News

Oxford Dictionary of American Family Names

This year, the NUK Reference Collection is enriched by a very interesting work. The 2nd edition of the Oxford Dictionary of American Family Names reflects the unique diversity of the American population better than ever before. It also covers Slovene and Gottscheerich (Gottschee German), as well as other Slavic, European and non-European surnames that came with immigrants to the United States.

It is an extremely comprehensive work in five large-format volumes (5 volumes and 3,856 pages), twice as large as the first edition. The volume has been greatly increased due to the large number of newly identified surname sources from the first edition, the many added meanings, and the addition of historical data. It is even more extensive due to the expansion of the existing essays and the addition of a number of new introductory essays.

It is also remarkable that, for the first time in its publishing history, Oxford has entrusted the editing of the Lexicon to someone who is not British, American, Australian or an English-speaking Jew. The editor, Simon Lenarčič, who did 75 % of the editorial work and a huge amount of the authoring, was invited to join the project by the project's initiator, the editor-in-chief, Patrick Hanks. Lenarčič's editorial work consisted mainly of identifying (verifying) the origin of all surnames (both the more than 10,000 new surnames and the 70,000 surnames in the first edition), editing all the new explanations and part of the explanations in the first edition, and editing some of the introductory essays.

We would like to thank the editor Lenarčič, who donated his author's copy of the work to the NUK, for his gift. The NUK Lexicon is available to researchers, genealogists and anyone interested in the origins of the 80,000 most common American surnames.

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Test access to new resources (Brill, Chicago Manual of Style Online)

The COSEC Consortium, in cooperation with the Central Library of the Humanities, has obtained test access to two reference resources from Brill:

Brill's Encyclopedia of China Online is based on the printed reference work on China and provides reliable information on China's history, geography, society, economy, politics, science and culture. The focus is on the modern period from the mid-nineteenth century onwards.
Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online is a reference source that provides insight into the plurality of Buddhist traditions across Asia, offering readers a balanced and detailed treatment of this complex phenomenon in six thematically arranged volumes: Literature and Languages (I, published 2015), Biographies (II, published 2019), Theory (III, published 2022), History (IV, planned publication 2023), Life and Practice (V, planned publication 2025), Index and Remaining Issues (VI, planned publication 2026).

Test access is available until 30 November 2023 from UL, CTK, NIB and NUK locations; remote access is available to students and staff of UL, CTK, NIB and NUK and to NUK members.

... and test access to Chicago Manual of Style Online.

The Chicago Manual of Style is a style manual published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. The 17th edition is now available online. Known as the rules and recommendations of 'Chicago style', it contains guidelines for publication, citation, reference citation, and the design and production of tables of contents, and is among the most widely used in the United States, particularly in academic and book publishing. It is used primarily by editors and publishers. It covers topics ranging from manuscript preparation and publication to grammar, usage and documentation, and has been called the 'editor's bible'.

Test access is available from 1 November 2023 to 31 January 2024 from UL, CTK, NIB and NUK locations; remote access is available to UL, CTK, NIB and NUK students and staff, and to members of UL, CTK, NIB and NUK libraries.

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NUK will be a partner in the NextGenHS project

From 2021, the Slovenian Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation (ARIS) is launching a call for proposals for large research projects in addition to the standard ones. These are interdisciplinary projects that typically require a breakthrough idea and involve many researchers and organisations.

The project NextGenHS - Next Generation Analytical Tools for Heritage Science will be led by Prof. Dr. Irena Kralj Cigić (Laboratory for Heritage Science, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology) and includes the National and University Library (Research Department, Dr. Jasna Malešič) as a partner. Other project partners are the Faculty of Biotechnology and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Maribor, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, the Institute for Civil Engineering and the Institute of Chemistry. The main objective of the project is to develop new analytical methods and techniques for historic biomaterials, for the purpuse of their better interpretation, management and conservation.

ToF-SIMS spectrometer (Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Maribor), which enables high-resolution analysis of the elemental composition and molecular structure of surfaces, thin films and phase boundaries of various materials.

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Workshop on resolving Copyrights of Contemporary Literary Works

On October 6th, a workshop titled "Practical Experiences in Resolving Copyrights of Contemporary Literary Works" was held at the City Museum in Ljubljana, organized by the National and University Library, Slovenia (NUK). During the workshop, NUK presented its experiences in resolving copyright issues related to contemporary works, which were obtained as part of the European EODOPEN project. The seminar also covered the content and results of the EODOPEN project, for which NUK leads a work package aimed at adapting digitized works for mobile device users and individuals with visual impairments.

On this occasion, we invited Dr Maja Bogataj Jančič, a top expert in the field of intellectual property, especially copyright law, to present some of the basics of copyright management in the field of librarianship, in the cases of digitisation of contemporary works and in the handling of out-of-print and orphan works.

At the international EODOPEN project, the project consortium set the goal of digitizing 15,000 works from the 20th and 21st centuries, many of which are still under copyright protection. Libraries must adhere to the Copyright and Related Rights Act when providing access to these works. Libraries can easily provide online access to public domain works where copyright had expired. However, the challenge arises with works that are still under copyright protection, as it requires resolving copyright issues and negotiations with rights holders, including publishers, authors, and heirs. Currently, as Slovenia doesn’t have Collective Management Organisations, there are two exceptions available to libraries: orphan works and out-of-commerce works, as permitted by law. The practical aspects of resolving copyright during the EODOPEN project were presented by Andreja Hari, who also presented the already established exception for out-of-commerce works in the National Library of Estonia. She presented the topic as partners from Estonia unfortunately could not attend the workshop.

Within the EODOPEN project, in addition to addressing copyright resolution models, there is a segment led by the National Library of Hungary, focusing on the development of a tool for organizational tracking of the copyright status of literary works. Dr. Szabolcs Dancs, the head of this segment, introduced the tool known as RCDT (Right Clearance Documentation Tool) during the meeting.

EODOPEN, or eBooks-On-Demand-Network Opening Publications for European Netizens, is a four-year project co-financed by the European Commission under the Creative Europe program. Its aim is to work directly with national, regional and local communities in the selection of the 20th and 21st centuries material for digitization. The partner countries of the project are Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. The total value of the project is about 4 million euros.

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The Exhibition on Prešeren in Frankfurt

This year Slovenia is the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair. At the same time, it is 175 years since the first publication of Zdravljica, a particularly important poem from the pen of the giant of Slovenian literature, France Prešeren. Its verses have survived all wars and upheavals - they have even become the anthem of the Slovenian state; as such, they offer the best insight into the search for the expression of the perfection of language and the cultural spirit guided by the desire for peaceful coexistence between people.

On this occasion, in cooperation with the Slovenian Cultural Centre (SKICA) Berlin and the German Romantic Museum in Frankfurt, we opened the exhibition France Prešeren in slovenska romantika (France Prešeren and Slovenian Romanticism). It presents a selection of the first and most important manuscripts and editions of France Prešeren and Luiza Pesjak held by the National and University Library in Ljubljana, the historical context of Prešeren's work and the important legacy the poet has given to Slovenian and European culture.

The authors of the exhibition are Dr. Igor Grdina (ZRC SAZU) and Dr. Urška Perenič. The exhibition was coordinated by Dr. Ines Vodopivec (NUK) and Dr. Raphael Stübe (DRM) and designed by Maj Blatnik (NUK). The sound recordings of Prešeren's poems in German were contributed by the Ars Programme of Radio Slovenia.

The exhibition will be on display until 25 November 2023 at the German Romantic Museum in Frankfurt.

You are kindly invited to visit.

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image: rawpixel.com / Freepik

Practical Application of Artificial Intelligence in Libraries (webinar)

We are delighted to invite you to a webinar on the Practical Application of Artificial Intelligence in Libraries. This seminar is intended for librarians, information professionals, researchers, and anyone interested in understanding what artificial intelligence is, the importance of data and metadata quality stored in libraries, how machine learning influences pattern recognition, and how artificial intelligence can enhance the functioning of libraries and benefit users.

Date: October 20, 2023, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Organizers: IFLA Section for Information Technology, Europeana Foundation, and the National and University Library of Slovenia

Location: Online (a link will be provided to registered participants)

Price: Free. You can register to the webinar: https://arnes-si.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtf--rrjktGtYWc7HqNcfrPy4ShkU4cF2B

More info: https://www.ifla.org/events/webinar-practical-application-of-artificial-intelligence-in-libraries/

UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, paid a visit to the National and University Library

On Wednesday, 30 August 2023, Dr Tawfik Jelassi, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, paid a visit to the National and University Library in Slovenia. In addition to the Plečnik Library, which, together with a selection of the architect's works, is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, he was also shown the remarkable 10th-century Codex Suprasliensis, Slovenia's only entry on UNESCO's Memory of the World List, which brings together the most important treasures of the world's written and documentary heritage.

EODOPEN project representatives at the LIBER conference

From July 5th to 7th, 2023, the LIBER Annual Conference took place in Budapest (Hungary), attended by approximately 400 participants, including five EODOPEN representatives from the three partner countries Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. In addition to the lectures, we contributed with a project poster on all three days of the conference, which aimed to present the broad themes we are working on in the Project in the clearest and most concise way possible.

We are pleased to announce that our poster was selected as the best of the twelve exhibited by the conference participants.

From left to right: poster authors Elena Sipria-Mironov and Liisi Lembinen (University of Tartu, Estonia), Szabolcs Dancs (National Széchényi Library, Hungary), Andreja Hari (National and University Library, Slovenia) and Rita Radó (National Széchényi Library, Hungary). Image source: University of Tartu (Estonia).

