• Index of this issue

No. 73, March/April 2012

This article introduces two aspects of the audio materials in the National Diet Library (NDL). One is the overview of the audio materials collection acquired through the legal deposit system provided for by the National Diet Library Law, and efforts to provide and preserve the collection. The other is the Historical Recordings Collection, digitized sound sources contained in domestic records such as 78-rpm records from the early 1900s to around 1950, launched in cooperation with the Historical Records Archive Promotion Conference (HiRAC) in May 2011.

1. Audio materials collection

1-1 National Diet Library's audio materials

The NDL acquires music materials such as audio materials and scores based on the legal deposit system stipulated in the National Diet Library Law. The system requires all publishers in Japan to deposit their publications with the NDL. Records were included in this system in 1949, and electric materials such as CDs and DVDs in 2000 (Some of the materials are purchased or donated by individuals and organizations).

Audio-Visual Materials Room in the Tokyo Main Library

The NDL holds approximately 660,000 audio materials with recorded sound as of the end of fiscal year 2010: as of March 2011 they include approximately 15,000 78-rpm records, 175,000 LP records, 100,000 EP records and 304,000 CDs published in Japan. The NDL also holds 3,000 Sonosheets ¹ , soft thin records developed in 1959, and 26,000 cassette tapes.

In addition, the NDL also has 27 Filmon Sound Belts ² , recording media developed and manufactured in Japan from about 1930 to 1940. The NDL also holds audiovisual materials (LD, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray etc.) recorded concerts and other musical performances.

Filmon Sound Belts

These materials can be searched on the NDL's online public access catalog, NDL-OPAC, via the Internet by checking the "Audiovisual Materials" box on the Advanced Search tab.

Audiovisual materials are available in the Audio-Visual Materials Room in the Tokyo Main Library of the NDL (Sonosheets and a part of the cassette tapes are available in the Electronic Resources Room). Accessories such as record jackets, sleeve notes and lyric sheets are also available in conjunction with them.

In addition, the Eiryo Ashihara Collection donated by the heirs of Eiryo Ashihara, a noted researcher and critic of ballet and music, contains records³. These are available in the Humanities Room in the Tokyo Main Library of the NDL.

1-2 Efforts for preservation of audio materials

Audio materials are more vulnerable to deterioration and damage than paper materials, since they are less repairable and the likelihood of their being rendered unplayable is significant. Especially 78-rpm records made from natural resins would break easily and are prone to deteriorate, so there is a risk of their becoming not playable. Not only analog records such as 78-rpm records, LPs and EPs, but also optical disks such as CDs and DVDs can get scratched on the surface, or deteriorate in a short time because of chemical change on the recording side, depending on the materials or means of preservation. Such damage makes them unplayable. Magnetic tapes such as cassette tapes and open-reel tapes can be torn or broken because of deterioration, so it is difficult to give assurance of long term usage. In addition, an audio material itself cannot be played back without reproduction equipment. As noted above, there are many issues involved in the preservation of audio materials.

The NDL preserves its holdings with caution to keep them available for future generations. To prevent deterioration and damage to the records, the NDL makes the following efforts. In order to prevent warpage and flexure caused by the weight of the disc itself, 78-rpm records and LPs are laid out flat in units of 10 in special cabinets. The NDL also carries out cleaning to get rid of mold and dust from the surface of records using dedicated special cleaning fluid and cloth.

Special cabinets for 78-rpm records and LPs

In addition, the NDL conducts research for long term preservation and usage of electronic information. As part of this, research on standards, technology and specifications of obsolete audio materials (cassette tapes, open-reel tapes, analog records, etc.) and digitization tests are conducted. You can see these research papers on the NDL's website (Japanese only)⁴.

1-3. Use of audio materials

Audiovisual materials are available in the Audio-Visual Materials Room only for research and study. If you wish to use the materials, you need to submit an application form stating the theme and purpose of your research.

In order to reduce the risk of damage or defacement by use, the materials are set on the playback device by the staff of the NDL. Friction with phonograph needles inevitably causes attrition and is to damage the surface of the disc, so the NDL has introduced laser turntables which read sound with laser instead of phonograph needles. Most of 78-rpm records were converted to the cassette tape medium from 1975 to 1989, and we provide users with the cassette tapes instead of the 78-rpm record discs.

As explained above, the NDL undertakes various efforts to safely pass on the precious audio materials which transfer culture down the generations.

2. Offering the Historical Recordings Collection

The Historical Recordings Collection consists of sound sources of 78-rpm records and masters digitized by the Historical Records Archive Promotion Conference (HiRAC). The NDL began to offer the collection on May 31, 2011. Now about 26,000 sound sources are available at selected computer terminals inside the NDL, and ultimately 50,000 sound sources will be provided. Of them, six hundred of which the protection period of copyright and the related rights have expired are also available on the Internet.

Within the framework of its contract with the HiRAC, the NDL launched in January 2012 an experimental service of delivering sound sources within the protection period of copyright and the related rights to public libraries via the Internet. These sound recordings are available for free inside the public libraries enrolled in this service as well as in the NDL's facilities. As of March 1, 2012, over 40 public libraries across the country are enrolled.

Data delivered by the HiRAC for the Historical Recordings Collection is uncompressed WAV (RIFF Waveform Audio Format) files. Since the data size of a WAV file is too large to provide to users, the NDL transforms and compresses the sound into MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3), stores them in the FLV (Flash Video) files and delivers them by streaming.

If the PC and the browsing software satisfy system requirements ⁵ , it is possible to play the sound and control volume on the screen without installing any additional audio playback software.

Sound sources you can listen to on the Internet include the following:

Solo: Libiamo ne' lieti calici (http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1316768/1)

Address: About election (http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1315891/1)

"Haru no Umi" (lit. Spring Sea) (http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1319027/1)

Besides the above, the Historical Recordings Collection contains sound sources of various categories such as Rakugo (comic story telling), Nagauta (long epic song), orchestral music, opera, pop song, lecture, jazz, etc. We hope you will listen to these historically and culturally significant Japanese sound sources.

¹ Asahi Sonorama's trademark "Sonosheet" is well known in general, although it is also called "Sheet records" or "Phonosheet." Sonosheets were mainly used as magazine supplements. The oldest sonosheet the NDL holds is the supplement of a magazine titled "Kodama Utau Zasshi" (lit. Echo, Magazine for Singing), no.1, Kodama Press, November 1959, NDL call no.: YMF-48

² As the NDL does not have playback equipment, Filmon sound belts which have not been transferred to cassette tapes cannot be used.

³ For details, please refer: http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/publication/ndl_newsletter/116/163.html

⁴ Please refer: http://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/aboutus/preservation_01_2010.html

⁵ Correct operation has been confirmed in the following environment. OS:Windows / Browsers:Internet Explorer 7 or8, Firefox 3.6, Safari 5 or Google Chrome 6. Adobe Flash Player (version 10 or above) is required to play the audio clip of the Historical Recordings Collection.