The original article published in Japanese ( https://current.ndl.go.jp/ca2074 )
Current Awareness
No.362 December 20, 2024
CA2074e
The Transition from “The Japanese National Bibliography” to “The Japanese National Bibliographic Data”: The Past and the Present of The Japanese National Bibliography Service
1. Introduction
National bibliography refers to “a bibliography that comprehensively and exhaustively covers all publications published in a single country” (1). For national bibliography in Japan, Article 7 of the National Diet Library Law (promulgated in February 1948) states that “The Director General shall arrange and offer by methods suitable for the people’s use, at intervals not longer than one year, a catalogue or index of the publications issued within Japan during the preceding year or period.” (Hereafter, “the Japanese National Bibliography” refers to national bibliography in Japan that NDL creates according to this article. ) “Web Japanese National Bibliography(2)” released as a sub-search screen in the National Diet Library Search (NDL Search; see CA2068) upon its renewal in January 2024 is also part of this. Currently the Japanese National Bibliography is mainly provided as digital data (hereafter, “the Japanese National Bibliographic Data”).
This article first explains the flow of the provision of the Japanese National Bibliography from the perspective of the change in format. This is followed by an introduction of the current state of the provision service of the Japanese National Bibliographic Data.
2. From “The Japanese National Bibliography” to “The Japanese National Bibliographic Data”: The Past of The Japanese National Bibliography Service
This section explains how “The Japanese National Bibliography,” initially provided in paper form, evolved into “The Japanese National Bibliographic Data” as well as the gradual transition of the format of provision for greater convenience and accessibility. Please refer to already published articles on the history of the Japanese National Bibliography(3) and chronology published on the National Diet Library website in September 2023(4).
“Nohon Geppo” (meaning monthly report of deposits) was launched in October 1948, marking the first step in provision of the Japanese National Bibliography. For a while, provision continued in paper form such as booklets and printed cards. Provision of “the Japanese National Bibliographic Data” began in April 1981 with the launch of distribution of JAPAN/MARC, a machine-readable format for the Japanese National Bibliography. This led to a parallel provision of paper-based “Nihon Zenkoku Shoshi” (meaning Japanese national bibliography, successor to “Nohon Geppo”; published weekly) and cards, and provision of JAPAN/MARC in digital format (media such as magnetic tape and CD-ROM(5)).
In April 2002, the website version of the “Nihon Zenkoku Shoshi” (HTML files posted weekly) began, making it possible to access the Japanese National Bibliographic Data on the web as well as in a booklet form. Launched around the same time in March 2000 was “Web-OPAC,” a catalog of the National Diet Library collections. As provision of bibliographic data on the web progressed, Article 7 of the National Diet Library Law was revised in March 2007. Means of providing national bibliography changed from “publication” to “methods suitable for the people’s use” enabling provision of the Japanese National Bibliography in various forms including the web. In the same year, publication of the booklet of “Nihon Zenkoku Shoshi” was terminated, and paper-based provision of the Japanese National Bibliography came to an end(6).
In the following years, the website version of the “Nihon Zenkoku Shoshi” was discontinued in November 2011. However, the web service “Japanese National Bibliography” (7) was launched in “NDL-OPAC” released in January 2012. As a result, the provision of the Japanese National Bibliographic Data changed its format from lists as found in the booklet form to a database format. Bibliographic data became available for download in formats such as MARC. Launched in 2014 was the data provider “Japanese National Bibliography” for NDL Search API (application programming interface). With termination of the web service “Japanese National Bibliography” in December 2020, provision of databases specialized in the Japanese National Bibliography became temporarily suspended. After that, the Japanese National Bibliographic Data was provided as a subset of bibliographic data provided by NDL Search and the National Diet Library Online, or as JAPAN/MARC. However as mentioned, “Web Japanese National Bibliography” was launched in January 2024.
3. The “Present” of The Japanese National Bibliography Service
As introduced in the previous section, the Japanese National Bibliography, first made available in 1948, shifted its focus to provision in the format of “data.” Introduction of JAPAN/MARC (1981) and website version (2002) served as the momentum, leading to the current state of provision. This section introduces the current state of the Japanese National Bibliography service including various provision services such as “Web Japanese National Bibliography” released in January 2024 and the status of its use.
3.1 Web Japanese National Bibliography
As mentioned, “Web Japanese National Bibliography” is a sub-search screen of NDL Search. While it shares the same database as NDL Search, its coverage of bibliographic data is limited to the Japanese National Bibliographic Data(8) and New Arrival Bibliographic Information. Most of the search functions and bibliography download functions are the same as those of NDL Search, and the bibliographic records screen is identical. Therefore, if one has used the NDL Search before, he/she will be able to use this service in the same way. New Arrival Bibliographic Information is a service that provides the Japanese National Bibliographic Data being created (with some exceptions(9)). It began providing data in October 2010 to supplement “promptness(10)” which is one of the requirements for national bibliography.
