No. 152, December 2006

NDL Statistics FY2005

This is an abridged translation of the series articles "Excerpts from the Annual Report of the NDL,
FY2005: statistics" in the NDL Monthly Bulletin No. 546 and 547 (September - October 2006).

The NDL compiles and publishes an Annual Report each year giving the major achievements and statistics of the previous fiscal year. This Annual Report is submitted to the Diet and also distributed to major libraries and related institutions in Japan. It has been available also on the NDL website since FY2002 (Japanese only).

We started a new statistics system in FY2005. The new statistics are maintained to collect common data for service and work. The main change in the system is that it sets up the same statistics form in the main three facilities (Tokyo Main Library, Kansai-kan and ILCL) for the same services and works, complying with international standards to assure the accuracy of the statistics and to facilitate the comparison between the libraries inside and outside Japan and adding the statistics of services for the digital library. The following are statistics abstracted from the Annual Report FY2005.

Contents I.  Collection development and provision of bibliographic information     1.  Collections     2.  Acquisition     3.  Collection of the digital library     4.  Provision of bibliographic information II.  Services for the National Diet     1.  Legislative research services     2.  Library services III.  Services for the executive and judicial agencies IV.  Services for the general public     1.  Services for remote users         a.  Interlibrary loan         b.  Copying services for remote users         c.  Reference services     2.  On-site services         a.  Opening days, number of visitors and circulation         b.  Copying services         c.  Reference services         d.  Characteristics of each facility     3.  Services in Special Materials Rooms

I. Collection development and provision of bibliographic information
1. Collections
The NDL collects various materials published inside and outside Japan. 

<Table1> Materials held by the NDL
a. Books (volumes)

Books in Japanese and Western Languages	289,868
Serials in Japanese and Western Languages	4,326
Newspapers	194
Non-book materials	143,381
Articles from Japanese periodicals	562,544

b. Serials (items)

Periodicals	Japanese	4,879,601
	Foreign	2,822,607
	Subtotal	7,702,208
Newspapers	Japanese	2,422,532
	Foreign	1,093,178
	Subtotal	3,515,710
Total		11,217,918

c. Non-book materials

Microfilms (reels)	474,314
Microfiches (sheets)	7,652,295
Microprints (sheets)	300,108
Video discs (items)	48,679
Video cassettes (items)	12,426
Slides (sheets)	137,082
Phonographic records (sheets)	533,803
Cassette tapes (items)	24,765
Open tapes (reels)	23,215
Magnetic tapes (reels)	81
Magnetic discs (items)	1,707
Optical discs (items)	57,106
IC cards (items)	514
Maps (sheets)	450,310
Maps (volumes)	45,603
Musical scores (sheets)	10,020
Musical scores (volumes)	2,214
Card-form materials (items)	27,516
Still images (items)	110,564
Doctoral dissertations (titles)*	454,465
Manuscripts (items)	270,040
Newspaper clippings (articles)	2,009,226
Braille resources and large print editions (volumes)	26,075
Others (items)	2,827

*Foreign doctoral dissertations are not included in the number.

up

2. Acquisition

The National Diet Library collects materials by purchase, legal deposit (from the national or local government and private publishers), donation (from individuals and groups inside and outside the country) and exchange (with foreign governments and international organizations).

<Table 2> Number of materials newly accessioned in FY2005

Japanese and Chinese books (volumes)	191,090
Books in Western languages (volumes)	51,175
Periodicals (items)	405,807
Newspapers (items)	217,874
Microfilms (reels)	194,601
Microfiches (sheets)	133,996
Video discs (DVD-V, LD, etc.) (items)	7,559
Video cassettes (items)	2,122
Phonographic records (sheets)	15,431
Optical discs (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.) (items)	7,545

<Chart 1> Ratio of each acquisition method

3. Collection of the digital library
The NDL has been developing the digital library in which digital materials are available directly from the NDL website.
Rare Books Image Database, Digital Library from the Meiji Era,  Web Archiving Project (WARP), and Digital Library of Children's Literature are available.

<Table 3>Provision of digital materials 

	Provided Titles	New Titles
Rare Books Image Database	860	44
Digital Library from the Meiji Era	39,155	3,694
WARP	3,388	554
Digital Library of Children's Literature	1,197	875

4. Provision of bibliographic information

The NDL compiles the Japanese National Bibliography and provides it on its website (Japanese only). NDL-OPAC, the online catalog system, is also available on the Internet. This year, we worked out the policy for the treatment of personal information, and also considered the proper response to 13-digit ISBN.