Image source: University of Tartu (Estonia).

The traditional Dobrodošli doma (Welcome Home) meeting in NUK

On Thursday, 29 June, we traditionally invited Slovenian compatriots living outside Slovenia’s border and around the world to the National Library of Slovenia to join a series of events held under the common title Dobrodošli doma (Welcome Home). This year, we presented an exhibition by Lučka Oblak Čop, a photographer from Buenos Aires who specialises in portrait photography, as well as an exhibition of books written by representatives of the Slovenian nation in the Land of the Southern Cross. The exhibitions Utrinki življenja (Impressions of Life) and Creative Impressions (Ustvarjalni utrinki) will be on display in the NUK Café and Plečnik hall until 17 July 2023. The opening of the exhibitions was followed by two musical events featuring excellent musicians from Venezuela, the United States, Argentina and Slovenia, which delighted many visitors from all over the world, including Slovenia.

Digitisation and publication of Dolfe Vogelnik's works

Within the EODOPEN project, we have digitised and freely published fourteen publications by Dolfe Vogelnik (1909-1987), Slovenian lawyer, statistician and educator. The digitised works are primarily in the fields of statistics, demography and migration flows in Slovenia. We would like to thank the heiress for her consent.

The digitised works can be viewed on the Digital Library of Slovenia portal.

By submitting the filled in proposal form, you can participate in the selection of the material.

Summer 2023: Opening hours for users and Tourist visits of the Plečnik library

For part of this summer, the library will be open according to summer opening hours. Between July 3 and August 14, 2023, NUK will be open to members and users every working day, including Saturdays, from 9am to 2pm, and on Wednesdays from 9am to 5pm. The Main Reading Room will be open only for tourist visits during the summer working times.

As part of a tourist visit, you can see the Plečnik Palace (staircase, hall, the Main Reading Room, exhibition hall). Tourist visits are scheduled every day between 10 AM and 2 PM and between 2.30 PM and 6 PM. The entrance fee is 5 EUR per person, children under 15 years of age are admitted free of charge. There are no tourist visits on Sundays and public holidays.

You are welcome to spend the summer months in our company.

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NUK colleagues participate in the 15th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML2023)

Between 30th May and 3rd June, as part of the EODOPEN project (eBooks-On-Demand-Network Opening Publications for European Netizens), we participated in the 15th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML2023), held in Heraklion (Crete, Greece). The meeting was attended by Dr Alenka Kavčič-Čolić and Andreja Hari, who on 1st June presented the paper How to make Digitisation Results Accessible to all Communities: The case of EODOPEN project. They presented the research carried out in the framework of the project, which analysed the workflows and delivery file formats used by the project partners in the course of digitisation. The results provide recommendations for users with special needs, especially users of mobile devices and the blind and partially sighted. The report of the research will be available shortly via the project's website: www.eodopen.eu/outputs.

By submitting the filled in proposal form, you can participate in the selection of the material.

Until June 6, 2023, Test Access to Sociology Source Ultimate database

Sociology Source Ultimate is a specialised database in the field of sociological sciences, offering in one place information on articles from more than 3,200 journals, most of them peer-reviewed. They comprise more than 460 full-text journals that are not openly accessible. Over 750 carefully selected openly accessible journals are also included. The collection features over 2100 videos, too. Searching is possible by the references (from more than 900 journals) that have been quoted by authors in their works. To make searching easier and more accurate, the collection also provides Thesaurus (a controlled vocabulary of sociological terms).

Access is available from the locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), the Central Technical Library (CTK) and the National and University Library (NUK). Remote access is offered to members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, members of the Central Technical Library and of the National and University Library.

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Digitisation and publication of national embroideries in Carniola

Within the EODOPEN project, the Library has digitised and made freely available the publication Narodne vezenine na Kranjskem (National Embroideries in Carniola) by Albert Sič, published in 1918. The publication has four parts: the first one is about the embroideries from the Gorenjska region, the second presents the Belokranjska embroideries, the third one the so-called White embroideries while the fourth part covers the colourful embroideries. In addition to the introductory texts, each part includes A3 or larger design sheets, which are valuable material for exploring embroidery motifs.

The digitised publication can be viewed on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia.

By submitting the filled in proposal form, you can participate in the selection of the material.

8th ICARUS Croatia days within the E-Routes Project

As part of the project E-ROUTES: Time Travel Routes through Europe, NUK employees Dr Renata Šolar and Bakir Toskić attended the 8th ICARUS Croatia International Scientific and Professional Meeting. Under the working title Enhancing Heritage Experience - Exploring Cultural Routes, the meeting was held in Šibenik from 22 to 25 March.

The three-day programme featured a series of presentations highlighting the link between the cultural heritage and the experience of travelling in Europe, in the past and today. The objective of the meeting was to bring together international experts on culture, heritage, tourism, education and the academic circles, and to create a forum for providing new approaches and best practices in the integration of GLAM collections (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) into cultural tourism.

The NUK colleagues also attended the working meeting of the E-Routes project partners. In his paper entitled From Digitalization to Europeana: Introduction to Workflow, Role of NUK as Aggregator and Europeana Content and Metadata Tiers, Bakir Toskić presented the processes for integrating digital collections into Europeana.

Graphical presentation: Eva Malalan

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Digitisation of Ivan Zorec works

As part of the EODOPEN project, NUK has digitised and made freely accessible six publications by Ivan Zorec (1880-1952), a Slovenian writer and translator. Since 2011, the lending library point in Veliki Gaber (a unit of the Pavel Golia Library, Trebnje) has been named after Ivan Zorec. It presents also his works and some of his personal objects. The October hiking trail, starting in Veliki Gaber, is also named after him.

The works of Ivan Zorec are available on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia.

By submitting the filled in proposal form, you can participate in the selection of the material.

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Manuscript notebooks of Anton Martin Slomšek and Ivan Cankar's Novo življene in NUK - presentation of the Slovenian matica gift

On Tuesday, 14 March 2023 at 12 noon, recently donated material of the Slovenian Matica to the National and University Library will be presented in the Reading room of the Library Manuscript Collection. Founded in 1864, the Slovenian Matica is one of the oldest cultural institutions in Slovenia. It collects, edits and publishes important material of the Slovenian scientific and literary past. Due of the intertwining of their mission, and in particular, the excellent relations between the two institutions many of the collected materials by the Slovenian Matica have already been handed over to the National and University Library for permanent preservation. At the present time, this material demonstrates a great diversity in publishing activities and serves as an important historical source for research on the 20th century Slovenian culture. Recently, the Slovenian Matica's permanent contribution to the protection of the Slovenian written cultural heritage was honoured with the Trubar Award. The most remarkable latest donation includes material from the Matica publishing archive, outstanding treasures of the Slovenian word - the manuscript notebooks with toponyms of the Slovenian places in Styria, written by the bishop and writer Anton Martin Slomšek, and a fully preserved manuscript of Ivan Cankar's novel Novo življenje/ The New Life.

The gifts will be presented by Dr Aleš Gabrič, President of the Slovenian Matica, Dr Ignacija Fridl Jarc, Head of the Slovenian Matica Programme, Dr Ines Vodopivec, NUK Assistant Director for professional work, and Marijan Rupert MA, Curator of the Library Manuscript Collection.

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Legacy of Rado Simoniti in NUK

The National and University Library has acquired the legacy of composer and conductor Rado Simoniti (1914-1981), one of the most renowned Slovenian music composers and performing artists of the last century. Simoniti was a conductor of the Ljubljana Opera Choir and artistic director of the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir. He was also active in many areas of amateur music. He began composing during the WWII, in the National Liberation Army, where he directed the partisan brass band, choirs and the famous Srečko Kosovel Choir, with which he performed throughout Europe. Over three decades, he has created an extensive, mainly vocal, opus. He set to music texts by poets Alojz Gradnik, Matej Bor, Igo Gruden, Srečko Kosovel, Karel Destovnik Kajuh and many others. He composed the one-act opera Partizanka Ana (1966) and set to music and arranged the song Vstajenje Primorske (The Rising of Primorska). He received the Prešeren Award for his work.

The legacy was handed out to the NUK Music Collection by the composer's son, Dr Vasko Simoniti, who described its contents in detail. He highlighted the manuscripts and photographs through stories in the context of the memory of his father's work. The material includes manuscript scores and some printed works, personal documents, concert schedules, photographs, letters and tape recordings of Rado Simoniti's works on Radio Slovenia, as well as records about the composer and conductor, and his prizes and awards.

The Library is most grateful to Dr Vasko Simoniti for his donation.

Photo: NUK Director Viljem Leban, Dr Ines Vodopivec, Assistant Director for Professional Management, Dr Vasko Simoniti and Dr Alenka Bagarič, Curator of the Music Collection

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Digitisation of Lucijan Marija Škerjanc works

February 27, 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Lucijan Marija Škerjanc, a Slovenian composer, pianist, conductor, music teacher, musicologist and holder of four Prešeren Prizes. In cooperation with the NUK Music Collection, ten of his most important works have been digitized and made freely available as part of the EODOPEN project.

NUK is grateful to the heir for having granted permission to digitise his works. We are confident that the digitised works will spark the interest of researchers and students of musicology, as well as the general public.

By submitting the filled in proposal form, you can participate in the selection of the material.

