No. 120, July 2001

The 5th Mutual Visit Program between
the National Diet Library
and the National Library of Korea

A National Library of Korea (NLK) delegation visited Japan from May 21 to 28 on the 5th mutual visit program between NDL and NLK. The program started in 1997 to promote interlibrary cooperation and to strengthen mutual understanding. 

Headed by Mr. Jae-Yoon Kwon, Librarian of the Branch Library, NLK, this delegation had the following other members: Ms. Kyung-Ae Lee, librarian of the Library Training Division, and Ms. Myun Hwang, librarian of the Public Service Division. 

The program consisted mainly of a seminar and study visits to the Library of the Institute of Developing Economies, the International Christian University Library, the International Library of Children's Literature and Kyoto Prefectural Library. The three-day seminar was composed of three sessions: the first session for keynote speeches, the second on the subject "Training and retraining of librarians" and the third for conclusions. 

We introduce here summaries of the speeches given in the seminar. 

Seminar I : Opening session (Keynote speeches)

• "The National Library of Korea in the 21st century" by Mr. Jae-Yoon Kwon, Librarian of the Branch Library, NLK 
• "The National Diet Library's activities - an update" by Mr. Noriyoshi Tsuchiya, Chief of the Library Cooperation Department, NDL 

Seminar ll : (Subject : Training and retraining of librarians)

• "The librarians' training system in Korea" by Kyung-Ae Lee, librarian of the Library Training Division, NLK 
• "Training programs for staff members of the NDL and others"by Mr. Yoshio Yanagi, Assistant Chief of the Branch Libraries Division, NDL 

Delegation from the NLK (from left):  Ms. Kyung-Ae Lee (librarian of the Library Training Division)  Mr. Jae-Yoon Kwon (Librarian of the Branch Library)  Ms. Myun Hwang (librarian of the Public Service Division)

Seminar I : Opening session (Keynote speeches)

"The National Library of Korea in the 21st century"
by Mr. Jae-Yoon Kwon, Librarian of the Branch Library, NLK 

The NLK has the following important projects: 

1. Scientific preservation plan of library materials 
2. KOLIS-NET 
3. KOLAS II 
4. Seminar for the CIP system 
5. Special education for library in the information society 

1. Scientific preservation plan of library materials 

The NLK storage capacity passed the limit and we built the Deposit Building in August 2000, which can store 4 million volumes and has automated systems. Now we stock rare books including the National Cultural Heritage and about 1.5 million volumes of preservation copy in this storage. We conduct media-conversion and preservation related projects for preserve these materials eternally. In 2001, we plan programs for training professional conservators and analyzing environmental problems that affect preservation. 

2. KOLIS-NET 

We developed a national union catalog system, KOLIS-NET (Korea Library Information System Network) on a Windows base in cooperation with public libraries and it went into operation in May 2001. Through this system you can search all library catalogs in Korea. This system will provide not only bibliographical information but also tables of contents and texts so that it covers the lack of public libraries' holdings. 

3. KOLAS II 

KOLAS II is the Windows format of KOLAS (Korea Library Automation System), a materials management system for the small public library developed from 1991 as one of the Korean Library Information System Network projects, and it is now spreading throughout the country. After extension of this system, public libraries manage all materials as a whole and users can search library catalogs through the Internet. 

4. Seminar for the CIP system 

The CIP (Cataloging in publication) system will provide standard bibliographical information to publishers before printing and print those data on books so that we can standardize bibliographical information. The NLK held a seminar to prepare for operating the CIP system along with the ISBN system. This system will be operated from 2002 and we plan to develop some programs this year. 

5. Special education for library in the information society 

As a project of "A Comprehensive Plan for the Library Informationization" conducted by the Government, we plan to select 200 public libraries to install a digital materials room and started to have special education for those libraries' staff members. For this project, we made an IT training room of 50 seats with new equipment such as LCD projectors in the Librarian Training Center. 

"The National Diet Library's activities - an update"
by Mr. Noriyoshi Tsuchiya, Chief of the Library Cooperation Department, NDL 

The NDL's recent major activities are; 

1. Preparations for the opening of the Kansai-kan (tentative name) 
2. Preparations for the full opening of the International Library of Children's Literature 
3. Reorganizing the operations of the Tokyo main library 

1. Preparations for the opening of the Kansai-kan 

The construction of the Kansai-kan is progressing satisfactorily and should be completed next March. The total floor area will be 60,000 square meters and at first we plan to stock 2 million volumes. 
The Kansai-kan's major holdings will be the following; 

• Periodicals in western languages 
• Materials related to science and technology 
• Materials related to Asia (mostly in Chinese and Korean) 

Extra copies of about 10,000 titles of periodicals indexed in the Japanese Periodicals Index will be stocked in the Kansai-kan in future in order to provide document delivery services. 

The Kansai-kan will be a center for electronic library services. Already the Electronic Library has the Rare Books Image Database and the Web-OPAC, through which users can access 2,100,000 data of Japanese books and 200,000 data of foreign language books. We plan to add more contents and bibliographical data. 

The Full-text Database System for the Minutes of the Diet is also available on our web-site. It provides the full text of minutes of the Diet from the first session held in May 1947 to the latest session. 

Last year we started to digitization of the Japanese books printed in the Meiji era in order to provide new contents when the Kansai-kan opens. 

Offline electronic publications such as CD-ROMs have been deposited from October 2000 through an amendment of the National Diet Library Law. We also plan to acquire online electric publications selectively. In the beginning, we are going to acquire online electric publications of executive agencies and academic societies in cooperation with these organizations. 

