SEIKA, Kyoto Pref. -- The Internet age is offering libraries a chance to shed the image of musty rooms lined with overflowing shelves and endless reference materials.
The Kansai branch of the National Diet Library -- due to open here Oct. 7 -- is hoping services it will offer via the Net can help users acquire information more quickly and easily.
The National Diet Library in Tokyo is the nation's largest library, formed in 1948 and modeled after the U.S. Library of Congress and the Congressional Research Service.