TOKYO, JAPAN June 17, 2021 - Kinokuniya Company Ltd. (Chairman and President Masashi Takai, Shinjuku Tokyo) was appointed to undertake the project commissioned by National Institute of Informatics (Director General Masaru Kitsuregawa, Chiyoda Tokyo), "Provision of Catalog Information Service and Electronic Resource Management System".
NACSIS-CAT/ILL, the catalog information service operated by NII, is currently used by more than 1,300 institutions, mainly university libraries, as a union catalog database comprehensively covering Japanese academic resources. Through the reconstruction and enhancement of NACSIS-CAT/ILL by the cooperation of domestic and international system vendors, Kinokuniya contributes to establishing the academic research infrastructure in Japan which will advance the digitization of academic resources and the provision of world class service.
Background and goals of this project
NACSIS-CAT/ILL was launched in 1985, and it has supported university libraries in Japan for their cataloging and interlibrary loan operations. With the globalization and digital shifting of academic research in recent years, the infrastructure of academic information management and distribution has been changing dramatically worldwide. In response to these trends, the Future Scholarly Information Systems Committee was formed under the Council for Promoting Collaboration between University Libraries and the National Institute of Informatics. The committee discussed the optimization of NACSIS-CAT/ILL System, and the infrastructure which enables users to comprehensively search both print and digital materials. Based on this discussion, NII set up a project.
Structure of the new system
To achieve the goals mentioned above, Kinokuniya will build the following systems based on the NII's entrusted business.
1. Renewal of NACSIS-CAT/ILL
The new NACSIS-CAT/ILL System will utilize the Controlled Bibliographic Service (CBS) of an American organization, OCLC, as its base. CBS was designed for cooperative cataloging and interlibrary loan, and it was introduced in European countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and also Australia. In this plan, CBS will support the existing CAT-P format to exchange the MARC records with the user libraries, and maintain the current functions of NACSIS-CAT/ILL. On the other hand, the bibliographic data in the underlying system is compliant with the international standard MARC21, and the new system will offer functionality aimed at assisting with the latest library management. The scope includes corresponding to the international metadata models such as RDA and Bibframe in the future. CMS Co. Ltd., a Japanese system company, will develop the interlibrary loan system, which works with CBS seamlessly.
2. Establishment of a new electronic resource management service
With an increase in digital resources, it is critical to find ways to effectively manage electronic resources and develop a research environment. Towards this goal, this project will establish a new electronic resource management system that will enable the user libraries to access the content lists and license terms submitted by domestic and foreign publishers and academic societies to the Japan Alliance of University Library Consortia for E-Resources (JUSTICE).
Alma, developed by an Israeli company Ex Libris, has been adapted as a base system. Alma has been introduced to a great number of universities and consortia throughout the world as a resource management platform in the digital era.
Project schedule
- April 2021: Project kickoff
- Spring 2022: Introduction of a new electronic resource management service
- Winter 2023: Launch of the new NACSIS-CAT/ILL
About The National Institute of Informatics
The National Institute of Informatics (NII) under the Inter-Univesity Research Institute Corporation Research Organization of Information and Systems is the only academic research institute in Japan dedicated to creating future value in informatics, a new academic field. From the basic theory of informatics to cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, big data, internet of things, and information security, NII carries out long-term basic research as well as practical studies that attempt to address current social issues.
In parallel, NII develops and operates services of the essential academic information infrastructures used by the entire academic research community in Japan for research and education; it builds and operates the Science Information NETwork (SINET5) on one hand, and provides academic content and service platforms on the other hand. The bilateral feedback cycle between the findings gained from the service operations and from the academic research generates cutting-edge technologies, which are utilized in the service.
About Kinokuniya Company Ltd/
Established in 1927, Kinokuniya Company Ltd. is one of the largest bookstore chains in Japan with a history spanning more than 90 years. Its institutional sales division currently has 28 sales offices in domestic areas stretching across Japan from Hokkaido to Okinawa, and five divisions specialized in respective products and services. Kinokuniya carries out a wide range of businesses, providing high-quality solutions in the procurement of Japanese and international books, journals, databases, and eBooks; in the provision and installation of educational and research facilities and equipment; as well as in the assignment of contracts to outsource library operations on behalf of universities and local governments alike.