CLOCKSS is very pleased to announce that the two major academic library groups in Japan have joined the CLOCKSS archive: the Japanese Association of National University Libraries (JANUL) and the Private and Public University Libraries Consortia (PULC). JANUL consists of 92 libraries, while roughly 360 libraries are part of PULC. The National Institute of Informatics in Japan (NII), which is a CLOCKSS founding library and archive node, has been instrumental in bringing about this partnership and expanding the support for CLOCKSS to all academic libraries in Japan.
Jun Adachi, Professor and Director, Cyber Science Infrastructure Development Department of NII, and CLOCKSS Board of Director, says “We believe it is crucial for libraries located in the Asia Pacific region, and particularly Japan, to take an active role in preservation and have a voice in policies that affect us all. CLOCKSS gives us an opportunity to participate in this important international endeavor. Since joining the archive node in February 2010, NII has collaborated with CLOCKSS by leading an effort to facilitate the participation of Japanese libraries. It is encouraging that we have got support this time from university libraries in Japan as a whole.”
Koichi Ojiro of JANUL consortium says “As scholarly publications on the web are becoming increasingly important for research and education in academic institutions, it is a real challenge for librarians to ensure their long term survival. I am very pleased to announce JANUL’s commitment to preserving digital scholarly assets by participating in CLOCKSS.”
Makoto Nakamoto of Waseda University Library shares this enthusiasm, saying, “It is a pleasure to join CLOCKSS and join our voices with this organization. CLOCKSS reinforces our values by providing free access to content that is no longer available from any publisher, and making sure that scholarly content will always remain in the hands of libraries worldwide.”
CLOCKSS Executive Director Gordon Tibbitts is “honored to partner with Japan and count JANUL and PULC among the library groups that support CLOCKSS. We believe that the best plan for long term preservation is diversification, and this partnership will greatly benefit CLOCKSS and the entire scholarly community.”
About National Institute of Informatics in Japan (NII) – Founded in 2000, NII is Japan’s only general academic research institution with the goal of advancing integrated research and development in information fields. Additionally, NII strives to facilitate the advancement of cyber science infrastructure. In 2004 NII became a member of the Research Organization of Information and Systems. http://www.nii.ac.jp/en/
About JANUL – Japan Association of National University Libraries (JANUL) is a membership organization comprising libraries of national universities in Japan, the University of the Air Library, library facilities of four inter-university research institutes, totaling 92 libraries and library facilities. JANUL aims at supporting the advancement of library function through close coordination and cooperation among the members, promoting inter-library use of scholarly information resources extensively, and contributing development of infrastructures for scholarly information distribution in order to help universities achieve their missions. http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/anul/index-e.html
About PULC – The Private and Public University Libraries Consortium (PULC) is a membership organization of public and private university libraries in Japan. Currently, a total of more than 360 private and public universities participate in the consortium.