• Workshop on Flooding Disaster Preparedness and Response for the Protection of Documentary Heritage of Local Communities in Pathum Thani Province, Thailand
• KOREA-CHINA-JAPAN International Conference on Preservation
• Acceptance of trainees from the National Library of Korea
• New leaflet
• E-learning
• 19th pH Survey of new publications
• 18th Forum on preservation

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• March, 2006

On August 29 and 30, 2012, a workshop entitled as above was held by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts (SEAMEO SPAFA) in Thailand. IFLA PAC Regional Center for Asia gave support to SPAFA in planning the workshop programme. From the National Diet Library, Michiko Kawanabe, Director of the Preservation Division, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department, and Naoko Murakami, conservation staff of the same division, were invited as trainers and speakers. Lectures on disaster preparedness and the experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake by Kawanabe are available in NDL Newsletter No.184. The following manuals were used by Murakami in the practicum on how to treat damaged materials.

• Drying wet materials [PDF:296KB]
• Cleaning mold-damaged materials [PDF:206KB]

From July 7 to 11, 2008, a preservation conference with specialists from China and Japan was held in the National Library of Korea, in Seoul. From the National Diet Library, Ms. Kaoru Oshima, Director of the Preservation Division, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department, and Ms. Satoko Muramoto, Assistant Director of the same division, participated in the conference. Under the theme of "Preservation Cooperation and Update Conservation Techniques in Asia," two presentations were made by the participants from each country; one about cooperative preservation work with other libraries and the other about case-study of conservation techniques.

Related Articles:
KOREA-CHINA-JAPAN International Conference on Preservation, National Diet Library Newsletter, No. 162, August 2008.
http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/publication/ndl_newsletter/162/623.html

The IFLA/PAC Regional Centre for Asia received two trainees from the National Library of Korea, from June 17 to 18, 2008. The Preservation Division provided them with the training in the restoration of books bound in western style and those in Japanese style.

The National Diet Library made a new leaflet "Preservation and conservation of the National Diet Library" (both Japanese and English versions)

Preservation and conservation of the National Diet Library (PDF file: 737KB)

The National Diet Library developed an e-learning system for library staff members, and has continued to provide an online training course on preservation and conservation since 2006. The second term of this e-learning started in November 2007, the number of participants was 250 members including staff members of overseas libraries such as librarians of Japanese literature. The total number of participants has reached 636. The third term will start in November 2008.
Under the theme "Basic theory of preservation and conservation," there are lectures about the method, the environment, and the measures of preservation. This e-learning is expected to complement the Preservation and Conservation Training Program held yearly at the National Diet Library.

The Preservation Division gave out recently the result of the 19th pH testing of current Japanese publications published in 2006 and held by the National Diet Library. The testing was conducted from December 2007 to January 2008.

By random sampling, 1,658 items from 96,152 monographs and 627 items from 19,465 titles of periodicals were picked out. We selected 1,581 items of the 2,083 items, excluding items in use and materials printed on coated paper. The rate of acid-free paper use was 96.1 % in monographs, 95.1 % in periodicals and 95 % in total.

The National Diet Library has conducted the survey since 1986, in order to promote the use of acid-free paper. Considering that the rate of acid-free paper was over 95% in total, the goal has been achieved.

The purpose of the Forum is to enable experts on preservation and conservation to share and exchange information. In September 2007, the National Diet Library held the 18th Forum on Preservation. This time, we picked up the issue of preservation of microforms, which has been becoming a big problem in domestic libraries. About 140 people participated in the forum in total: about 80 people from domestic institutions related to preservation including libraries and archives.

In 2008, we will hold the forum under the theme of IPM (Integrated Pest Management).

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