News from the National Diet Library, Tokyo

Citation

(1999), "News from the National Diet Library, Tokyo", Asian Libraries, Vol. 8 No. 10. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1999.17308jab.001

News from the National Diet Library, Tokyo

News from the National Diet Library, Tokyo

In November 1999 the National Diet Library (NDL) will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the establishment of its Regional Center for Asia for IFLA/PAC (Preservation and Conservation). In commemoration the National Diet Library will invite preservation experts from Asian countries to its Annual Symposium on Preservation. The anniversary will also serve to promote preservation activities and bring about even closer collaboration with the IFLA/PAC for Southeast Asia and the Pacific at the National Library of Australia. A survey of 22 national libraries in Asia, undertaken by the NDL in 1996 as a basis for expanding activities, showed that environmental issues are a major concern and that there is a great need for preservation training, onsite visits by preservation experts, and translation of preservation literature from Japanese and other Asian languages into English.

Since the NDL began acting as an IFLA/PAC centre in 1989, it has established the Preservation Co-operation Programme, which provides institutions in Japan and in Asian countries with information services, educational opportunities and technical aid. Since NDL's capabilities and financial means are limited, it is planning to establish a larger framework for mutual co-operation with the Japan Foundation, private research institutions, universities and other organisations.

Translation of preservation literature written in Asian languages into English for more widespread use is a major concern. Through a planned Web site the NDL hopes to make such literature accessible throughout Asia and to spread information about IFLA/PAC's many activities. IFLA/PAC is very active, arranging for educational exchanges, workshops, symposia and research projects, as indicated by the following selected examples from the past two years.

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  The NDL received two trainees from the Historical Research Commission of Taiwan in 1997. After completing a training course in document preservation and restoration techniques, they visited several other institutions in Japan.

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  In answer to a request from the Japan Foundation Asia Centre the NDL sent its Assistant Chief, Preservation Division, Hideo Sugawara, to Myanmar to investigate the current state of preservation and restoration of old paper materials in that country.

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  In 1997 the Tenth Preservation and Conservation Forum was held at the NDL, attended by 51 professionals. The theme was the use of recycled paper and preservation of library materials. A symposium in 1998 focused on permanent paper and the Japanese paper, washi.

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  In September 1998 the NDL hosted a forum on fire and fire prevention, followed by the Ninth Annual Symposium on Preservation with the timely theme of preservation of electronic information. Four Japanese speakers addressed the issues, joined by Colin Webb, Manager of Information Preservation at the National Library of Australia. The NDL's Committee for the Promotion of the Electronic Library contributed a report to the symposium.

The NDL initiates preservation research and initiatives in addition to those taking place within IFLA/PAC. For example, annual pH surveys of newly-acquired books and periodicals have been conducted since 1986. The results in 1996 showed that acid-free paper was used for 35.4 per cent of official publications (42.4 per cent for books and 31.6 per cent for periodicals). The NDL's promotion of acid-free paper has had a substantial impact: the figures for 1997 showed an increase to 50.2 per cent overall, and the 1998 figures were an impressive 59.6 per cent for monographs and 57.1 per cent for periodicals.

For more information about the NDL's preservation programmes and the activities of the IFLA/PAC Regional Centre for Asia, contact: Ryuji Yonemura, Director, PAC Regional Centre for Asia, National Diet Library, 1-10-1 Nagatacho Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 100-8924, Japan; Fax: +81 (3) 3592 0783.