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Presentation of two books on Karel Destovnik - Kajuh

On Thursday, 2 March 2023, at 12:00, two books from the Kajuh 100 Collection will be presented in the reading room of the Manuscript Collection of the National and University Library. The books were published by the Velenje Library in the memory of the poet Karel Destovnik - Kajuh (1922-1944) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Seven books have been published in the collection.

The authors of the 5th book of the collection entitled Kajuh: Podobe (Images) are Andreja Jurkovnik and Vlado Vrbič. The book features photographs that in are chapters illustrated with the story of the poet's life, and numerous documents about Kajuh's life (photographs of relatives, records in books, school certificates, etc.). Together they create a photo album with documents and a short biography, covering the poet's childhood, his high school years, his life of a member of the underground movement, his partisan years and the time after his death. The publication of yet unpublished documents is an opportunity for readers to get a glimpse into the material which otherwise would not have been printed.

Marijan Rupert MA, curator of the NUK Manuscript Collection, is the author of the 6th book entitled Kajuh: Publications. It features a compiled bibliography of Kajuh's works, as well as the author's introductory essay and extensive notes to the bibliography, which is accompanied by reproductions of prints, covers and photographs. Based on information obtained from books, publications, various catalogues and written resources, the book aims to present Kajuh's published opus as fully as possible. Due to the specific time of the creation of the works and the loss of the material, the presented bibliography offers an excellent starting point for further studies of the poet's work.

After the presentation of the books, Vlado Vrbič and Marijan Rupert MA, invite you to a guided tour of the exhibition Time to Live and Time to Die: Karel Destovnik - Kajuh (1922-1944), on display in the NUK exhibition hall. The exhibition was opened on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Kajuh's birth and of the Kajuh Year 2023. It presents his life and work along with with material from the poet's manuscript legacy, his published works and photographs, and correspondence.

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Access to Oxford Handbooks Online

NUK has acquired permanent access to 65 titles of the Oxford Handbooks Online collection.

The Oxford Handbooks Online is a collection of handbooks or textbooks, one of the most prestigious fields of Oxford’s scholarly publishing. It offers in-depth articles by eminent scientists and experts. The handbooks cover a variety of topics: neuroscience, archaeology, classical studies, criminology, economics, history, law, linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, natural sciences, political science, psychology, religion and sociology.

The Oxford Handbooks Online is managed by an editorial board consisting of world-leading scholars. Each Handbook provides a thorough introduction to the topics: it offers a critical overview of the current state of the field, examines and establishes the foundations of science, and identifies opportunities for new researches. Permanent access is available to textbooks, a list of which can be found at the following link.

Access is available from the locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), The Central Technical Library (CTK), The National Institute of Biology (NIB) and The National and University Library (NUK). Remote access is offered to students and staff of UL, CTK, NIB and NUK, and members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, members of the Central Technical Library as well as members of The National Institute of Biology library and of The National and University Library.

Access point: http://nukweb.nuk.uni-lj.si/login?url=https://academic.oup.com/pages/oxford-handbooks

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EODOPEN project in 2022

In 2022, NUK continued its activities within the EODOPEN project: cooperation with various partners was established and a wide range of digitised material was offered to users through the dLib.si portal.

Two infographics are showing our activity over the past year, as well as titles of five most often downloaded works from the dLib.si.to date in PDF and ePub formats. You are invited to see the material that has been digitised in the framework of the project, and to send us your suggestions for digitisation of material by using the contact form, or by sending an email. The EODOPEN project team is looking forward to further cooperation.

A more comprehensive article is available in Slovene on the Knjižničarske novice (Library News) portal.

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The Trubar awards for 2022

Preservation of the written cultural heritage of the Slovenian nation is one of the most important objectives of the National and University Library, as preservation of heritage guarantees the accessibility of nationally important material for study and research that stimulate the scientific, cultural and artistic production in the times to come.

We are honoured to have among us persons who help to collect, preserve and promote the material. For important contributions to the preservation of Slovenian written cultural heritage we would like to thank and personally pay tribute to the recipients of the 2022 Trubar Award.

The awards will be conferred on Thursday, 19 January 2023, at noon, in the Manuscript Collection Reading Room of the National and University Library. The attendees will be addressed by Mr Viljem Leban, NUK Director, and Mr Marijan Rupert MA, on behalf of the Trubar Award Committee. The awarding ceremony will be enriched by cello players Lea and Val Hojs.

Digitisation of Ivan Vavpotič works

Ivan Vavpotič, a Slovenian painter, illustrator and scenographer, died on 11 January 1943. The National and University Library's Pictorial Collection holds a number of Vavpotič's works on different media. His paintings, various illustrations or portraits of Slovenian cultural artists can be found on photos and reproductions, on postcards, in books or supplements of magazines and calendars. The collection also keeps his original works, ex-libris, drawings and watercolours.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Vavpotič's death, the Library has digitised some of his most interesting works and originals not yet published on the Digital Library of Slovenia.

They can be viewed at www.dlib.si/sh/0C5800CD.

Jani Kovačič concert posters

Last year, the National and University Library received concert posters featuring concerts of the Slovenian musician and singer-songwriter Jani Kovacic, as well as some of his original drawings. The material has been added to the Pictorial Collection of the National and University Library, which stores more than 10,000 posters. The digitised posters can be viewed on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia.

The National and University Library would like to thank Mr Jani Kovačič for his donation.

New in the Ephemera and Grey literature collection

In recent months, the Collection of Ephemera and Grey Literature has been enriched by some very interesting new material.

Promotional flyer of the r. Miklauc wholesaler of cloth and textile goods

This advertising leaflet provides a historical outline of the Slovenian economic sector. The cover states that the R. Miklauc Wholesale Store, founded in 1869, offered a variety of textiles for men's suits and a rich stock of women's fashion fabrics. The leaflet was probably published about 1929. The text offers an insight into almost forgotten words, while the cover illustration outlines a time in the past, which is also suggested by the addition of the name "Pri Škofu", (At Bishop) indicating that the store was located near the Ljubljana Cathedral. Today, the building houses a bank and an ice-cream bar.

Timetable from 1922

At first glance the leaflet looks like promotional material for the A. Šarabon wholesale store, which was founded in Ljubljana in 1886. But when opening the leaflet, we are surprised - not because of ground roasted coffee, which was among other things on offer in the "colonial goods and regional products" department, but because of the form of a calendar for year 1922. The 6-page leaflet also offers a map of rail connections from Ljubljana and a detailed timetable with times and locations. There is also information about the Tržiška rail line, which connected Ljubljana and Kamnik. Traffic was launched on 28 January 1891, the last train left Tržič on 15 January 1966 at 15:00.

Kolinska factory advertising leaflet

The Kolinska factory advertising leaflet is a good example of the promotional strategies used during the time of our grandparents. The factory was founded in 1909, and was a branch of the Czech coffee adulterants factory. At the end of 1925, it passed into the possession of Slovenian businessmen, so it is also important from an economic and cultural point of view. The leaflet has two pages and the text is printed in Serbian or Croatian. This indicates that the products (in this case baking powder and Regina vanilla sugar) were also sold on a wider market. Unfortunately, the year of publication of the leaflet is not indicated. However, from the information given, it can be assumed that the it was published after 1925 and before 1980.

Exhibition catalogue of post-war inventions and technological developments

"What was once far away is now close at hand, and there are no longer boundaries to technical progress between worlds and nations" is a thought that clearly summarises the content of the publication Post-War Inventions and Technological Progress. The 144-page exhibition catalogue provides an insight into the post-war inventions, highlighting technical developments after World War II in the then Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. The exhibition was held at the Ljubljana Exhibition Centre from 16 to 24 June 1956. The book describes inventions in various fields, such as motoring, aviation, atomic energy, telecommunications and railways. In addition to descriptions of the development progress of each sector, the catalogue also features lists of patents of Yugoslav inventors and innovators, photographs of industrial plants and colourful advertising leaflets for successful Slovenian companies of the time, such as Saturnus, Elektrotehna Ljubljana, Elma, Color and others.

January evening study in NUK

From January 3 to 31, 2023, the NUK reading rooms will be available again in the evening hours. From Monday to Friday until 10 PM 196 seats will be available to users in the Main Reading Room and the Space for group learning. It is not possible to enter the Library after 8 PM.

We wish you successful studies!

Library opening hours during public holidays

Monday, December 26	Independence and Unity Day – CLOSED
December 27 – 31	regular opening hours
Monday, January 2, 2023	New Year - CLOSED

Saturday, December 24 and Saturday, December 31- regular opening hours.

No tourist tours.

Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year.

New exhibition - Time to live and Time to die: Karel Destovnik - Kajuh

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia declared 2023 as the Year of Kajuh. Thus, the next year will be marked by events to commemorate the precious memory of Karel Destovnik Kajuh. The National and University Library will join the events already at the end of this year.

The exhibition Time to Live and Time to Die: Karel Destovnik Kajuh (1922-1944) will be open on 22 December 2022, at 7 pm, in the entrance hall to the Main Reading Room.

Kajuh's poems are also a document of living in a time of social uncertainty, groundbreaking social changes and a deadly war that undermined humanity at its core. His poems are carriers of his unique poetic mission in which, regardless of social injustices and war, the message of humanism is of utmost importance – that makes Kajuh's message relevant even nowadays.

The title of the exhibition, Time to Live and Time to Die, is illustrated by two watches from Kajuh's life: a tiny woman wristwatch he was wearing when he died, and a wall clock from the homestead where he died. They are a metaphor for brevity of human life, counting down the seconds until the end of everyone's life - at the same time they invite to reflect on the infinite duration and immortality in the space of art, which Kajuh has enriched forever with his poetry.

