CDNLAO Newsletter
No. 74, July 2012
The National Diet Library (NDL) carries out various activities as the sole national library in Japan and a library cooperation activity is one of the most important roles. This article introduces the outline of the cooperation and support activities for public libraries around Japan with current trends. For your reference, library cooperation activities shown below are offered for not only public libraries but also university libraries, special libraries, etc.
Remote service
The NDL, as a "last resort" provides ILL (Inter-Library Loan), remote photoduplication service and reference service for registered libraries.
Each usage in FY2011 is as follows.
| ILL*1 | Copying service for remote users*2 | Reference*1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public libraries | 6,464 | 12,653 | 3,051 |
| University libraries | 1,372 | 26,986 | 1,546 |
| Special libraries | 354 | 31,249 | 114 |
*1number of requests April to December 2011
*2number of articles
Creating bibliographies and data distribution
As a sole national library in Japan, the NDL acquires publications in Japan based on the legal deposit system and creates bibliographies and article indexes and distributes them to the public, including libraries. Along with a service renewal in January 2012, bibliographic data can be downloaded in the JAPAN/MARC MARC21 format in the NDL-OPAC.
Training programs
NDL provides training programs as part of its support activities for librarians with the following programs: reference service, information on science and technology, old and rare materials, Asian resources, digitization of materials, preservation and conservation and children's literature. E-Learning programs are provided through the Internet for librarians living at a distance. NDL also dispatches its staffers to give lectures on reference services for the related organizations. In FY 2011, NDL sent its staffers to a total of 24 public libraries around the nation as instructors for training programs. NDL also sent its staffers to seven university libraries. Please refer to the following page for more details: Training programs for Librarians.
National Union Catalog Network
NDL makes the National Union Catalog Network (Japanese only) of public libraries and opens it to the public. This system consists of three functions: union catalog database, retrieval function and interlibrary loan. The total number of member libraries was 1,101 as of May 2012. According to the service renewal in January 2012, the network was integrated into the "NDL Search," an integrated search system providing seamless access to database catalogs and digital contents of libraries including the NDL itself, and nationwide network of public libraries, archives, museums and academic research institutions.
Collaborative Reference Database
The Collaborative Reference Database (CRD) is a database of reference information constructed by the NDL together with member libraries throughout Japan. The object of CRD is to support reference services in each library and general users' research. Reference examples registered by member libraries are accumulated on the CRD database and shared through the Internet. As of May 2, 2012, the 563 libraries and related organizations participated in this project. 563 libraries consist of 347 public libraries, 151 university libraries and 55 special libraries. Related article is available in CDNL-AO Newsletter No.71.
Conference for the promotion of digital archiving project in public libraries
NDL has held a conference with public libraries to share the experience of the digital archiving project once a year since 2010. In 2012, the conference was held under the theme of improving the skill of staff members in charge of the building and operation of digital archives.
Besides the above examples, the NDL implements various cooperation projects such as loaning out NDL's materials for exhibitions and allocating an ISIL (the International Standard identifier for libraries and related organization) to a library or related organization.
To ensure the further development of interlibrary cooperation between the NDL and public libraries, a "Conference with directors of prefectural and major municipal libraries" is held once a year. In the conference, about 70 directors general gather at the NDL, report current trends each other and exchange views.
Copyright (C) 2012 National Diet Library