While majority of search function specifications are the same as those of NDL Search, “Web Japanese National Bibliography” also has its own search items (for example, narrowing down by completion date of bibliographic data(11) and/or by government publications). It also has a unique search specification of ISBN batch search function(12), which takes into consideration the task of reading ISBNs serially using a barcode reader (or other devices) and searching them all at once. Libraries engage in this task when organizing materials using the Japanese National Bibliographic Data.
Bibliographic data as search results can be downloaded in bulk in formats such as MARC (up to 5,000 records). Specification for bibliographic download function is the same as NDL Search, but because bibliographic data provided in MARC format and MARC tag format is limited to bibliographic data created by the National Diet Library (excluding online materials), some bibliographic data may not be compatible with MARC format if searched using NDL Search which also covers bibliographic data from other organizations and online materials. Therefore, if a user wishes to obtain MARC format data, using “Web Japanese National Bibliography” will provide more stable download. Re-implementation of the function to download MARC format bibliographic data in bulk, once terminated along with the web service “Japanese National Bibliography”, has been highly prioritized among bibliographic data provision projects at the National Diet Library. It was listed among items to be addressed in “Plan of Making and Providing Bibliographic Data in the National Diet Library, 2021-2025” (or “Bibliography Plan 2025”; see CA2006), and this has now been achieved(13).
3.2 API Provided in NDL Search
NDL Search also provides bibliographic data in API(14). One is API for searching (e.g. SRU) which allows users to request detailed search conditions. Another is API for harvesting (OAI-PMH) that allows users to obtain data in bulk based on date and other data attributes. Both APIs can be obtained within the Japanese National Bibliographic Data by specifying the Data Provider “Japanese National Bibliography” (iss-ndl-opac-national) (15). The format of returned data is in XML such as DC-NDL (RDF) or HTML and is not compatible with MARC. Details of API specifications are given in the help section of NDL Search(16).
By incorporating API into applications and tools, it becomes possible to easily use the Japanese National Bibliographic Data. Currently, many library systems support API(17) and is in use at diverse libraries.
3.3 JAPAN/MARC (M/S)
JAPAN/MARC (M/S) is a service that provides the Japanese National Bibliographic Data in MARC format, a machine-readable format based on ISO 2709(18). The start of JAPAN/MARC distribution in 1981 became the momentum to provide the Japanese National Bibliography as data, and it has become a long-running service that has continued for over 40 years. Currently employed is JAPAN/MARC MARC21 format(19). Data is published on a weekly basis on the NDL website(20) with full-text data also available on request.
Because JAPAN/MARC (M/S) full data also serves as a bulk data of all Japanese publications to date, it is used not only by libraries but also for research on publications as well as development of reading-related applications. JAPAN/MARC (M/S) is also provided to OCLC, the largest bibliographic utility in the world, and is being used worldwide through various services of OCLC.
3.4 Japanese National Bibliography Records of e-Books and e-Periodicals
The Japanese National Bibliography introduced so far covers tangible publications such as books but does not cover materials published online. For online materials, “Japanese National Bibliography Records of e-Books and e-Periodicals” has been provided separately since 2014. This covers bibliographic data of domestic online materials (e-books and e-periodicals) collected by the National Diet Library(21).
Currently, data is provided in two ways. First is data search of “Web Japanese National Bibliography Records of e-Books and e-Periodicals.” Similar to “Web Japanese National Bibliography,” this is a sub-search screen of NDL Search. However, it also has its own search items such as registration date of bibliographic data. Bibliographic data is also available for downloading. Second is “file list of Web Japanese National Bibliography Records of e-Books and e-Periodicals.” A list of newly released data (TSV format) is posted on the website on a weekly basis(22).
4. Concluding Remarks
The Japanese National Bibliography has been provided with changes in its format for provision to suit the needs of each era, making it easier for as many people as possible to use. Now that “Web Japanese National Bibliography” is released, provision of the Japanese National Bibliography is more comprehensive than ever before. However, there are still issues to be addressed. This includes the issue stated in the aforementioned “Bibliography Plan 2025”: “Consider providing bibliographic data based on BIBFRAME, which is becoming widespread overseas as a new bibliographic framework that can realize Linked Data functions.” (23) (see E1386 for more on BIBFRAME). Provision of the Japanese National Bibliographic Data will continue to evolve in response to changes in the information environment.
* References are not translated and remain in Japanese language.
(1) 日本図書館情報学会用語辞典編集委員会編. 図書館情報学用語辞典. 第5版, 丸善出版, 2020, p. 133.
(2) 全国書誌データ検索.
https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/bib, (参照2024-09-27).
(3) For examples, see the articles below.
上保佳穂. 日本全国書誌のあゆみ. 全国書誌通信. 2004, 118, p. 3-11.
https://dl.ndl.go.jp/view/download/digidepo_8723857_po_118.pdf?contentNo=1#page=3, (参照 2024-09-27).
