training Program
On November 21 and 22, 2002, the 6th Preservation and Conservation Training Program was held in the newly opened Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library. Among the trainees, 25 out of 31 people were from the central and west regions of Japan. The result of questionnaire for trainees shows a high level of satisfaction. Previous training programs were all held in Tokyo and this was the first one to be held in western Japan. We realized again the importance of providing training occasions widely. We will enhance our program including the possibility of remote training program.

(3) Trainee from the Geological Research and Development Center, Indonesia

Ms. Fatiani trying to bind a book
 

From January 27 to 31, 2003, we welcomed Ms. H. S. Fatiani from the Geological Research and Development Center, Indonesia. Her training was programmed to give her knowledge of preservation and restoration and also techniques of restoring paper materials. This training was planned  at the request of the Saitama Prefectural Library. Ms. Fatiani was invited to Saitama on the "Technical Trainees Aid Program" sponsored by Saitama Prefecture. One librarian of the Saitama Prefectural Library and one Senior Overseas Volunteer of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) participated in the training program with Ms. Fatiani.
 
 

IV. Annual Report of Activities of PAC Regional Centre for Asia, 2002

To introduce activities of the Centre in 2002, I quote the "Activities of PAC Regional Centre for Asia, 2002" that was submitted to the International Centre of IFLA/PAC Core Programme. Please see here.
 

V. Conclusion 

The Centre will make further efforts such as enhancement of the Centre's web site to achieve the PAC's goal in cooperation with the International Focal Point and other Regional Centres. In this process, information sharing in the region is required.The Centre welcomes any inquiries about our activities from not only the member libraries of the CDNLAO but also other Asian libraries. At the same time, we also welcome your support and cooperation for our activities.