Wemezeker Digital Items Portal NALA Digital Library Collections

About the Portal

The Wemezeker Digital Items Portal is the digital library collections platform of the Ethiopian National Archive and Library Agency (NALA), the national archives and library of Ethiopia. The portal is operated under the Integrated Library, Archive and Record Management System (ILARMS) and provides online access to digitized materials from NALA's extensive holdings.

History and Background

NALA traces its origins to 1944, when Emperor Haile Selassie I inaugurated the institution under the name "wemezeker" (a transliteration of the Amharic term for archive/library). The agency was formally reestablished by Proclamation No. 179/1999 as a national institution under the current name. The digital portal represents NALA's effort to make its collections accessible online to researchers worldwide.

Collections and Holdings

The digital portal provides access to a wide range of digitized materials including e-books, e-magazines, e-newspapers, e-manuscripts, e-microfilm items, audio-visual resources, and archival records. NALA's broader physical collection comprises approximately 7,430 archival records, 16,403 books, and 15,000 microfilm copies, including ancient manuscripts dating as far back as the 14th and 15th centuries. The archive holds letters written by Ethiopian kings, empresses, and princes, as well as records from the Ministry of the Grand Palace.

Access and Usage

The Digital Items Portal is accessible online at no cost and allows users to search across digitized collections. Physical research access to archives is available Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM, at NALA's facility in Addis Ababa.