Collections through the Legal Deposit System at the National Diet Library

Summary Even as the publishing industry, recording media, and information technology undergo rapid changes, so too does the National Diet Library work to collect published materials and create detailed bibliographic information for use in catalogues and indices. Perhaps the most important means for collecting publications and other information is the legal deposit system. Japan’s legal deposit system was established by the enactment of the National Diet Library Law in 1948 and since that time has required publishers in Japan to submit copies of domestic publications to the National Diet Library. And in the course of the past 70 years, the law has been revised a number of times to expand the scope of collection in response to changes in how we receive and use information. For example, since 2010, the NDL has been collecting information published on the web by public agencies and since 2013 has been collecting e-books and e-journals of private publication. On the other hand, we are limited in our collection of online publication in that we only accept materials that are both free of charge and lack digital rights management. In this presentation, I will report on how the legal deposit system has developed over the past 70 years as well as efforts to solve issues related to the operation of new systems.

Yasushi Yamaji Director General of the Acquisitions and Bibliography Department, National Diet Library

Biography Since 1989 National Diet Library 1992-1995 Center for East Asian Studies, University of Montreal 2008 Senior Librarian of the International Library of Children's Literature 2009 Director of the Foreign Materials Division, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department 2010 Senior Librarian of the Acquisitions and Bibliography Department 2012 Director of the Administrative Division, Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library 2014 Director of the Personnel Division, Administrative Department 2015 Director of the Personnel Division, Deputy Director General of the Administrative Department 2016 Director of the Acquisitions Administration and Bibliographic Control Division, Deputy Director General of the Acquisitions and Bibliography Department Since Apr. 2018 Director General of the Acquisitions and Bibliography Department