No. 122, November 2001

Services for general users of
the National Diet Library
in and after FY 2002

This is an abridged translation of the article of  the same title in the NDL Monthly Bulletin No. 487

In FY2002, the National Diet Library (NDL) will be reorganized and start to provide services in Tokyo Main Library, the Kansai-kan (open in October 2002) and the International Library of Children's Liiterature (fully open in May 2002).

This is outline of the library services from FY 2002 

• 1. Library holdings (after opening of the Kansai-kan)
• 2. Services via web site
• 3. Services for the visitor to the library
• 4. Services of the International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL)

1. Library holdings (after opening of the Kansai-kan)

Materials	Tokyo Main Library		Kansai-kan
Japanese Books		5,250,000 volumes	Books	364,000 volumes
			Microfilms of Japanese books printed in the Meiji era	170,000 volumeworth
Japanese Periodicals		113,000 titles		14,000titles
Japanese Newspapers		7,200 titles		100 titles
Western Books		2,200,000 volumes		8,500 volumes
Western Periodicals		10,100 titles		41,000 titles
Western Newspapers		1,500 titles	Asian related	20 titles
			Others	5 titles
Statutes and Parliamentary Documents		1,920,000 items		10,000 items
Foreign Official Publications		1,530,000 items
Scientific and Technical Materials	Written Application for Approval of Power Reactor Installation	1,500 items	Foreign technical reports	2,438,000 items
	Design Drawings for Nuclear Equipment	1,100 items	Foreign doctoral dissertations	415,800 items
	Archives for the History of Quantum Physics	300 items	Foreign papers of academic societies and associations	166,200 items
	Data Books / Data Files	1,500 items	Conference proceedings in Western languages	50,900 items
			Japanese & foreign standards	122,400 items
	Subtotal of  Scientific and Technical Materials	4,400 items	Subtotal of  Scientific and Technical Materials	3,193,300 items
Scientific research reports under grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology				101,000 items
Japanese Doctoral  Dissertation	Abstracts	5,600 volumes		419,500 titles
Asian Materials	Chinese old books up to the Ch'ing Dynasty and books in Asian languages (received by NDL before 1986)	220,000 volumes	Books in Asian languages (received by NDL after 1986)	232,500 volumes
			Periodicals & newspapers in Asian languages	7,000 titles
Maps		465,000 items
Modern Japanese Political Documents		1,136,000 items
Rare Books and Old Materials		361,000 items
Electronic Resources	Foreign electronic publications	950 titles
	Electronic journals	500 titles	Electronic publications (electronic journals & reference resources)	600 titles
	Deposited electronic publications	17,300 items
Audiovisual Materials	Phonographic records, CD-ROMs	470,000 items
	Video tapes	10,000 items

Holdings of the International Library of Children's Literature
(after May 2002)

Japanese Books	Children's books	140,000 volumes
	Study books (received by NDL after 1969)	7,500 volumes
	Children's books related materials	9,000 volumes
Western Books	Children's books (including the Ingram Collection)	29,000 volumes
	Children's books related materials	1,000 volumes
Periodicals	Japanese children's magazines	1,354 titles
	Western children's magazines	60 titles
	Newspapers	17 titles
Non-book materials	Picture-card, card form materials, playing card	500 items
	Electronic materials (CD-ROM)	5 items
	Microfiche	20,800 items
SUBTOTAL	Books	186,500 volumes
	Periodicals	1,431 titles
	Non-book materials	21,329 items
Materials for children service		10,000 volumes
TOTAL	Books	196,500 volumes
	Periodicals	1,431 titles
	Non-book materials	21,329 items

 

2. Services via web site 

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We will expand services on our web site from October 2002.

(1) Catalogs on the web

Web-OPAC

• Japanese Books (Meiji era - present)
• Western books (1986 - present)
• Japanese newspapers, periodicals
• Western newspapers, periodicals
• Japanese Periodicals Index (1948 - present)
• Domestic Doctoral Dissertations

* In the near future, users will be able to find the status information of each item and send a request for photoduplication service via our web site (registered users only).

