This is based on the article of the same title in
the NDL Monthly Bulletin No. 557 (August 2007)

On the other hand, in Western countries with improving infrastructurefor information and communications technology (ICT), more and more governmentpublications and other materials have come to be issued in digital format andprovided on the Internet, with increased speed. This shift has made some nationallibraries change their acquisition policies of foreign materials to selectiveacquisition focusing on countries and regions with which the country traditionallyhas close relationships. For example, the Bibliothèque nationale de France(National Library of France) asked us to stop sending our materials in 2005,and this year the National Library of Australia has requested a reduction andrevision of the materials sent from us.

The National Diet Library used to have 20 partner institutionsfor blanket exchange. However, only six institutions remain on the list, as manyinstitutions preferred to shift to selective exchange. It seems that the demandfor selective exchange will continue to increase with more government publicationsbecoming available on the Internet.

In consideration of this situation, we have started to reviewthe extent of the materials for the international exchange between the NDL andother foreign institutions. The aims of the review are: 1. to determine the needsof our exchange partners precisely and make it possible to send them appropriatematerials; 2. to seek effective acquisition of statutes, parliamentary documents,official publications, materials relating to Japan and publications issued inAsian countries, which cannot be purchased but depend on international exchange.The concrete plans for the restructuring are as follows:

(1) Making sure that materials to be sent are appropriate
We conducted a survey of exchange partners to determine their needs regardingthe materials we had been sending. Based on the results, we decided which materialsto continue sending and which to stop sending to make suit of the needs of therecipients. At the same time, since FY2005, we have made some changes includingreducing the deposit numbers for central government publications, which are tobe used for the international exchange, from 30 to 20.

(2) Seeking effective acquisition of materials which are difficult to purchase
We have discussed an effective way of acquisition of statutes, parliamentarydocuments, official publications, materials relating to Japan and publicationsissued in Asian countries.

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► Statutes, parliamentary documents andofficial publications
We conducted research about the foreign statutes and parliamentary documentswe had been receiving through the international exchange. The aim of the researchwas to examine the publications on the following points: what the status of acquisitionwas, if the same document was reliably available on the Internet, and to whatextent the paid-for database for the document had been developed. Based on theresults, we worked out a policy that the collection development should be doneby combining printed form and digital form chosen according to the significanceof the target region after preparing to ensure the availability of digitizeddocuments at the NDL. This policy will be included in the revised Policy forAcquisition of Materials to be completed this fiscal year.

► Materials relating to Japan
The NDL’s material acquisition policy decides that materials relating toJapan should be an indispensable part of the “national literature” tobe acquired as broadly as possible. However, although publications issued byJapanese studies institutions in the United States have been acquired to a respectabledegree, most of those in Europe and Asia are left uncollected. As sending Japanesegovernment publications to foreign Japanese studies institutions is also regardedas part of the international cooperation, we asked, in FY2005 and 2006, 67 Japanesestudies institutions in Europe, China and Korea for exchange of materials, ofwhich 16 institutions became new exchange partners of the NDL. It is truly significantfor the NDL to have established a relationship for exchange with recognized foreigninstitutions including the French School of Asian Studies (École françaised’Extrême-Orient, or EFEO) (France), the College of Japanese Language & Culture,Zhejiang Gongshang University (China) and the Asian Section, Department of Cross-Culturaland Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen (Denmark).

► Publications issued in Asian countries
Since 2005, we have requested 17 national libraries in Asia to send us the nationalbibliography of each country and acquired cumulative versions of the nationalbibliographies from the National Library of Iran, the King Fahad National Library(Saudi Arabia) and the National Library of Turkey.

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How will the international exchange become in the future withthe increasing digitization of materials? The British Library (BL)’s undertakingis an example. The BL published “The British Library’s Content Strategy – Meetingthe Knowledge Needs of the Nation” on April 25, 2006, calling for the opinionsof concerned parties and compiling the BL’s strategy for future acquisitionand provision of materials for use. In Chapter 3 of this document a revisionof the strategy so far focused on the “collection building” of materialsis mentioned with the global improvement of ICT as a background. The chaptercontinues, declaring that in consideration of the dramatically expanding possibilityof access to remotely-situated digital materials, ensuring access to those kindsof resources (including free documents available on the Internet, e-journalsrequiring a paid-for license agreement and e-books) is also one of library’sresponsibilities. And the Strategy states that “content provision” includingaccess to remotely-situated materials is now required.

To consider an ideal future for the international exchange, itis necessary to maintain a certain quality level of means to construct “libraryholdings,” that is, international exchange, donation and purchase, andquality of materials to be provided to users. It can be said that, in addition,we now need to have a perspective of “connecting” materials and users,making an appropriate use in combination of “library holdings” andensured access to remotely-situated digital materials such as links to free documentsavailable on the Internet and provision of e-journals requiring a paid-for licenseagreement.

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