1. Institutional and actual activities of the National Diet Library's collection development

Under the National Diet Library Law, the NDL aims to collect library materials for the purpose of assisting the members of the National Diet in the performance of their duties and also for the purpose of providing certain library services for the executive and judicial agencies of the national government and for the people of Japan. 

Main Building Stacks

In respect of domestic publications in particular, the NDL, as the sole national library in Japan, has a role to collect them all via the legal deposit system stipulated in the National Diet Library Law and by other means. The publications applicable to the legal deposit system include not only paper publications but also offline electronic publications since October 2000. Though online electronic publications are not included in the system at the moment, the NDL has started to collect such publications selectively. As for the legal deposit system, the NDL has been trying to improve the level of understanding among publishers about it, to collect publication's information, and to encourage publishers to deposit their publications.

The "NDL Guideline for Acquisition of Materials" (PDF file: 20KB, Japanese only) was established as the guideline for collection development (Librarian's Decision No. 2, June 11, 1993, last amended: Librarian's Decision No. 2, March 31, 2002). This guideline presents an outline of acquisition policy to carry out NDL's mission successfully. Its Article 3 stipulates acquisition of foreign materials. The NDL will selectively acquire foreign publications, regardless of media, by purchase, international exchange, gift, and other means. Publications in the following subjects and fields are regarded as especially important:

Statutes and parliamentary documents

Publications on Japan

Reference materials

Materials on science and technology

Publications of international organizations and foreign governments

Children's literature and related materials

Asian materials

Based on the guideline, the "Policy for Acquisition of Materials, 3rd ed.", was established in March 2004 that stipulated selection criteria in details such as media, kind, scope, language, subject and priority. The policy consists of six chapters: domestic publications, foreign publications, legislative materials, materials for services in the Tokyo Main Library, the Kansai-kan of the NDL, and the International Library of Children's Literature. 

Based on the guideline and the policy, the divisions responsible select the materials to be acquired. The scope of selection will vary in accordance with the subjects, kinds and languages that each division covers. Each division can appoint staffers of other divisions as selection collaborative staff for special subjects and languages. The Collection Development Committee, consisting the director of the Acquisition Administration Division (chair) and other directors of the divisions in charge of selection, organizes the whole NDL collection and evaluates its result, and researches and examines the acquisition policy and details of selection work. In addition, the Selection Liaison Conference operates for working-level communication between the Acquisition Department and the divisions in charge of selection. The committee and the conference review the "Activity Report of Acquisition of Materials" that includes the previous fiscal year's acquisition results and tasks and problems for the future.

As for acquisition of online electronic publications, the Web Archiving Project (WARP) has started to preserve information on the Internet in Japan as cultural property to be handed down to future generations. Through the WARP, the NDL acquires and preserves websites of central government, cities and towns that have been consolidated and subsequently disappeared, and temporary events, and provides them to the public after copyright clearance.
 

2. Current topics

There is a large movement for the acquisition of web resources. The "National Diet Library Digital Library Medium Term Plan for 2004" (February 2004) sets forth in detail the direction in which electronic library services will be oriented at the NDL over the next five years, and presents the frameworks required for realizing such services. Construction of digital archives is one of the objectives stipulated in the plan and digitization of materials, collection of online resources, and provision of information for access or storage (e.g. metadata) are needed to fulfill it. For the collection of online resources, the "Optimal Acquisition System for Online Electronic Publications" (PDF file: 1.61MB, Japanese only) was submitted to the Librarian of the NDL by the Legal Deposit System Council, a consultative body to the Librarian, in December 2004. The report said that collecting online resources requires the establishment of a new system other than the existing Legal Deposit System. In response to the report, the Web Archiving Institutionalization Task Force was established in the NDL and formulated a draft of Policy to Institutionalize Web Archiving Project. Through explanatory meetings with publishers and copyright-related organizations, and hearing public comments, the task force revised the policy and has been preparing legislation.

 

The NDL will start to microfilm 71,000 volumes of books in the Gordon W. Prange Collection, owned by the University of Maryland Libraries (USA), a comprehensive collection of publications in Japan in the early period of Occupation by the Allied Powers after the WWII. They were compulsorily submitted to the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ/SCAP) for censorship. As the first phase of the project, 8,000 children's books will be microfilmed in color in a three-year term plan. 

related article

The "Policy for Acquisition of Materials, 3rd ed." will be revised soon. The new edition will reflect the content of the report of the Legal Deposit Council, the "Recommendation for Optimal Organization of Materials on Science and Technology in the Electronic Information Environment" (PDF file: 325KB, Japanese only) submitted by the Council on Organization of Materials on Science and Technology (December 2004), and the "Report of the Board of Inquiry on Expansion of Library Services of the International Library of Children's Literature" (March 2005) ( PDF file: 675KB, Japanese only). For example, the Council on Organization of Materials on Science and Technology recommends that NDL should promote policies such as the construction of an inclusive digital archive of domestic information resources, adaptation and provision of foreign electronic journal and long-term preservation of digital resources. It should be noted, however, that when acquiring foreign materials including materials on science and technology, there is a problem that we have to carefully choose either paper form or digital form such as electronic journals because the budget is limited. The choice should be made after a consideration from several points of view such as characteristics of media, prospective trends of circulation of publications, ease of use, and reliability in preservation. In the electronic information environment, it will be a big problem for the NDL how to rank paper forms among other media.

 

In addition, an actual condition survey of acquisition of materials on Japan has been discussed as part of collection evaluation for foreign materials. It may show up problems in acquisition methods. The international exchange program has also been reviewed for efficiency. 

The birds of Asia / by John Gould.  Dedicated to the honourable East Asia Company. London: Printed by Taylor and Francis, published by the author, 1850-83.
7 v.  530 col. pl.  imp.fol.(56 cm)  [NDL call no.WB31-28]
Designated as semi-rare books in 2004