Interlibrary Loan Service for overseas

As the only deposit library of Japan, the NDL has a mission of storing and preserving deposited materials as national cultural properties for present and future generations. Accordingly, the collections of the NDL are in principle to be read within the NDL building and not to be lent out to any individuals.

However, it is possible for overseas users to read NDL materials in the buildings of their university libraries or other community libraries under the supervision of library staff by taking advantage of the interlibrary loan service, provided that the following conditions are met:

A library wishing to borrow items from the NDL must register with the User Registration System for Interlibrary Loan Services.

To register for the system, a library must submit the following three documents to the address below by post:

* We may ask more questions about your library or request other documents.

Address

* Please send the original applications and other necessary documents to the NDL by post. We do not accept applications by fax or email attachment.

After the application is approved, we will send your library the written approval, Certificate of User Registration and the other documents. You will need to wait about four to six weeks for the approval, etc., excluding time for postal delivery.
The Certificate of User Registration includes a User ID which are necessary for you to make loan and photocopy requests via NDL Search.

Generally speaking, the materials that the NDL loans out are mainly Japanese books acquired in 1996 or later and foreign books acquired in 1948 or later. Please note that not all NDL materials are loanable.

• Digitized materials
• Serials (newspapers, periodicals, etc.)
• Materials in deteriorated condition (acidic, etc.)
• Rare and precious materials (old Japanese books, etc.)
• Materials unsuitable to lending (large-sized books, reference books, pamphlets, etc)
• Non-book materials (doctoral dissertations, single-sheet maps, electronic resources, music scores, phonographic records, microfilms, microfiches)
• Documents considered as collection
• Materials determined to be obtained on the market easily
• Books for amusement

The borrower is required to ship the borrowed materials back to the NDL within one month from the date of receipt.

* The NDL does not extend the deadline of loans. When the deadline comes, please return the materials. If needed, you can request to loan them again.

The maximum number of items that can be borrowed from the NDL at any time is ten, including items that you already have from an earlier request.

The requesting library bears only the return postage.
The NDL will bear the postage for sending the materials from the NDL to your library. Also, there is no lending fee.

Please visit NDL Search to request materials from the NDL. A user ID number and password are required.

You can make a request for loanable materials via NDL Search. If you cannot make a request via NDL Search, fill in the designated request form and send it to the following address by mail or by fax:

* We cannot accept any form other than the designated request form.

When the NDL cannot comply with the request, the NDL will send an explanation of the reason by email or by postal mail.

The items are sent to the requesting library by registered air mail from one of the three NDL libraries (Tokyo Main Library, Kansai-kan, or ILCL), depending on which library holds the items.

The materials lent out by the NDL arrive with a loan slip and a sheet of information titled "To Borrowers". Please make sure the arriving items and the loan slip are correct and that the materials are in good condition.
The right side of "To Borrowers" is labeled, "Receipt Letter of the Loan Material". When you receive borrowed materials, please check the condition of the items, fill in the "Receipt Letter of the Loan Material" form, and send it to the library from which the materials were sent (Tokyo Main Library, Kansai-kan, or ILCL) by fax or email within three days. (The fax number and email address of the library you should send it to is written in "To Borrowers".)

[Before use of the loan materials]

1. Arrival of the material
2. Check the condition of the material
3. Fill in the form "Receipt Letter of the Loan Material", and send it to the library from which they were sent
4. Use of the loan material

* The information in the loan slips may be different from the information you entered in your application form sent by fax or mail.

• The items that the NDL lends out must be read only in a reading room of the requesting library.
• It is not allowed to copy them in the requesting library.
• If a material borrowed from the NDL is damaged or lost, the NDL must be reimbursed.

Please observe the following conditions when returning materials.

• After using the borrowed material, please make sure again the item is in good condition.　If the item was damaged or lost, please contact the NDL immediately.
• When sending back the borrowed material, please pack it tightly in a solid box so that it will not move inside, and use the attached return address label attached.
• Please keep the loan slip and "To Borrowers" in a safe place and put them between the leaves of the book when returning it to the NDL.
• All returns must be sent by registered air mail or international air carrier providing tracking service and compensation for loss, not by surface mail.
• Materials must be returned to the library from which they were sent. Do not return materials to the wrong library. The mailing addresses are:

All materials lent out by the NDL must be returned at the expense of the requesting libraries.

Please contact us at the following fax number or e-mail address:

* If your library's name, address or other information is changed after approval, please let us know by letter or fax to the above address with your user ID.