Royal Danish Library Digital Collections (Det Kongelige Bibliotek)

Overview

The Royal Danish Library's Digital Collections portal (digitalesamlinger.kb.dk) is the primary online gateway to the digitized holdings of Denmark's national library. Founded in 1648 by King Frederik III, the Royal Danish Library (Det Kongelige Bibliotek) is one of Scandinavia's oldest and largest research libraries. Since 1697, Danish law has required legal deposit of published works, giving the library a near-comprehensive record of Danish print culture since the earliest days of printing.

History and Digital Development

The library opened to the public in 1793 and became state property in 1849. A series of mergers expanded its scope significantly: in 1989 it absorbed the Copenhagen University Library, in 2005 the Danish National Library for Science and Medicine, and in 2008 the Danish Folklore Archive. Digitization efforts accelerated in the 2000s, and a dedicated digital collections interface was developed to provide free remote access to cultural heritage materials. Danish books printed before 1900 are digitized on demand. Legal deposit was extended to electronic publications in 2006, and the library now harvests four electronic copies of the Danish internet annually.

Collections and Holdings

The Digital Collections portal provides access to a curated selection of the library's digitized materials, organized into catalogues covering diverse subjects. Key digital collections include: images and photographs; the correspondence archive of Chief Rabbi David Simonsen (approximately 29,000 letters); Hans Christian Andersen's paper cuttings; Western and Judaistic manuscripts; maps and atlases; political manifestos; rare books; printed ephemera (småtryk); and department store catalogues. The library's total holdings include more than 18 million prints and photographs, 5.2 million aerial photo units, and over 35 million units of digital national heritage content.

Materials Relevant to Journalism and Media

The Royal Danish Library holds an extensive national newspaper collection covering daily and local newspapers published in Denmark from the earliest period to the present. Through its online catalog, users can access digitized historical newspapers, with all material over 100 years old freely available. The library also holds the national radio and television archive, including broadcasts from DR and TV2 from the mid-1980s onward, and the DR-arkivet, a unique collection of Danish Broadcasting Corporation programming. The InfoMedia database provides access to most Danish daily and weekly newspapers and trade magazines from 1975 onwards.

Access and Usage

The Digital Collections portal at digitalesamlinger.kb.dk is freely accessible to anyone online. Material over 100 years old is available without restriction; more recent material is accessible through designated computers at the library's physical locations. The library maintains sites in Copenhagen (headquarters at Slotsholmen, including the iconic Black Diamond building) and Aarhus. Registration is required for reading rooms and specialized collections. The library welcomed approximately 1.5 million visitors in 2023.