横山幸雄. 全国書誌の70年：「もの」から「サービス」へ. 国立国会図書館月報. 2018, 691, p. 14-20.
https://dl.ndl.go.jp/view/download/digidepo_11174776_po_geppo1811.pdf?contentNo=1#page=16, (参照 2024-09-27).
(4) “全国書誌のあゆみ”. 国立国会図書館.
https://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/data/data_service/jnb/history.html, (参照 2024-09-27).
(5) JAPAN/MARC began its distribution in the format of magnetic tape. In 1988, it also began distribution of J-BISC, a CD-ROM version.
国立国会図書館七十年記念館史編さん委員会編集. デジタル時代の国立国会図書館 : 1998-2018 : 国立国会図書館七十年記念館史. 国立国会図書館, 2021, p. 36-37.
(6) Production and distribution of printed cards ended in March 1998.
国立国会図書館七十年記念館史編さん委員会編集. 前掲. p. 36.
(7) Among bibliographic data provided by NDL-OPAC, this service included a function to create a set of data by specifying certain period of time as well as a function for downloading bibliographic data for “New Arrival Bibliographic Information” (to be described later) and the Japanese National Bibliographic Data. The name of the service from its launch through December 2012 was “Bibliographic Records Service.” When NDL-OPAC was renewed to the National Diet Library Online in January 2018, among the functions of NDL-OPAC, provision services including the web service “Japanese National Bibliography” was succeeded to the newly established “NDL-Bib (National Diet Library Bibliographic Records Service).”
(8) Current Japanese National Bibliographic Data covers domestic publications collected by the National Diet Library based on the legal deposit system, as well as domestic publications and overseas publications in Japanese language collected by donation or purchase.
“全国書誌データ”. 国立国会図書館.
https://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/data/data_service/jnb/index.html, (参照2024-09-27).
(9) 地図資料、アジア言語資料を除く。
(10) Uwabo Yoshie (see p. 3 of the first citation in Footnote (3)) lists (1) comprehensiveness, (2) promptness, (3) reliability, and (4) detail as necessary basic characteristics of current national bibliography.
(11) Similar functions were provided by the web service “Japanese National Bibliography.”
(12) “ISBN一括検索の方法（全国書誌データ検索、蔵書目録データ検索）”. 全国書誌データ検索.
https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/bib/help/isbn, (参照2024-09-27).
(13) 国立国会図書館書誌データ作成・提供計画 2021-2025. 国立国会図書館, 2021, 5p.
https://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/library/data/bibplan2025.pdf, (参照 2024-09-27).
(14) “APIのご利用について”. NDLサーチ.
https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/help/api, (参照2024-09-27).
(15) “API提供対象データプロバイダ一覧”. NDLサーチ.
https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/help/api/provider, (参照2024-09-27).
(16) “API仕様の概要”. NDLサーチ.
https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/help/api/specifications, (参照2024-09-27).
(17) A list of library operation systems that support bibliographic data from the National Diet Library is posted on the NDL website.
“国立国会図書館書誌データ対応システム一覧”. 国立国会図書館.
https://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/data/data_service/jnb/system_list.html, (参照2024-09-27).
(18) In addition to (M/S), JAPAN/MARC also includes (A) , which contains authority data for author name (personal or corporate body), work, and name subject heading (personal, family, corporate body, place, or uniform title) recorded in the Japanese National Bibliographic Data.
(19) “JAPAN/MARCマニュアル・フォーマット”. 国立国会図書館.
https://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/data/catstandards/jm/index.html, (参照2024-09-27).
(20) From April 2019, bibliographic data, authority data, and Japanese Periodicals Index data produced by the National Diet Library, as well as bibliographic data available for provision within the scope of a contract with external organizations, became available to be used free of charge by anyone, regardless of commercial or non-commercial purposes. In line with this change, JAPAN/MARC, which had been distributed for a fee by service providers since its distribution launch, is now available free of charge on the NDL website.
“JAPAN/MARCデータ（毎週更新）”. 国立国会図書館.
https://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/data/data_service/jnb_product.html, (参照2024-09-27).
“書誌データの利用方法”. 国立国会図書館.
https://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/data/data_service/quickguide/index.html, (参照2024-09-27).
(21) The data is equivalent to bibliographic data of e-books and e-periodicals in “NDL Digital Collections.”
国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション.
https://dl.ndl.go.jp/, (参照2024-09-27).
(22) “全国書誌（電子書籍・電子雑誌編）”. 国立国会図書館.
https://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/data/data_service/jnb/ebej_tsv.html, (参照2024-09-27).
(23) 国立国会図書館書誌データ作成・提供計画 2021-2025. 国立国会図書館, 2021, 5p.
https://www.ndl.go.jp/jp/library/data/bibplan2025.pdf, (参照 2024-09-27).
[Accepted: 2024-10-24]