<Table4> Number of Bibliographic data added in FY2005

Books in Japanese and Western Languages	289,868
Serials in Japanese and Western Languages	4,326
Newspapers	194
Non-book materials	143,381
Articles from Japanese periodicals	562,544

<Table5> NDL-OPAC and Asian Language materials OPAC coverage

	Bibliographic data	Records
NDL-OPAC	Japanese books	3,326,558
	Books in Western languages	1,075,360
	Japanese Serials	127,445
	Serials in Western languages	55,912
	Electronic resources	21,573
	Japanese and Chinese old materials	64,322
	Doctoral dissertations	360,978
	Maps	105,162
	Audiovisual materials	58,623
	Ashihara Collection	67,719
	Standards / Technical Reports	1,956,574
	National Union Catalog of Braille and  Recorded Books in Japan	330,714
	Materials related to the Allied Occupations of Japan*	277,490
	Prange Collection*	32,227
	Subtotal	7,860,657
	Articles from Japanese periodicals	7,037,440
	Total	14,898,097
Asian Language  Materials  OPAC	Books	187,896
	Periodicals	6,600
	Newspapers	385
	Total	194,881

*Data available only inside the library (i.e. not available on the Internet)

up

II.  Services for the National Diet
The NDL provides legislative research services and library services for the National Diet members and others connected with the Diet.

1. Legislative research services The Research and Legislative Reference Bureau of the NDL conducts research on politics, economy, and social affairs inside and outside Japan using the NDL collections and databases. The total number of researches conducted by the Research and Legislative Reference Bureau in FY2005 was 40,855. Among them, researches conducted for Diet members and Diet-related people are shown in <Table 6>.

In Febrary 2006, we developed new guidelines for services for the National Diet to enhance and strengthen its functions.

<Table 6> Legislative research conducted for the Diet members and other Diet-related people 

Client			Members  of the  House of Representatives	Members of the House of Councillors	Ex-Diet Members	Secretariats	Political parties	Total
Number of cases			22,115	15,309	1,621	493	1,317	40,855
Category	Analysis		0	2	0	1	0	3
	Research		17,807	12,354	1,204	473	1,176	33,014
	Literature		4,308	2,953	417	19	141	7,838
	Bill drafting		0	0	0	0	0	0
Subject	Area	Japan	15,936	10,409	1,238	86	744	28,413
		Overseas	3,258	2,498	186	382	401	6,725
		Japan & Overseas	2,794	2,271	193	20	165	5,443
	Others		127	131	4	5	7	274
Means of response	Oral	Telephone	513	395	45	54	35	1,042
		Meeting	299	264	52	12	21	648
		Attend a session	29	10	0	6	11	56
	Materials	Lending out/ Copying	18,223	12,634	1,339	214	994	5,442
	Written	Research paper	2,913	1,920	162	199	248	5,442
		Book list	117	53	21	0	6	197
		Transla- tion	21	33	2	8	2	66

2. Library services
The Detached Library in the Diet (DLID) is a small but front-line library in providing services to the National Diet, located on the fourth floor of the Diet building inside the tower. OPAC of DLID is also available via the DLID website (only for staff of the NDL and the Diet members).
<Table 7> shows the library services provided at the DLID. And <Table8> shows the library services for the National Diet by the NDL (except by DLID)

<Table 7> DLID Library services (FY2005)

	Visitors	Circulation		Copying	Reference
		(persons)	(volumes)
Diet members	1,192	2,829	5,476	7,185	3,834
Diet-related people	51,664	9,710	20,129	2,484	1,065
Total	52,856	12,539	25,605	9,669	4,899

<Table8> Library services for the National Diet by the NDL (except by DLID)

	Tokyo Main Library			Kansai-kan			ILCL			Total
	Copying	Circulation	Reference	Copying	Circulation	Reference	Copying	Circulation	Reference
Diet members	11,713	144	11	54	0	17	8	0	0	11,947
Diet-related people	438	5,491	28	4	0	0	0	0	3	5,964
Total	12,151	5,635	39	58	0	17	8	0	3	17,911

up

III. Services for the executive and judicial agencies
The NDL extends its services to the executive and judicial agencies of Japan chiefly through its Branch Libraries established within the government ministries and agencies and the Supreme Court. There are 26 Branch Libraries and 6 sub-branches as of October 2006.

<Table 9> Branch Library services

Branch library	Visitors	Circulation persons	Circulation volumes	Copying	Reference	Note
Board of Audit Library	-	3,339	6,273	3,130	2,384
National Personnel Authority Library	3,052	1,613	4,849	0	429
Cabinet Legislation Bureau Library	-	435	945	0	150
Cabinet Office Library	15,589	5,308	11,452	1,570	744
Library of Science Council of Japan	923	8	14	-	11
Imperial Household Agency Library	-	2,145	11,753	2,770	480
Fair Trade Commission Library	-	1,958	4,052	-	198
National Police Agency Library	-	800	1,305	454	1,084
Defense Agency Library	27,103	6,115	9,132	681	8,102
Financial Services Agency Library	-	2,615	5,753	-	254
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Library	5,556	3,542	6,698	-	1,327
Statistical Library of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications	5,106	1,439	4,189	517	7,059
Ministry of Justice Library	20,976	4,784	11,273	-	492
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Library	35,852	5,422	9,537	715	2,861
Ministry of Finance Library	-	4,369	16,654	-	8
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Library	-	4,484	9,757	1,741	911
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Library	10,568	2,285	6,215	-	6,180
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Library	30,366	5,712	12,777	10,165	14,869	Including 2 sub-branches
Forestry Agency Library	7,066	1,421	2,650	388	1,251
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Library	8,163	3,170	7,619	1,508	3,968
Patent Office Library	5,844	807	1,324	5,799	1,794
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Library	19,653	6,169	12,893	28,563	3,843	Including 3 sub-branches
Meteorological Agency Library	2,740	542	873	1,455	10,689
Japan Coast Guard Library	1,355	531	751	213	111	Including a sub-branch
Ministry of the Environment Library	1,714	359	793	-	985
Supreme Court Library	-	8,260	18,452	6,826	6,343
Total	201,626	77,700	178,241	66,495	76,527