The exhibition presents Kajuh's life and work with a broad selection of photographs, personal documents and manuscripts of his poems, letters and correspondence. It was set up in cooperation between The Velenje Library and NUK. The authors of the exhibition are Marijan Rupert, MA and Vlado Vrbič. Exhibition set-up and design: Maj Blatnik.The exhibition will be on display until 6 May 2023, from Monday to Saturday between 10 am and 6 pm.

You are cordially invited to the opening and to view the exhibition!

Manuscript legacy of Blaž Arnič

NUK Music Collection has acquired as a gift the manuscript legacy of Blaž Arnič (1901-1970), one of the most important Slovenian composers of the 20th century. He left an outstanding symphonic opus.

In addition to the scores of his nine symphonies, the manuscript legacy comprises seventeen scores of symphonic poems and other orchestral works, nine instrumental concerts, chamber and solo works, compositions for choirs, sketches and fragments.

Blaženka Arnič Lemež and Lovrenc Arnič donated selected writings of their father to NUK.

The Library is most grateful for their donation.

dr. Ismet Ovčina, Director of the National and university library of Bosnia and Herzegovina, visited NUK

Dr Ismet Ovčina, Director of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka Bosne i Hercegovine), paid a short visit to NUK on Friday, 9 December 2022. After meeting and discussing with Mr Viljem Leban, Director of the National and Library of Slovenia (NUK), he had a tour of the library premises.

Digitisation and online publication of Josip Žontars's works

Within the EODOPEN project, the Library has digitised and made available twenty publications by Josip Žontar (1895-1982), a Slovenian lawyer, archivist, historian and teacher. His published works on dLib.si cover mainly the local history of Kranj and its surroundings, including the first edition of The History of the Town of Kranj, for which he received a national award.

The Library would like to thank the heirs for their consent to digitise several Žontar’s works; at the initiative of a library user, they were initially contacted for permission to digitise The History of the Town of Kranj publication. At the same time, we would also like to thank them for donating the work not yet in our collection.

We invite you to explore Žontar's works on www.dlib.si/sh/8905619B.

By submitting the form, you can suggest material for digitization.

Special offer of the EOD libraries network

From 25 November to 15 December, 14 European libraries participating in the EOD network are offering digitisation of out-of-copyright books (*up to 250 pages) at a special price of €10. The books are listed in the EOD shared catalogue.

Order a digital copy and make cultural heritage accessible to the public!

The following libraries are participating in the project: National Library of Estonia, University of Tartu Library (Estonia), University Library of Greifswald (Germany), University Library of Regensburg (Germany), Czech National Library of Technology, Academy of Sciences Library of the Czech Republic, Research Library Olomouc (Czech Republic), National Library of the Czech Republic, University Library in Bratislava (Slovakia), National and University Library (Slovenia), University and State Library of Tyrol (Austria), University Library of the Medical University of Vienna (Austria), University Library of Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Austria), Swiss National Library.

*Starting from 250 pages, the regular price list applies!

Prime Minister visited nuk, the Government is committed to build NUK 2

On 29 November, Prime Minister, Dr Robert Golob accompanied by Dr Igor Papič, Minister of Education, Science and Sport and their assistants, visited the library accompanied by NUK Director Mr Viljem Leban. After a tour of the premises and the exhibition, the Government's plans for the construction of NUK 2 were discussed. In his statement to the press, PM assured that the government would strive to implement the new library project. The long-awaited construction is scheduled to start at the end of 2023 and will last until 2026. The total cost of the investment, including all equipment, is approximately €102 million. The bulk of the funding is to be provided through the government's Recovery and Resilience Plan, which serves as the basis for the European Resilience and Recovery Mechanism, and remaining funds from the budget.

The Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob, stressed that libraries are important for the development and future of any nation, and for Slovenian in particular.

"It is the written word that has established our place in Europe, long before we became a state. That is why it is the obligation of the policy to continue to promote the development of the Slovenian nation. I am delighted that we have been able to take this final symbolic step, which confirms our determination to go ahead with the investment. The building will probably be completed within this mandate: by paying public utilities charge we have also confirmed our determination.”

The Prime Minister added that he himself had often visited the Library, which had always inspired him with a sense of humbleness.»This is a message to all of us that it is worth coming to this temple as frequently as possible, it is the place where we are aware of our smallness, and on the other hand, our responsibility towards the nation. This is our historic duty. I look forward to the future, when NUK 2 will be built and will encourage exploring and creation of new ideas and knowledge for the future."

Dr Igor Papič Minister of Education, Science and Sport has been actively pursuing the NUK 2 project for at least the last five years, with all its standstills and starts. He was therefore pleased to pass the Government's message that it has decided to bring this project to its end, to construction.“Last week we paid public utilities, which means that we will get the building permit in a week or two. As regards the further works in 2023, funding is secured from our ministry. At this stage, the project documentation will have to be completed and the archaeological works, which are still ongoing on a small part of the site, will have to be finished. Tendering procedures for the selection of contractors for construction and artisan works are planned for the second half of the next year, and no later than in early 2024," the Minister said, adding that the project is expected to be completed in 2026.

Viljem Leban, NUK director, highlighted that NUK 2 will mainly offer user spaces while the main book storage will remain in the current premises on Leskoškova Street in Ljubljana. "NUK is also a university library that offers its users more than only a seat and a desk: it provides diverse places in which information and knowledge flow. Ljubljana, Slovenia and the University of Ljubljana really need such a space." Matija Bevk from Bevk& Perović Architects added that the connection to the city was one of the key aspects in designing the building, and the remains of Emona, on which the building will be located, have also been taken as a reference.

Project EODOPEN at the conference Zmoremo - videti naprej (We can do it - to see forward)

On 17 November 2022, NUK presented the EODOPEN project at the international conference Zmoremo - videti naprej (We Can do it – To See Forward). The conference was organised by the Ljubljana City Library Learning Centre as part of the Erasmus+ TECH.LIBRARY project. The conference focused on working with blind and visually impaired, and good practices implemented by librarians in Slovenia and Croatia.

Activities and researches carried out within the EODOPEN project focused on improvement of digitised works for blind and visually impaired were presented to the audience as well as the guidelines that have been developed in the framework of the project last year. The pilot implementation of the EPUB format and activities in 2023 were also presented.

By submitting the form, you can suggest material for digitization.

fotografija: Milena Bon (NUK)

NUK at the Book fair

The 38th edition of the Slovenian Book Fair is taking place this week. After a number of years at Cankarjev dom, the Fair is moving to Gospodarsko razstavišče. It will be open to visitors from today, 22 November, until Sunday, 27 November, every day from 9am to 8pm and on Sunday until 6pm. The National and University Library will present its vision of the new library building NUK 2 in the hall C.

You are most welcome!

Film legacy of Andrej Stojan donated

On 11 November 2022, film legacy of Andrej Stojan (1934-2010) was donated to the National and University Library. Andrej Stojan is considered one of the most important post-war film and television directors. In 1986 he was awarded the Metod Badjura Prize for his work. His most important achievements include directing of the TV series Manj strašna noč (Less Terrible Night) in 1981, a TV triptych on Primož Trubar (1985), and directing of the film Hči mestnega sodnika (The City Judge's Daughter) in 1994. The legacy of Andrej Stojan consists mainly of shooting notebooks and comments. Mrs Elka Godrun Stojan, the widow of the director, personally handed over the legacy material to Dr Ines Vodopivec, Assistant Director for Professional Management, and Miha Mali, curator of the Library Film Collection.

The Library is very grateful to Mrs Elka Godrun Stojan fort the gift.

Ga. Jožica Hafner, g. Miha Mali, dr. Ines Vodopivec, ga. Elka Gudrun Stojan

Visit NUK on Slovenian culture open day

On Merry Day of Culture, Saturday, 3 December 2022, the National and University Library is joining events celebrating Slovenian culture and creativity.

10.00 Visit of the restoration workroom on Leskoškova 12 Street

Restoration workroom and the activities of the Department of Conservation and Restoration will be demonstrated. The procedures for the protection of recently acquired bequest of Boris Pahor, a giant of Slovenian literature, the conservation-restoration and protection of medieval manuscript fragments, and many other interesting things will be shown.

11.00 Tour of the NUK storerooms on Leskoškova 12 Street

NUK keeps the bulk of its book collection in storerooms on Leskoškova Street in Ljubljana.

18.00 Evening tour of NUK on Turjaška Street

Library palace on Turjaška Street offers visitors a unique evening experience. Visitors will illuminate with pocket lamps the many details and ideas that architect Plečnik realised in his library palace. The stories of the library, its treasures and its architecture will remain in their memory long after the visit, as well as an unforgettable evening stroll through many corridors, between reading tables and bookshelves of the library.

Between 9.00 and 14.00 users will be able to return material that has exceeded its loan period. The material will be subject to amnesty on late-payment fees and on overdue notice, too. However, this does not apply to material that has been handed over for recovery procedure.

From 14:30 to 18:00 visitors will be invited to walk through the main part of the Plečnik's Palace, including the Main Reading Room and to see the exhibition Plečnik's Library, Created for All Times on its closing day.

All visits are without charge, number of visitors is limited, so registration is required at dogodki@nuk.uni-lj.si. When register, specify which event you will attend:

visit of storerooms and restoration workroom on Leskoškova Street in the morning, or
an evening tour of the NUK on Turjaška Street or
maybe both.

