国会図書館―知の基盤を厚く、強く

2008/12/31

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 30(IHT/Asahi: December 31,2008)

EDITORIAL: National Diet Library

国会図書館―知の基盤を厚く、強く

Sixty years have passed since the founding of the National Diet Library, the only national library in Japan.

　唯一の国立の図書館である国立国会図書館ができて、６０年たった。 

"Truth sets us free," says the preamble to the National Diet Library Law, defining the ethos of this important institution. This passage can be found engraved at the counter of the library's main building in Tokyo's Nagatacho district.

　「真理がわれらを自由にする」 

　創立の精神を表す国立国会図書館法の前文の一節だ。東京・永田町の本館カウンターの上に刻まれている。 

The library was established in 1948, just a few years after the end of World War II, as part of efforts to create a democratic society in Japan where people gather, understand and discuss a wide spectrum of information without bias.

The institution was entrusted with the task of collecting and analyzing necessary materials as a basis for this process.

　多くの情報を偏りなく集め、理解し、議論することで、新しい民主社会を築く。その基盤となる資料収集と分析が、ここに託された。戦後間もない１９４８年のことだ。 

The library builds and preserves a comprehensive collection of books, newspapers, magazines and audio and visual recordings published and created in Japan. It also collects various materials from overseas.

　国内で出版された図書や新聞、雑誌、音楽や映像資料などを網羅的に集め、保存する。海外の様々な資料も収集する。それらを使って国会の活動を助けるのが第一の仕事だ。 

The library's primary task is to support legislative activities through the use of these resources. Another important role of the institution is to preserve these resources as cultural assets and make them available to people to help support their lives and research activities.

　資料を文化財として守り、利用してもらうことで、人々の暮らしや研究に役立てるのも大事な役割だ。 

The National Diet Library has changed its operations dramatically in recent years. Its electronic functions have been enhanced so that anybody with Internet access can now search the library's vast bibliographic database and read minutes of Diet sessions online.

　その国会図書館が近年、大きく変わっている。 

　「電子図書館」機能が充実し、インターネットで、誰でもどこからでも膨大な書誌データを検索したり、国会議事録を読んだりできるようになった。 

Users can even read about 150,000 books published in the Meiji and Taisho eras (1868-1926) on their computer screens.

　明治・大正期に出版された約１５万冊の本もパソコン画面で読める。

The library also offers a service that allows users to search for materials at the National Archives of Japan and other libraries.

国立公文書館や他の図書館などの資料を横断的に探すことも可能になった。

In addition, the National Diet Library publicizes reports on key public policy issues, providing various arguments, historical facts and the situations in other countries related to the issues.

国政の課題について、その論点や経緯、外国の事情などをまとめたリポート類も公開している。

The already-huge amount of materials available at the library is growing rapidly.

利用できる資料が飛躍的に増えている。 

Makoto Nagao, a former president of Kyoto University who last year became the first chief librarian without a Diet background, has been actively promoting these programs and projects.

　昨年、初めて国会の外から館長に就任した元京大総長の長尾真氏は、こうした事業を積極的に進めている。 

But new challenges for the library have emerged.

　一方、新たな課題も見えてきた。 

The library's work to support legislators has rapidly grown in scale. In fiscal 2007, which ended in March 2008, the library handled about 45,000 requests for materials and analyses made by Diet members, more than double that of fiscal 1995. The rise was due mainly to the sharp increase in legislative initiatives by lawmakers.

　国会を助ける仕事の重みが増している。０７年度に議員が依頼した資料集めや分析は４万５千件。議員の立法活動が活発になり、９５年度の２倍以上だ。

But the library's work force has not grown at the same pace, with only about 190 employees dealing with the heavier workload.

しかし対応する職員は約１９０人。あまり増えていない。

The library clearly needs greater manpower to accomplish its vital mission of providing information and advice for lawmakers from a position different from that of bureaucrats.

省庁の役人とは違う立場でのブレーン機能を果たすのは、この図書館の使命なのだから、もっと手厚い態勢がほしい。 

The library also lacks certain capabilities in gathering materials.

　資料収集の態勢も十分ではない。

The amount of administrative and academic information published only on the Internet is increasing, and the Web pages of local governments can disappear at any time. But the library must gain permission each time to collect and preserve such data because it has no legal authority to do so freely.

最近は、ネット上だけで発表される行政や学術の情報が増えているが、それを集める法的な根拠がない。放っておくと消えかねない自治体などのホームページを、今はいちいち許諾を得て保存している。

Legal revisions are needed to allow the library to gather and preserve materials published by public organizations without obtaining permission. The range of materials for such operations should also be widened.

公共性の高い機関のものは許諾なしで保存できるよう法律を改正し、収集の幅も広げてほしい。 

Another challenge facing the institution is the preservation of manga comic magazines, which attract the interest of many overseas researchers.

　海外の研究者も関心を寄せるマンガ雑誌の保存も悩みだ。

The ink on manga magazines tends to smudge rather quickly, causing the pictures to blur. Under current copyright rules, preserving manga publications in digital form for wide availability requires permission from various parties concerned. It would be a tall order and require tremendous clerical costs.

インクがにじみやすく、短期間で絵がぼやける。デジタル化して保存・活用しようにも、現状では多くの関係者の許可が必要で事務コストが重く、手がつけられない。

We hope a system can be created to deal with this problem flexibly while paying due attention to the copyright issue.

著作権に配慮しながら柔軟に対応できる仕組みが作れないだろうか。 

The National Diet Library is an intellectual asset of the people. We have a duty to expand and bolster the functions of the institution for future generations.

　国会図書館は国民の知の財産だ。その基盤を厚く強くして、次代に渡す責任がある。

Necessary measures should be taken as soon as possible.

必要な手当てを急ぎたい。