Other catalogs

• National Union Catalog of Braille & Recorded Books in Japan
• Japanese National Bibliography Weekly List (available from April 2002)

(2) Digital version of Japanese books printed in the Meiji era

From October 2002, we will provide digital images of 30,000 volumes of Japanese books printed in the Meiji era. This content will be expanded continuously.

(3) Information Navigation System

Some navigation system such as "Reference Book's Information" (Japanese only)  and "Directory of Japanese Scientific Periodicals"* (Japanese / English) have already been available on our web site. We will expand these information navigation systems and collections of links to support reference services in each library and individual users. In addition, we plan to add metadata to Internet resources and provide a metadata database.

* From May 11, 2009, renamed "Kagakugijuturonbunshi / kaigiroku Database" (Japanese Only).

3. Services for the visitor to the library

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(1) Tokyo Main Library

Major improvements of service are: 

•  Age limit: 18 years old or over (from January 2002; present lower limit is 20 years)
• Visitors can request books in stack and photoduplication service via OPAC installed in Public Catalog Hall (from FY2004)
• Provide more electronic publications (online / offline)
• Relocate service points (Reception, searching, reader service, photoduplication service etc.) in order to shorten visitor's circulation time
• Reorganize special materials rooms

Reorganization of Reading Rooms & Specials Materials Rooms in Tokyo Main Library

Present	April 2002	July 2002	After FY2004 (plan)
Reading Room 1	Reading Room 1	Reading Room 1	Reading Room 1
Reading Room 2	Reading Room 2	Reading Room 2	Reading Room 2
Reading Room 3	Reading Room 3 & Electronic Resources Room 2	Reading Room 3 & Electronic Resources Room 2	Reading Room 3 closes and becomes Electronic Resources Room
General Study Room	General Study Room	General Study Room	(General Study Room System is abolished)
Statutes & Parliamentary Documents Room	Statutes & Parliamentary Documents Room	Statutes & Parliamentary Documents Room	Parliamentary Documents and Official Publications Room
Official Publications Room	Law, Politics and Official Publications Room	Law, Politics and Official Publications Room	Parliamentary Documents and Official Publications Room
Rare Books & Old Materials Room	Rare Books & Old Materials Room	Rare Books & Old Materials Room	Rare Books & Old Materials Room
Newspaper Reading Room	Newspaper Reading Room	Newspaper Reading Room	Newspaper Reading Room
Reference Books Room	Reference Books Room	Humanities Room	Humanities Room
Modern Japanese Political History Materials Room	Modern Japanese Political History Materials Room	Modern Japanese Political History Materials Room	Modern Japanese Political History Materials Room
Science & Technology Materials Room	Science & Technology Materials Room	Business, Science and Technology  Room	Business, Science and Technology  Room
Special Materials Room	(closed)
Electronic Resources Room	Electronic Resources Room	Electronic Resources Room	Electronic Resources Room (Move to present Reading Room 3)
Audiovisual Materials Room	Audiovisual Materials Room	Audiovisual Materials Room	Audiovisual Materials Room
Maps Room	Maps Room	Maps Room	Maps Room
Asian Materials Room	(closed)
Library Science Materials Room	(closed)

(2) Kansai-kan

• Reading Room: 350 seats
• Holdings
  • Open access: 
    50,000 volumes (general; will increase to 100,000 volumes in future) 
    30,000 volumes (Asia related; will increase to 50,000 volumes in future) 
    In stacks: 
    3,000,000 volumes
• Age limit: 18 years old or over
• Library holidays: Sundays, national holidays, the yearend, New Year's holidays and  3rd Wednesdays (for stocktaking)
• Opening hours: 10:00 - 18:00
• It will take about 15 minutes to receive materials in the stack
• We plan to provide a book reservation service (to make the materials of the Kansai-kan and the Tokyo Main Library available to use in the Kansai-kan) via our web site.

4. Services of the International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL)

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The ILCL will fully open on May 5, 2002. For details, please visit the ILCL web page <http://www.kodomo.go.jp>. This web site is Japanese only, but English pages will be added in the near future.