You are cordially invited to join us on the merry day of culture.

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Next year's ICARUS conference will be marked by the E-Routes project

ICARUS Croatia is organising the 8th conference "Enhancing Heritage Experience - Exploring Cultural Routes" to be held in Šibenik on 23-24 March 2023. The conference will be organised in the framework of the E-ROUTES: Time travel routes through Europe project, in which the National and University Library also participates. The project focuses on the growing need to present and promote cultural heritage and contemporary artistic creation in the context of the experience of travelling in Europe in the past and today. The aim of the conference is to bring together international experts from the fields of culture, heritage, tourism, education and higher education.

Its main theme is the presentation of cultural itineraries for modern travellers in the perspective of preserving and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity within Europe's cultural heritage. The key aim of the conference is to stimulate discourse among researchers, curators, librarians, archivists and artists about new approaches of presenting these journeys to a wider public.

The deadline for submission of proposals is 15 January 2023. Further information and specified instructions are available in the organiser's letter.

New in the Old prints Collection

The Old Prints Collection of the National and University Library has been recently enriched with three very interesting books - they update the collection, which comprises some 40,000 items dating from the beginning of printing to 1850. The books are valuable resource for all researchers of the past of the Slovenian language, places and our cultural history.

Joseph Carl Hofrichter, Der Wegweiser durch Steiermark und die nächsten Länder (1843): The book is the first edition of this rare publication for travellers in Styria, which also includes Slovenian places. It was published in Graz. The author of the book Joseph Carl Hofrichter describes the characteristics and attractions of Styria's towns and their surroundings. The book also provides information on the population of the various towns and parishes in their districts, on castles, the economy, mineral resources and natural resources.
Hieronymus Megiser, Paroemiologia Polyglottos: hoc est: Proverbia Et Sententiae complurium linguarum: Ex Sacris Videlicet Hebraeorum fontibus, atq[ue] ex optimis ... (1605): Hieronymus Megiser was a German scholar, linguist and historian whose opus comprises 42 works in 57 editions. In 1612, he also published the first Turkish grammar in German, and as a polyglot he became acquainted with Slovenian as well. He wrote the Dictionarium quattuor linguarum - the first major dictionary, in which, in addition to German, Latin and Italian, Slovenian vocabulary is systematically treated. In his 1605 book Paroemiologia Polyglottos from 1605 (1st edition in 1592), Megiser collected proverbs in various languages. In addition to Greek, Latin, German, Spanish, Turkish, Hebrew, Croatian, Italian, etc., the book also includes twenty Slovenian proverbs. The copy comprises the ownership note of an unidentified Jesuit collegium from 1726 and some handwritten annotations in the text.
Matthäus Dresser, Vngnadische Chronika (1602): Published in Leipzig, the book describes the history of the Ungnad family, which originated from the Slovenian part of Styria. Baron Hans Ungnad von Sonneck is particularly important for the history of Slovenia, as he significantly supported Protestant writers from our and other South Slavic regions. He founded the Urach Bible Institute, the first Bible Society in the world. Primož Trubar was the head and supervisor of the institute where thirty-one works were printed in Latin, Glagolitic and Cyrillic, and six works in Italian. The book is particularly interesting for its handwritten notes, in which Janez Vajkard Valvasor is also mentioned.

Disturbed use of the Plečnik Corridor

On Monday, November 7 and Tuesday, November 8, the international workshop and hackathon Improve your olfactory language will be held at the premises of NUK, which is organized in cooperation with the Jožef Stefan Institute and takes place within the framework of the ODEUROPA project.

Due to the event, on Monday, November 7, between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday, November 8, between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., the use of the group study area and the Plečnik Corridor will be somewhat disturbed.

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Dr Edvard Gobec's legacy of books

NUK has recently received a gift of valuable books, a part of Dr Edvard Gobec's rich library. He was a philosopher, sociologist, anthropologist and professor emeritus at the Kent State University. Dr Gobec was among the founders and later director of the Slovenian Research Center of America in Cleveland. For decades he devotedly researched, collected and archived information on Slovenian immigrants and their descendants who have left a strong mark through their creative work in various fields. Throughout his life, he collected with special care and affection works by Slovenian authors, authors of Slovenian roots and works related to his homeland that were produced outside his mother country. He wished to bequeath his extremely rich library to Slovenia after his death.

NUK received almost three hundred books that are not available in the collection of the National and University Library; thus, they represent a valuable resource for the memory of the Slovenian nation.

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Award ceremony for registration on the National list of the Unesco Memory of the world

On Thursday October 27, the National and University Library awarded certificates for registration on the National list of the Unesco memory of the world. The first selection of written heritage proposals consists of ten entities having a recognizable national importance.

The papers are awarded by the UNESCO National Committee for the Memory of the World Programme, which operates under the auspices of the National Commission for UNESCO. In agreement with the UNESCO Office, the Slovenian National Committee has three representative cultural institutions preserving written cultural heritage: archives, libraries and museums. The Slovenian National UNESCO Committee for the Memory of the World Programme also includes two representatives - of the Ministry of Culture and the UNESCO Office of the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO.

The first ten selected units of the National Memory List of the UNESCO World Memory can be found on the website of the National and University Library. Among the units on the National List of the Memory of the World for 2022 are the Manuscript of Stična, proposed for inscription by NUK, and Prešerniana, the legacy of France Prešeren, jointly suggested by NUK and the National Museum of Slovenia.

You are invited to have a look at the photos taken at the ceremony.

Information to users of the main reading room

On Thursday, October 27, 2022, the Study in the Main reading room will be disturbed from 12.30 PM to 3 PM due to an event organized in the Library. As the main entrance to the Main reading room will be closed during this time, please use the side entrance (first floor, the right side).

Thank you for your understanding!

First E-Routes working meeting

The first working meeting of the E-Routes: Time Travel Routes through Europe project was organised at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences of the University of Belgrade on 6 and 7 October 2022.

The consultation focused on an overview and presentation of the collections of each of the partners (Serbian Library Association, Icarus Croatia, the University Degli studi di Napoli Federico II, the Library of the Matica Srpska, the National and University Library of Slovenia), whose collections are based on the (digitised) material of the institution, and are thematically related to historical, cultural and geographic topics. The aim of the project is to place the selected material in a new context of stories that would form new ideas for (international) thematic travel itineraries. The programme also featured a visit to the Museum of Jovan Cvijić, located in the house in which the great geographer and scholar lived and worked. It perfectly illustrates the integration of natural and cultural heritage and their integration into a modern tourism and education framework.

The next conference will be held in Šibenik in spring 2023. Until then, collecting and compilation of digital collections and their placement in contemporary stories continues.

More information about the project is available on E-Routes.eu

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Digitisation and publication of 26 works by France Stele

As part of the EODOPEN project, NUK has digitised and made freely available 26 publications by France Stele (1886-1972), the Slovenian art historian, conservator and full professor of art history. The selection of some of Stele's most important works was done in cooperation with the France Stele Institute of Art History, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

NUK would like to thank Mr Stele’s heirs for their consent to digitise and freely publish his works.

You are welcome to browse the collection on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia.

By submitting the form, you can suggest material for digitization.

Reading Slovenian books - Online Reading Club for Slovenes in the USA

A book club We Read Slovenian will shortly be launched. It is intended for Slovenes living in the United States of America who would like to keep in touch with the Slovenian language. The club will be organised in the form of occasional online meetings, offering participants to engage into lively conversations about books. The meetings are also supported by the National and University Library (NUK): with its collection of library materials of Slovenians Abroad, NUK promotes maintaining contact with their mother tongue, and it also offers them free membership and access to Biblos e-books and Audiobooks.

We would like to invite you to the meeting of the Beremo Slovensko book club on Friday, 4 November 2022 at 19:00 (CST), when the discussion will focus on the novel by Drago Jančarj To noč sem jo videl (I Saw Her That Night).

Registration and other information is available on the website https://www.beremo-slovensko.com/dogodki/to-noc-sem-jo-videl

Test access to three reference collections

You are invited to use and test three reference collections:

Brill’s Lexicon of Greek Grammarians of Antiquity (LGGA) serves as the first point of reference for information on the ancient grammarians for scholars of Greek and Latin antiquity.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics brings together the latest research from across a range of disciplines contributing to our knowledge of Ancient Greek. It is an indispensable research tool for scholars and students of ancient Greek, linguistics, other Indo-European languages and biblical literature.

Oxford Bibliographies is a bibliographic resource published by Oxford University Press, covering a variety of topics in the social sciences and humanities: sociology, art history, literary studies, religions, geography, political science, psychology, etc.

Test access is available from 1 October 2022 to 31 October 2022 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), The Central Technical Library (CTK), The National Institute of Biology (NIB) and The National and University Library (NUK). Remote access to Brill Publishing resources is available for students and staff of UL, CTK, NIB, NUK and NUK members. Remote access to Oxford Publishing resource is provided to students and staff of UL, CTK, NIB and NUK, and members of UL, CTK, NIB and NUK libraries.

On digitisation of incunabula at the Mikrografija conference

Mikrografija, a company that has been present for many years in the Slovenian field of informatics, document management and archive science, organised the 14th Mikrografija conference on October 5. Andreja Kozjek, Head of the Preservation and Restoration Department of the National and University Library, also took part in the conference. In her paper Digitisation of Incunabula, she presented the digitisation process as an example of good practice, mainly from the point of view of conservation-restoration, i.e. from the preparation of the incunabula, the analysis of their condition, possible damage and assessment of their suitability for digitisation, the elaboration of documentation and the transport of the incunabula to another location, required by the profession (proper handling, labelling and storage).

photo: Mikrografija

Improve your olfactory language, hackathon and workshop (Ljubljana, 7 and 8 november 2022)

How can we calculate the sense of smell and create artificial intelligence models for smell as a cultural phenomenon? How can smell contribute to increasing the impact of (digital) cultural heritage collections, make them more tangible, attract new visitors?