In the beginning, the Kansai-kan will mainly operate research and development related to electronic library services in order to provide a basis for solving future problems. 

The Kansai-kan is intended to be a center for library cooperation. We plan to extend the National Union Catalog Network, educational programs for librarians and services for the handicapped. 

2. Preparations for the full opening of the International Library of Children's Literature 

The International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL) was partly opened in May 2000 and is to be fully open in May 2002. More than 100,000 of the children's books temporary stocked in Tokyo main library will be transferred to the ILCL. All the conditions needed to provide the services as originally planned for the start will be met and one of the largest children's libraries in the world will be launched. 

3. Reorganizing the operations of the Tokyo main library 

The Tokyo main library, the Kansai-kan and the International Library of Children's Literature have to provide services as an integrated unity. In order to achieve this purpose, we are reorganizing the operations of the Tokyo main library. 

3-1 Services for the Diet members 

The Research and Legislative Reference Bureau was reorganized this April. The purpose of this reorganization is to reinforce operations such as providing research services and overseas legislative information and publishing materials for use in national policy deliberations. The statutes and parliamentary documents research service for the general public is to be reorganized in FY2002. 

3-2 The Electronic Library Infrastructure System 

The Electronic Library Infrastructure System is an essential condition for the Tokyo main library, the Kansai-kan and the ILCL to provide services as an integrated unity. The development is divided into several small systems and the public service system is to be operated after October 2002. This system will support circulation, photocopy service and reference services via e-mail. 

3-3 Services for the executive and judicial branches of the national government and for the general public 

We need to operate new services of this field. Some issues such as providing subject information and simplifying the procedures of document delivery service are under consideration. 

Picture left:  Seminar II : Training and retraining of librarians

Seminar ll : (Subject : Training and retraining of librarians)

"The librarians' training system in Korea"
by Kyung-Ae Lee, librarian of the Library Training Division, NLK 

1. The librarian system and training for librarians in Korea 

In Korea, training courses for the acquisition of the librarian's qualification are provided in 32 colleges, eight junior colleges and three library schools. About 2,000 people acquire the qualification every year. The librarian system is based on the Library and Reading Promotion Act and its attached regulations. The librarian's qualification is classified into three grades: senior librarian, junior librarian and associate librarian. To work for a library as a librarian, librarian's qualification is required. There are 730 senior librarians, 26,369 junior librarians and 19,382 associate librarians (46481 in total) as of the end of 2000. 

2. Retraining programs for librarians in the National Library of Korea 

The first training program for existing public librarians was held by the National Library of Korea (NLK) as the branch institute of the Government Training and Education Center in 1983. Now the NLK has a Librarian Training Division, designated by the Ministry of Government Administration as a specialized training and education institution under the Public Servants Training Law. 

The trainees are librarians from public libraries, academic libraries, special libraries and school libraries. The programs consist not only of traditional basic subjects but also of new subjects such as information technology to help librarians to keep up with the change of society. This year, the NLK is providing five new courses including information retrieval, making a web page, and management of the electronic library. 

As a project of "A Comprehensive Plan for the Library Informationization" conducted by the Government, digital materials rooms will be installed in over 400 public libraries by 2002. The NLK provides training in managing a digital materials room for the librarians of these public libraries. 

Other courses; pre-librarian training for students majoring in library science, taking lectures and doing practical exercises during the semester for 3 weeks. An overseas training program is provided for librarians in the public service and on-the-job training is given to librarians working for the NLK. 

To keep up with the intellectual information society of the 21st century, we need to provide various training programs that make it possible to develop the potential of librarians and to deal aggressively with the fast-changing society. In order to achieve this purpose, we plan to provide new training programs that include remote training and cyber training. 

"Training programs for staff members of the NDL and others"
by Mr. Yoshio Yanagi, Assistant Chief of the Branch Libraries Division, NDL 

1. FY1999 

1-1. Staff training: 
a. Training for staff in specific positions (according to the position classification system) Courses for new entrants; basic (aimed at those in their second year of service); Grade 4 (head), Grade 7 (assistant chief), and managerial position (chief). Recently training for Grade 4, Grade 7 and managerial position emphasizes training in presentation and discussion skills. 

b. Training provided by each department 
For example, training in research and reference work conducted by the Research and Legislative Reference Bureau. These courses are designed to produce the specific skills required in the department, but some of them are open to staff of other departments. 

c. Others 
We provide special training (lectures on specific themes), language training and others on occasion. 

1-2. Training for librarians 
a. Open lectures on library information science 
b. Training for librarians of the branch libraries placed in the executive agencies of the government 
c. Training for librarians and students (10 people, 5 courses, in 1999) 
d. Training Program for Librarians in Japanese Studies (64 people from 25 countries, 1996-2000) 

2. FY2000, 2001 

In addition to the training programs mentioned above, we plan the following programs in preparation for after the opening of the Kansai-kan. 

a. Special training in reference work for librarians of major public libraries (February-March 2001, 3 days) 
b. Preparation for web-based remote training programs 
c. NDL Staff training on information system 

3. From April 2002 

The Personnel Division in the Tokyo main library will provide all staff training programs except for the training provided by each department. The contents of programs will be revised. In the Kansai-kan, the Cooperation Division (provisional name) will provide special training programs for librarians (domestic and overseas including staff members of the NDL) and operate related projects such as making teaching materials for the courses. 

There is no centralized organization to provide training programs for librarians in Japan. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Japan Library Association and other library-related organizations each provide various training programs and we need to keep cooperating with these organizations.