Note: "-"are uncounted items.

up

IV. Services for the general public
Services for the general public are offered in the Tokyo Main Library, Kansai-kan, International Library of Children's Literature and Toyo Bunko. These facilities offer services for both remote and on-site users.

In October 2002, the Tokyo Main Library and the Kansai-kan started a user registration system to improve the convenience of both remote and on-site services. Once registered, a person can enter the library with simplified procedure and also request copying service via the Internet. There are 4,901 registered libraries (FY2004 was 4,574) and 97,425 individuals (64,085) as of FY2005. At the Tokyo Main Library, applications submitted by individual visitors increased 18% from FY2004.

1. Services for remote users
a. Interlibrary loan
The NDL lent out 16,498 materials to 3,383 institutions and libraries including 94 new member institutions and libraries in FY2005. They can make a request via NDL-OPAC in addition to postal mail, fax and through the NDL-ILL system. The number of requests via NDL-OPAC was 10,580 (64 % of all the requests) in FY2005 while 8,564 (56 %) in FY2004.

ILCL lent out 348 materials (FY2004 was 340) to public libraries. And in November 2004, a Book Sets Lending Service for school libraries was started and 10,491 materials were lent out (FY2004 was 9,288)

<Chart 2> Number of interlibrary loans in FY2005

b. Copying services for remote users
We received 307,145 articles for copying service in FY2005 (268,214 articles in the previous year). From FY2005, we include the number of articles requested at ILCL (991 articles). 
We receive requests via NDL-OPAC as well as postal mail, fax, and the NDL-ILL*. The number of requests via NDL-OPAC comprised 76% of all the requests in FY2005 (73% in the previous year). Notably increased are the requests from individual users.
*NDL-ILL will be terminated on March 2007

<Chart 3> Number of articles requested for copying service from remote users

<Chart 4>Number of articles requested for copying service from libraries and individual remote users

c. Reference services
Remote reference services are available by phone, letter, fax, or e-mail. In FY2005, there were 6,841 written (letter, fax, or e-mail) requests, a decrease from the previous year but the number of answered documents increased slightly.
Reference service by e-mail has been available to registered libraries in Japan and overseas users since October 2002. In FY2005, 57% of the requests from registered libraries in Japan were made by e-mail. This shows the application method is transfering to e-mail.

up

2. On-site services
This was the first fiscal year to take the statistics under the same condition throughout the year after the Tokyo Main Library's renewal. Open days increased by 35 days this year at the Tokyo Main Library as all  Saturdays and Mondays became open days. The actural service time was extended by 2 hours, which led to an increase of more than 60,000 visitors for the year.

a. Opening days, number of visitors and circulation

<Basic Data (FY2005)>

	Tokyo Main Library	Kansai-kan	ILCL
Opening days/ year	280	280	285
Visitors	410,505 (1,466/day)	69,476 (248/day)	130,877 (459/day)
Circulation (items)	2,177,383	94,315	39,905
Inter-site circulation (materials sent from Kansai-kan) (items)	6,355	-	-
Inter-site circulation (materials sent from Tokyo Main Library) (items)	-	2,401	-

<Chart5> Average number of the visitors (year)

<Chart6> Average number of the visitors (per day)

up

b. Copying services
The amount of copying counted by requests was 731,420 at the Tokyo Main Library (477,177 in the previous year), 63,176 at the Kansai-kan (57,807) and 8,562 at the ILCL (2,894).

c. Reference services
The number of reference replies for visitors was 467,511*at the Tokyo Main Library (195,678 in the previous year), 52,154 at the Kansai-kan (35,292) and 7,366 at the ILCL (5,248).
*From FY2005, assistance in using computers etc. is included.

d. Characteristics of each facility
Tokyo Main Library: With the renewal in October 2004, we started the service which makes a copying request for periodical index via NDL-OPAC available and can also receive the copy without circulating (online photodupulication request).

Kansai-kan: We made positive efforts in PR activities such as setting up library guides for workers at institutions and universities near the Kansai-kan.

ILCL: We held five exhibitions and related presentations this year. And for children and their parents, we held storytelling and reading events on Saturdays and Sundays.

3. Services in Special Materials Rooms
To provide the information rapidly to the users, we provide bibliographic data and search tools for specific themes. Especially, requests for providing information to general public users via the website are increasing. There are contents such as "Introduction of the Reference Books" and "Bibliography of Persons in Modern Japanese Politics," to which theme and data have been added.

Related articles: 

• NDL Statistics FY2004 
• NDL Statistics FY2003 
• NDL Statistics FY2002 

up