These are some of the key questions of ODEUROPA, a European research project - its objective is to research and innovate in the fields of scent heritage and sensory mining. To answer these questions, we are organising a two-day workshop and hackathon, which will present the Odeuropa tools, models and demonstrators of the project, and highlight the potential applications of the tools in galleries, libraries, archives, museums, and for professionals (especially in the cultural heritage fields and in computational text analysis).

The event is organised in two parts: on Monday, 7 November, the programme will start with a workshop and a presentation for the general public, in the afternoon and on the next day, 8 November, there will be a practical session, a hackathon for cultural heritage and digital heritage professionals, computer scientists, historians and (computational) linguists.

The programme will be held in English, the participation is free of charge. You will need your own laptop to attend the afternoon session on Day 1 and Day 2. All information is available on the NUK website.

You are welcome to participate! Applications must be submitted by 25 October via the online form.

Restoration and conservation work on the legacy of Karel Destovnik-Kajuh

The legacy of Karel Destovnik-Kajuh, kept at NUK has been gradually acquired from various sources. It consists of two folders of a wide range of material on paper, and a few objects - the most important of which is a metal box in which Kajuh's poems and letters written to his beloved Silva during the WW II that was hidden in Ponikvar's garden, and a small wristwatch that he wore at the time of his death at Žlebnik's family home in Bele Vode.

The recently acquired legacy has not been fully bibliographically processed yet. It consists of individual poems, manuscript volumes, letters and correspondence, photographs, a partisan notebook, rare first printings of poems printed in partisan printing houses, and other less important material (newspaper clippings, transcriptions of poems, etc.). Due to the turbulent period of the WW II, during which the documents were produced, and because of their hiding, they are considerably damaged: some are torn or crumpled, and yellowed, which is a normal cause of paper ageing, especially if it is of lower-quality.

You are invited to read the article on working with Kajuh's legacy (in Slovenian).

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NUK joins the E-RIHS consortium

The European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science (E-RIHS) is a scientific infrastructure for heritage science. In Slovenia, E-RIHS.si formally operates as a consortium of research institutions providing access to research equipment. The Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia (ZVKDS) and the University of Ljubljana (UL) - the founding members of E-RIHS.si, were joined by other institutions, including the National and University Library (NUK). The enlargement of the consortium was marked at the Ceremonial Meeting of the expanded consortium E-RIHS.si on 20 September at 15:00 in the Chamber Hall of the University of Ljubljana.

The founding members of E-RIHS.si are renowned in the field of research on macromolecular materials in cultural heritage. NUK has joined the e-RIHS.si Laboratory for Macromolecules in Cultural Heritage with its own laboratory operating in the Library's Research Department, and with its digital support infrastructure for heritage science.

7th International meeting of the EODOPEN project partners

The autumn meeting of the EODOPEN project (E-Books on Demand - Network Opening Publications for European Netizens) was organised from 7 to 8 September by the University library in Greifswald (Germany). Forty representatives from eleven countries attended the meeting, among them Dr Alenka Kavčič-Čolić and Andreja Hari from the National and University Library (NUK) who chair the project working group Delivery formats of digitised material for users with special needs.

The group is focused on providing access to digitised works - most of which are created in PDF file format, inaccessible to mobile, blind and partially sighted readers. Therefore, the main focus of the researches is to use appropriate file formats, and to implement digitisation procedures that can offer optimal results and facilitate the creation of materials for easier access for these two groups of readers.

The full report of the meeting is available on the Knjižničarske novice portal (in Slovene).

Photos: Andreja Hari

European heritage days 2002 and Cultural heritage week marked by sustainability

From 24 September to 8 October 2022, the European Heritage Days and Heritage Week will be organised: each autumn experts, teachers and students, representatives of associations and local communities come together to celebrate our common heritage. This year, The Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Slovenia (ZVKDS), is organising approximately 400 events, that are presented on its website.

The theme of this year's Heritage Days is sustainable heritage, originating in an individual, in a family, which passes on tradition and makes use of resources from the local environment. It has a significant impact on a better environment, a more interconnected community and a greater intercultural understanding – the heritage that has always been sustainable, an inspiration in many areas of life in the present, and the origin for a sustainable future.

The National and University Library of Slovenia (NUK), which collects, preserves and promotes Slovenia's written cultural and scientific heritage, is also joining in this year's European Heritage Day and Cultural Heritage Week: On 29 September 2022, you are invited to a presentation on the protection and preservation of library materials. Visitors will also have the opportunity to take part in a simple conservation and restoration process. The presentation will be held at the NUK premises on Leskoškova cesta 12, from 9am to 4pm. For more information, please contact Andreja Kozjek, the Head of the Conservation and Preservation Department.

You are welcome to explore cultural heritage.

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NUK Café Spaces to relax with a Coffee or Snack

From Monday, 12 September 2022, users and employees of the National and University Library will be able to use the NUK Café spaces again - either for a comfortable and relaxed social gathering, a research consultation, a friendly chat or just a short break from studying. The Café will be equipped with food and beverage vending machines, offering appropriate refreshments. The Café will be open from 8am to 8pm, on Saturdays from 9am to 2pm.

We wish you a pleasant and patient (co-)use of the Café premises. For easier orientation, brief Terms of Use are available - they are posted in a visible place.

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Plečnik and a-cappella in NUK

The Plečnik and a-cappella concert series combines the architecture of the famous architect and vocal works, performed in some of the locations of Plečnik's Ljubljana.

On Thursday, 15 September, a concert by Chamber Choir Orfej will take place in the NUK Main Reading Room at 8.30 pm. Chamber Choir Orfej from Ljutomer was founded in 1989; it also performed under the names Slovenski Madrigalisti and Gallus Singers. Since the autumn of 2017, the choir is led by artistic director Andraž Hauptman and his assistant Vito Žerdin. The choir has been awarded numerous prizes and merits. At this year’s national competition Naša pesem in Maribor, the choir won a gold plaque and the third place. In 2022, it also acquired the gold plaque and the People's Choice Award at the Ave Verum International Choral Competition in Baden, Austria.

On Thursday, 22 September, Elinor Vocal Ensemble will hold a concert in the NUK Main Reading Room at 8.30 pm. In recent years, it has established itself with a professional approach and a number of high-quality productions. The ensemble from Maribor operates under the auspices of the Basilica of the Mother of Mercy. The artistic director is Robert Feguš, an experienced choirmaster and singing teacher. In the decade and a half of his artistic presence, he has recreated more than five hundred concert events with various vocal ensembles. The title of the programme is The Eloquence of Silence.

The concert series Plečnik and a-Cappella, held for the third year in a row, will take place at five Plečnik locations around Ljubljana on Thursdays from 8 September to 6 October 2022. For all information visit www.plecnikinacappella.si.Tickets are available at Eventim offices and Eventim.si.

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NUK Manuscript Collection enriched by Schlegel's letter to Kopitar

NUK has recently enriched its Manuscript Collection with a letter sent by Friedrich Schlegel to Jernej Kopitar. The letter was brought to our attention by Professor Igor Grdina, from the Institute of Cultural History of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences (ZRC SAZU).

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel (1772–1829) was a German writer, critic, philosopher, philologist and Indologist, one of the leading representatives of the Jena Romantics, and a pioneer of the Indo-European studies, comparative linguistics and morphological typology. Jernej Kopitar (1780-1844) was a national awakener, a Slavist and a linguist. He was the author of the first scientific grammar of the Slovenian language and a librarian at the Court Library in Vienna where he was a scriptor at the time of the creation of the acquired letter. Kopitar had a number of correspondents, among them was also the famous Friedrich Schlegel. In Schlegel's handwriting, the letter in German consists of three small-format pages. It is dated 4 December 1820 and well preserved. He writes Kopitar about a manuscript by Wilhelm Schutz, which the latter had submitted for publication in the conservative newspaper Concordia of which Schlegel was publisher at that time.

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Test access to Basilica Online (Brill)

In cooperation with the Faculty of Law, the Library has obtained a test access to Basilica Online (Brill).

Basilica Online is the online edition of seventeen volumes of the Basilica collection (published by (Brill Publishers), edited between 1945 and 1988 by H.J. Scheltema, D. Holwerda and N. van der Wal. The Basilica deals with the field of Byzantine law during the Byzantine Empire; it is an important source for Byzantine studies in general.

Test access is available from 1 September to 30 September 2022 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), the Central Technical Library (CTK), the National Institute of Biology (NIB) and the National and University Library (NUK). Remote access is offered to students and staff of UL, CTK, NIB and NUK, and all NUK members.

New donations to NUK

On Tuesday, 23 August, Mrs Ema Pratnekar donated to the library a manuscript of a healing book from the first half of the 19th century and an old print of the Duhouna branua, published in Cologne in 1740.

