The NDL also held lecture meetings on the digital library program in the Tokyo Main Library and the Kansai-kan on March 12 and March 14, 2003.  Mr. William D. Walker, Senior Vice President and Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries of the New York Public Library, was invited as speaker for both lectures. 

Electronic Library National Liaison Conference FY2003

The Electronic Library National Liaison Conference FY2003 was held in the Kansai-kan of the NDL in the afternoon of March 14.  The meeting had participants from 26 organizations, including university libraries, public libraries, related organizations and observers.  Mr. Walker and Professor Masaru Harada, University of Tsukuba, attended as the advisor and coordinator respectively.

The theme of the meeting was "Digital library and present and future of libraries."  It intended to share the awareness of the state of the digital library and to review means of interlibrary cooperation.

Reports:

• "Present state and issues in developing the digital library in Japan" by Professor Masaru Harada (University of Tsukuba)

Prof. Harada reviewed the features of Japanese governmental projects, university libraries and public libraries in developing the digital library.  He mentioned such future issues of the Japanese digital library as improvement of contents, application to reference services and user interface.

• "Digital library of the National Diet Library" by Mr. Hiroyuki Taya (National Diet Library)

Mr. Taya described the organization, history and development of the NDL digital library project, mainly focusing on development of the contents.

• "Digital library of Kyoto University Library" by Mr. Yoshihiro Kosen (Kyoto University Library)

Mr. Kosen reported on the digital library of Kyoto University Library in the context of the whole university library sector.

• "State of computerization of public libraries in the report of the National Council of Public Libraries, Japan" by Mr. Naoki Yoshida (Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library)

Based on the result of the questionnaire survey conducted in October 2001, Mr. Yoshida introduced the state of computerization of public libraries and pointed out the delay in the process.

• "Experiences of Aozora Bunko" by Mr. Michio Tomita (Aozora Bunko)

Mr. Tomita, founder of the Aozora Bunko, a free digital library on the Internet, mentioned their efforts to make standards and the difficulties in copyright clearance.  He remarked that people with a common interest should cooperate with each other.

Lecture meetings in the Tokyo Main Library and the Kansai-kan

Taking the opportunity of the Electronic Library National Liaison Conference FY2003, the NDL invited Mr. William D. Walker, Senior Vice President and Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries of the New York Public Library, and held lecture meetings on the digital library on March 12 at the Tokyo Main Library and on March 14 at the Kansai-kan.  The Tokyo and Kansai lectures had audiences of 167 and 147 respectively.  The title of the Tokyo talk was "Designing Digital Library Services for 21st Century Research Libraries: a view from New York," and that of the Kansai talk was "Challenges in Designing 21st Century Digital Library Programs in the United States."

               Mr. Walker

He introduced the digital library projects of the New York Public Library and reported that under the Internet environment the library has to survive competition with other institutions by researching the needs of the user, assigning priorities, sharing the limited resources and providing appropriate services.

To see Mr. Walker's presentation in Tokyo, click on the links below.