Many digital collections of cultura

Many digital collections of cultural heritage resources, commonly referred to as digital archives, have been developed in Japan. This paper covers the multiple facets of digital archiving for a comprehensive understanding of Japanese activities and issues learnt since the 1990s, starting from the development of digital archives and related activities. It then discusses some issues for sustainable development of digital archives: social, usability, technological and longevity. As building and maintaining digital archives is expensive, it is important to demonstrate their value to ensure their sustainability. Continuous effort must be made to build really usable digital archives, and to develop appropriate measures to evaluate usability. Such effort must include human resource development and community networking.