The early 19th-century healing book is written in the Bohorič alphabet, in a clumsy script and in a simple, non-literary language. During this period, similar manuscript books were widely distributed among the peasant population, who lacked organised medical care. Therefore, they tried to help themselves by relying on ancient experience based on knowledge of natural medicine and medicinal plants. The book is bound in a linen cover: the back cover has fallen off, and the beginning and the end of the book block are missing proving that it was used frequently. Duhouna branua is a set of texts of prayers, laments and gospels. NUK already holds a few copies of it, one of which is from the Žiga Zois library, which is also available on the Digital Library of Slovenia portal.

We are most grateful to Mrs Pratnekar for her gift.

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NUK participates in the E-ROUTES project

From July 1, 2022, NUK takes part in the three-year E-ROUTES project: Time travel routes through Europe. The aim of the project is to select, describe and digitize travel material from the 18th century up until present time, and to present new (tourist) thematic routes. Travelogues, photographs, travel reports, diaries and similar material will be placed in a new context: it will present the cultural and historical heritage of Slovenia and other participating countries in an innovative way. The content will be available for virtual tours from home and in live tours, as it will be integrated into the Europeana collections and in the upcoming mobile application.

The project is coordinated by the Serbian Library Association. In addition to NUK, partners from Croatia and Italy are participating in the project.

It is co-funded by the European Commission and the Creative Europe Programme.

For more information, please visit the project website: https://e-routes.eu

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New collection on dLib.si: Statistics of Slovenian libraries

As part of the cooperation between the EODOPEN project and the Library System Development, Consulting and Professional Training department, a new collection in the SCIENCE section of the Digital Library of Slovenia (dLib.si) has been introduced: Statistics of Slovenian Libraries. In addition to regular statistical reports on the work of the Slovenian libraries, the collection also comprises articles on statistical monitoring and records from the beginning of the statistical measurement of libraries in our territory.

You are welcome to browse the collection! The EODOPEN partners invite you to help select the material by submitting digitization proposals.

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New acquisitions of the Pictorial collection

The National and University Library has significantly enriched its Pictorial Collection during the past months. It acquired a variety of original posters, portraits and group photographs, photographs of cities, illustrations, drawings by Mirko Lebez, Melita Vovk, Miki Muster and Vladimir Lakovič, graphic sheets and a postcard of Novo mesto.

Among the newly acquired material, a large lithographic print of Idrija by Albert Rieger, printed in Trieste, is worth mentioning. It was probably produced between 1844 and 1850. A view of Idrija in the typical artistic manner of the second half of the 19th century, introduces a miniature genre scene - a female villager with a bundle on her shoulder and a peasant, tired from walking, resting on the edge of a path.

There is also a photo of Mengeš from around 1900, taken by an unknown photographer who, in addition to the architecture of Mengeš, also captured its inhabitants. The collection is enriched by a portrait photo of Franja Malenšek (1852-1927), also known as Košir's Franja from Tacen, married Gulič. In 1869, she welcomed members of the Sokol movement in Tacen, where she met Fran Levstik. He dedicated his love poems to her; in 1870, they were published as Franja's Poems in the magazine Zvon. The portrait was made by an unknown photographer around 1914.

Also interesting is a Vladimir Lakovič's (1921-1997) drawing from 1983, which depicts a literary hero created by Edmond Rostand. Cyrano de Bergerac, known for his long nose, in a nobleman's costume gazes into the distance with his head held high, holding a sword in his hands. The ink drawing has a call number and is dated. Twenty years earlier, Lakovič had illustrated a miniature edition of Cyrano de Bergerac, a heroic comedy in five acts, translated by Oton Župančič; it was published by the Cankarjeva založba publishing house in Ljubljana. The miniature book is also kept at the National and University Library.

Also noteworthy are two black-and-white photos from the same series showing France Mihelič in partisans while creating in the nature and a black-and-white postcard of Novo mesto, published around 1900 by Alfons Oblak from Novo mesto. The information published on it, is in Slovenian and German.

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*Click on the map title for a larger view.

New acquisitions of the Cartographic collection

In the past months, five maps have been added to the NUK Cartographic Collection. They represent an extremely interesting cartographic heritage - each map reveals the stories of its time, knowledge, techniques and various interests. Thus, the maps are an important complement to the cartographic representations held in the Library's collection.

Carniolae, Chaziolaeque Ducatus nec non, et, Goritiae Comitatus … The map published in 1593 in the atlas Speculum Orbis Terrae, it is the adaptation of Lazius's maps from the collection of the Austrian Lands of 1561. It was adapted and edited by the Flemish cartographer and publisher Gerard de Jode (around 1511-1591).
Karstia, Carniola, et Windorum, Marchia, cum confinys is a work of the founder of the modern cartography Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594), the most important cartographer of the 16th century. In the original Mercator version, the map is entitled Forum Iulium, Karstia, Carniola, Histria et Windorum Marchia; it is from the French edition of Nouveau Theatre du Monde ou Nouvel Atlas ... of Hendrik Hondius, published between 1639 and 1642.
Part of the Circle of Austria in which are the Dukedomes of Stiria, and Carinthia, of Carniola, and other Heriditary Contrys of the House of Austria. This is an extremely rare English version of the map Duches de Stirie, Carinthia, ... by the French cartographer Nicolas Sanson, adapted by William Berry (1669-1708), an English publisher, cartographer and globe maker of the second half of the 17th and the early 18th centuries.
Charte von dem Königreiche Illyrien und dem Herzogthume Steyermark - is the first edition of the 1818 map by Carl Ferdinand Weiland (1782-1847).
Cercle d'Autriche divisé en toutes ses Provinces, tant Civiles quʼEcclésiastiques – this large-scale map, dated 1766, is the work of the French geographer and demographer Louis Brion de la Tour (1743-1803).

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*Click on the map title for a larger view.

Digitized works of Angelca Žerovnik

As part of the EODOPEN project, we digitized and freely published ten publications of Angelca Žerovnik (1944-), a Slovenian special pedagogue, who devoted her work mainly to the field of education of children with special needs.

We sincerely thank the author for the consent given for the digitization and free publication of her works, which can be viewed via the link: www.dlib.si/sh/AB77BB7B

Help select the material by submitting the submission form for digitization proposals.

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Permanent access to De Gruyter ebooks

Permanent access to the Brill eBook Collection - 87 scholarly and professional books in the fields of social sciences and humanities - is available from the locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), the Central Technical Library (CTK), the National Institute of Biology (NIB) and the National and University Library (NUK). Remote access is offered to students and staff of UL, CTK, NIB and NUK, and all NUK members.

The list of titles can be found at the following link.

Welcome home to NUK

On Thursday, 30 June, the National Library of Slovenia hosted participants of all-Slovenian meeting "Welcome Home". Like during the past years, this year's event brought fellow countrymen to Slovenia from near and distant places. The event at NUK marked the start of a three-day gathering with the main event in Novo mesto. We presented the Library to participants, and took them on a tour of the exhibition Plečnik's Library: Created for all Times. In the Exhibition Hall, they were guided by Mr Žiga Cerkvenik, Head of the Library Events and Public Relations Department, and also a co-author of the exhibition. In the Main Reading Room, the audience was addressed by Dr Ines Vodopivec, Assistant Director of the Library, and Mr Lenart Rihar, who has been managing Rafael's Society for many years; the Society was the main organiser of this year's Welcome Home event. After the tour, the Ljubljana Madrigalists had a concert in the Main Reading Room – they created an exceptional atmosphere with a superb choral performance. They combined music and literature, touched on the friendship between Plečnik and Finžgar, and prepared a varied programme of folk, traditional and sacred songs.

The concert was followed by a short social gathering.

We wish to thank all the performers, visitors and Ms Tatjana Splichal for the excellent photos.

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Permanent access to Brill publishers books

Permanent access to the Brill eBook Collection - 66 scholarly and professional books in the fields of social sciences and humanities - is available from the locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), the Central Technical Library (CTK), the National Institute of Biology (NIB) and the National and University Library (NUK). Remote access is offered to students and staff of UL, CTK, NIB and NUK, and all NUK members.

The list of titles can be found at the following link.

Summer 2022: opening hours for users and tourist visits of the plečnik library

For part of this summer, the library will be open at summer opening times. Between July 2 and August 13, NUK will be open to members and users every working day, including Saturdays, from 9am to 2pm, and on Wednesdays from 9am to 5pm.

As part of the tourist visits, you can visit the Plečnik Palace (staircase, hall, the Main Reading Room, exhibition hall) during the time when the library will not be open to users. Visits are possible every day, except on Wednesdays, between 2:30pm and 6pm. The entrance fee is 5 Eur per person, children under 15 years of age are admitted free of charge. There are no tours on Wednesdays, Sundays and public holidays.

You are welcome to spend the summer months in our company.

EODOPEN digitised and published works by Ivan Bertoncelj

Within the EODOPEN project, the Library has digitised and made freely available three publications by Ivan Bertoncelj (1908-1965), a Slovenian educator, a university professor and a Žagar Prize winner. He worked in the fields of vocational education, career counselling, work organisation and safety at work.

The Library is very grateful to his heirs for their consent to digitise his works – they can be viewed on www.dlib.si/sh/FC400DD7.

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Plečnik's Library: created for all times - new exhibition in NUK

During the Plečnik Year 2022, that celebrates the 150th anniversary of the architect's birth, a special attention is paid to commemorate his outstanding and fundamental contribution to the Slovenian cultural and scientific heritage. On 15 June 2022, the Exhibition Hall of the national and University Library will host the opening of the exhibition Plečnik Library: Created for all Times.

