Collaboration of Libraries, Archives and Museums: A Perspective from Japan

Takashi KOGA (Tenri University, Tenri, Nara, Japan)<A poster for IFLA WLIC 2013, 17-23 Aug. 2013, Singapore>

Collaboration and/or convergence of libraries, archives and museums (hereafter LAM) is one of the important topics of LAM communities worldwide, as shown by the activities of the

IFLA Governing Board Working Group on Convergence. While the topic of LAM collaboration has been discussed extensively in recent years in Japan, the potential and actual

collaboration processes and results of that collaboration have not been thus clarified. This poster presentation suggests a three-fold process for LAM collaboration, based on issues

and activities in Japan: (1) a technical service stage, aimed at preservation and organization of LAM resources; (2) a public service stage, including reference service and exhibitions;

and (3) a policy and management stage, including collaboration and/or convergence of LAM as real organizations.

Summary

How to Understand “LAM Collaboration”?

<My Concern Regarding LAM Collaboration>

* The main issues should be management of a diverse range of documents, ma-

terials, objects, and information/cultural resources, rather than convergence of

LAMs as institutions.

- e..g., Musical field: ordinary books, scores, instruments, recorded materials

(records, CDs, cassette tapes, video tapes, DVDs, and so on.)

* The diversity of such resources in the electronic environment should also be

considered.

- “In recent years, as all kinds of recorded information has migrated into digital

form, the problems and challenges facing the several pro-

fessions [including those related to libraries, archives and

museums] have converged.” (Bates and Maack (2010), p.

xvii)

<Suggestion of a Three-Fold Model>

(1) Technical Service Stage, (2) Public Service Stage, and (3)

Policy and Management Stage

→ This model will suggest concrete steps toward LAM col-

laboration.

Stage 1: Technical Service Stage

<Preservation and Conservation>

[Relationships between preservation and conservation

cf. Yasue (2010)]

* Importance of “preservation as management”

- Includes conservation techniques

- Ensures compatibility of preservation and usage of materials

and collections (e.g. substitution measures such as micro-

films and digitization)

- Common challenges of digital preservation for LAMs

* Relationships with crisis and disaster management

- Rescue activities for cultural resources and rare documents

in Japan (especially after “3.11” mega earthquake) →

These can be connected with policy issues (Stage 3).

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<Organization of Cultural/Information Resources>

[Model of the organization based on NISO (2007)]

* Several issues concerning the organization

- Acknowledgement of unique techniques in each field

(e.g. ISBD, RDA for libraries / ISAD(G), EAD for

archives / IGMOI, CRM for museums), and cross-

walk techniques such as Dublin Core

- Common challenges: metadata for collections as well

as objects, identifiers, subject headings, authority

controls for creators and works, and so on.

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Object

Object

Metadata

Metadata

Database

Metadata

How to Understand “LAM Collaboration”? Stage 1: Technical Service Stage

A revised web version

<Digital Library/Archives/Museums>

* Providing digitized (or born-digital) materials and/or collections (e.g.,

Europeana (EU), NDL Search (National Diet Library, Japan))

<Reference/Information Service>

* Can each professional sphere, particularly that of

museums, provide appropriate information for users'

questions (i.e., information needs) from trustworthy

resources?

<Exhibitions>

* Museums have an advantage, but libraries and

archives also provide exhibition service using their

materials and/or collections.

<Information Literacy Instruction>

* Increasing importance for archives as well as libraries; “Visitor pro-

grams” at museums can be included in such instructions.

<National / Regional / Internal Policy for LAM>

* Policy for content/materials/collections as well as

institutions and infrastructures should be considered.

- e.g., cultural heritage policy, memory policy, the “Knowledge Digital

Archives” Project (Japan), the “Public Knowledge Information Resource

Management” Policy (South Korea), the “National Cultural Information

Resources Sharing Project” (China)

<Convergence of LAM as Institutions>

* This should be conducted carefully, so that the

unique aims and functions of each institution are

not weakened.

<Management of “Internal LAM”> (cf. Okano (2011))

Some institutions include LAM characteristics from the beginning, such

as literary museums/archives.

*LAM collaboration starts with treatment (preservation, organization,

etc.) of each collection (Stage 1), and then advances into the ser-

vices using the collections for the users (Stage 2). The overall col-

laboration style and services are defined by policy and management

instruments (Stage 3).

* Each stage here does not exist independently; rather, policy and

management instruments define and influence technical and public

service.

- e.g., Policy for preservation, reference service, and development of

digital LAMs.

* Challenges

- Methods to define policy and management instruments: a “bottom-

up” approach might be preferred, because it would reflect the

unique aims and functions of LAMs.

- The possibility of new technical/public service approaches and

techniques, that are not covered by existing LAMs.

Stage3

Stage2

MuseumsArchives

Stage1ŽůůĞĐƟŽŶƐŽůůĞĐƟŽŶƐ

Libraries

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Contact: Takashi KOGA／ Associate Professor, Librarianship Course, Center for Liberal Arts Edu-

cation and Research, Tenri University, Tenri, Nara, Japan; M.A, M.L.S. (Syracuse [USA], 2002)

Email :

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References

・A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections. 3rd

ed. Bethesda: U.S. National Information Standards Organization

(NISO), 2007. <http://www.niso.org/publications/rp/framework3.pdf

>

・Bates, Marcia J. and Mary Niles Maack. “Introduction to the Ency-

clopedia of Library and Information Sciences, Third edition.” in:

Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences. 3rd ed. Bates and

Maack (eds.), Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2010. vol. 1, p. xiii-xx.

・(In Japanese) Koga, Takashi. “MLA Renkei.” [MLA collaboration.] in:

Joho Shigen no Shakai Seido to Keiei. [Administration and Manage-

ment of Information Resources.] Akira Nemoto (ed.), Tokyo: Univer-

sity of Tokyo Press, 2013, p. 241-256.

・(In Japanese) Okano, Hiroyuki. “Uchinaru MLA Renkei: Nihon Kindai

Bungakukan.” [Internal MLA Collaboration: the Museum of Modern

Japanese Literature.] in: Digital Bunka Shigen no Katsuyo: Chiiki no

Kioku to Archive. [Usage of Digital Cultural Resources: Memory in

Local Communities and Archive.] Intellectual Resources Initiatives

(ed.), Tokyo: Bensei Shuppan, 2011, p. 103-113.

・(In Japanese) Yasue, Akio. “Bunka Shigen Kikan no Hozon Manage-

ment.” [Preservation management at cultural resources institutions.]

in: Toshokan, Hakubutsukan, Bunshokan no Renkei. [Collaboration of

Libraries, Museums and Archives.] Research Committee, Japan

Society for Library and Information Science (ed.), Tokyo: Bensei

Shuppan, 2010, p. 57-71.

Tenri Central Library (Tenri, Nara, Japan)

Stage 2: Public Service Stage

Stage 3: Policy and Management Stage

Wrap-up: Potentials and Challenges

of the Three-Fold Model

Stage 2: Public Service Stage

Web : http://researchmap.jp/T_Koga_Govinfo/