NEC Corp has developed a Universal Electronic Library, which is designed to bring libraries of schools, business and other organiZations into the multimedia age. It provides means of input, storage and searching via the Web. The Library has two subsystems, the Information Factory, a means to input data, which is based on scanner input, character recognition and database archiving, and the Worldwide Web-based Electronic Library interface which enables a user to cross-reference library data from across the Web, in a virtual bookshelf. Japan has been looking for applications for its government-sponsored Global Information Infrastructure and Fibre-to-the-Home high- speed fibre optic network which is planned for completion early next century. A large-scale electronic library is also planned as part of construction of a West-Japan-based library of the National Diet or parliament.