It will present the story and history of the Plečnik Library on the Turjaška Street, one of the most unique library buildings in the world. It will feature Plečnik's plans and other documents related to the efforts, planning and construction of the new library, as well as material from the archives of the Academic Action for the Construction of the University Library and other collections, photos from events, of personalities, articles published in contemporary newspapers and journals or other publications, which wrote about the necessity of construction and reported on the progress of work. Some objects whose stories are linked to the master architect and the library will also be on display.

Jointly with the Museum of Architecture and Design, a guest exhibition “The Works of Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana - Urban Design Tailored to Man” in the Plečnik Hallway will present the project that led to the inscription of Plečnik's works on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The authors of the exhibition are Dr Damjan Prelovšek, a renowned art historian, one of the most renowned experts on Jože Plečnik, Prof mag. Tadej Glažar, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Žiga Cerkvenik (NUK); the exhibition has been design by Maj Blatnik (NUK).The exhibition will be open until 12 November 2022, from Monday to Friday between 10 am and 6 pm, and on Saturdays from 9 am to 6 pm.

The exhibition will open on Wednesday, 15 June 2022, at 7 pm in the Main Reading Room. Speakers at The audience will be addressed by Mr Viljem Leban, NUK Director, Prof. Dr Matej Blenkuš, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ljubljana and the authors of the exhibition. Choral music will be performed by the Elinor Ensemble.

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Boris Pahor (1913–2022)

Boris Pahor crossed the final borderline - the borderline of life. He marked his presence in the world not only as a passive witness to many historical changes, but also as a vigorous and sincere observer. With his honest, politically unsparing and courageous words, he has become and will continue to be the inspiring example of an engaged intellectual who firmly sticks to his humanist mission as a writer even in a dark historical moment, and remains committed to his mission as a tireless advocate of human rights.

During his long creative career, Pahor became inextricably linked with the National and University Library. In 2010, when we made first contacts, the writer decided to entrust his incredibly extensive literary archive to the library. It comprises a rich collection of manuscripts, personal papers, documentation and, above all, thousands of letters he received throughout almost a century from fellow writers, friends, colleagues and admirers. The process of gradual acceptance of the material took more than ten years, and now his legacy is one of the most carefully documented collections in the NUK Manuscript Collection. It measures more than seventeen metres of material. In the future, it will become an excellent source for research into his life and work, and at the same time, it will be also a diverse and accurate document of the time marked by Pahor's activity in both, the literary and socio-political spheres. To mark his 100th birthday, the exhibition Boris Pahor: Border as Destiny was on show in NUK in 2010; later, it toured to Koper's Armeria Exhibition Centre and the Ljubljana Opera House.

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The US Ambassador visited NUK

On Thursday, 26 May 2022, the Ambassador of the United States of America to Slovenia, Her Excellency Ms Jamie Lindler Harpootlian, visited NUK. She met with Mr Viljem Leban, the Library Director and Dr Ines Vodopivec, Assistant Director. Mrs Harpootlian assumed the post of Ambassador to Slovenia earlier this year, so this was her first visit to the National and University Library of Slovenia. She followed with interest the presentation of the history and work of NUK, and visited the most representative premises of the Plečnik Library. The library tour was followed by an informal discussion in the Director's office..

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Her Excellency Ms Jamie Lindler Harpootlian, US Ambassador to Slovenia and Mr Viljem Leban, Director of the National and University Library of Slovenia, in the NUK Main Reading Room

On the Hundredth anniversary of the birth of Karel Destovnik Kajuh

Karel Destovnik Kajuh (1922-1944) was a poet of rebellion and social criticism, his poetry combines expressionistic expression and the spirit of social realism: his verse echoes a combination of social activism and intimate confession, which is rare for the creativity of that period. Kajuh expresses the social context with an exceptional sensitivity - painfully because of injustices suffered by poorer classes in particular, and with a longing for a better world. He has also tried his hand at playwriting, but his poems have come to life mainly in reading and recitation, and many musicians have set his poems to music.

Kajuh published his works in the magazines Mladi Prekmurec, Sodobnost and Slovenska mladina, and later in the illegal newspaper Slovenski poročevalec, under various pseudonyms, such as Jure Puntar and Blaž Burjevestnik. The first collection of his poems was created in the difficult wartime situation in the forests of Snežnik in the mimeograph technique; as only thirty-eight copies were reproduced, they were precious and rare even at the time of their creation.

In 2022, the National and University Library is joining the activities to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karel Destovnik Kajuh. In the second half of the year, we are planning an online classroom, a collection of digitised material and an exhibition to pay tribute to the author and his work, and his legacy that has a significant impact even nowadays. Special attention will be paid to the poet's legacy, kept in NUK, which invites to explore, and is an important witness to the artistic process and the life of the artist, offering readers different perspectives on his work or the period in which it was created. The largest part of Kajuh’s manuscript legacy was donated to the library by Marija Medved and Silva Ponikvar, the poet's beloved companions. In addition to the photographs, the notebooks and page fragments of handwritten poetry are particularly precious.

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Manuscript material from the legacy of Karel Destovnik Kajuh (NUK)

Permanent access to additional Oxford Scholarly Editions Online

Together with the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Law and the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), the Library has acquired permanent access to additional electronic collections of classical texts, available through e-resource of the Oxford Scholarly Editions Online.

The Oxford Scholarly Editions Online is one of the cornerstones of the Oxford University Press portfolio. Researchers highlight its inventiveness, its transformative potential for both research and teaching. It covers fundamental classical authors from antiquity to the Renaissance, as well as English authors up to the 19th century, thus enclosing more than two millennia of intellectual history in the fields of philosophy, history, religion, classical philology and related sciences. Critical editions are at the very centre of the modern humanities, they are a reliable and trustworthy primary source that allows researchers to interpret the core texts of their disciplines. The Oxford Scholarly Editions Online database enriches this service with all the benefits of an online access.

Besides the previously available collections, users can now browse:

Herodotos;
Restoration Prose;
Latin Prose;
Greek Tragedy.

A list of all available addresses can be found at the following link.

Access is available from locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), the Central Technical Library (CTK), ZRC SAZU, the National Institute of Biology Library (NIB) and the National and University Library (NUK); Remote access is offered to students and staff of UL and ZRC SAZU, staff of CTK, NIB and NUK, and all members of the libraries of UL, CTK, NIB, NUK, and ZRC SAZU.

International meeting of the EOD network and Sixth meeting of the EODOPEN partners

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, meetings of the EOD network (eBooks on Demand) and of the EODOPEN project (eBooks-On-Demand-Network Opening Publications for European Netizens) partners have been held in a web environment. The international meeting organised on 12 and 13 May 2022 was hosted by the National Library of Portugal. Some fifty representatives from eleven countries attended the meeting in Lisbon; Alenka Kavčič-Čolić and Andreja Hari from the National and University Library of Slovenia.

UNCERTIR: 3270 spectra measured at the National and University Library

In the framework of the European Union UNCERTIR project, Dr Floriana Coppola, supported by the employees of the National and University Library’s collection, randomly selected around 100 books printed between 1851 and 2000. The condition of books was examined, and Dr Coppola also covered the near infrared (NIR) spectra on the paper of the books. In the coming months, she will use various statistical approaches to examine the accuracy of NIR spectroscopy dating of material on paper.

More information about the project is available on the website of the Heritage Science Laboratory at the University of Ljubljana.

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Participation in the ABC project

Understanding and interpreting of manuscripts, bindings, books and other objects held in libraries and other heritage institutions, to a large extent also depends on the history of the materials that make up a library's holdings. If age information is not available, various contextual information (e.g. type of writing, type of binding) or scientific methods such as radiocarbon dating can determine dating. The ABC project will investigate, validate and evaluate non-destructive spectroscopic methods based on infrared spectroscopy for dating of written cultural heritage materials. The research will be based on dated materials from Klosterneuburg (Austria) and NUK.

The project partners are The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Vienna), The Institute for Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, The Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Ljubljana and NUK, with the participation of The National Library of the Czech Republic (Prague) and The Abbey’s Library and Archives of Klosterneuburg (Austria). The project will run from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2025; it is funded by the WEAVE programme in cooperation with the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS).

Detailed information about the project can be found on the website of the Laboratory for Heritage Science, Ljubljana.

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The fragment of the Ars Minor parchment is a unique fragment of an unknown Dutch printer, believed to had worked even before Gutenberg. It is the oldest print held in NUK, its exact date is unknown..

Exhibition Neighbours the Slovenes - Slovenes in Croatia to be seen in Rijeka

The 30th anniversary of the Association of Slovene Societies in Croatia was marked by a ceremony in Rijeka on May 10. The National and University Library has been cooperating with the Association for many years already. On the occasion of the celebrations, the exhibition Neighbours the Slovenes - Slovenes in Croatia was on display. After a short cultural programme at the Governor's Palace in Rijeka, Borut Pahor, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, and Dr Helena Jaklitsch, Minister for Slovenians Abroad, visited the exhibition. Mr. Viljem Leban, NUK Director and Ms Helena Janežič, co-author of the exhibition also attended the event.

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Ms Helena Janežič, Dr Barbara Riman, President of the Association of Slovenian Societies in Croatia and co-author of the exhibition, Dr Helena Jaklitsch, Minister for Slovenians Abroad and Mr Viljem Leban, NUK Director (photo: The Government Office for Slovenians Abroad).

Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Slovenia visited NUK

On Wednesday, 4 May 2022, Dr Krzysztof Olendzki, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Slovenia visited NUK where he was welcomed by Mr. Viljem Leban, NUK Director. The Ambassador gave him a facsimile of the original text of the Constitution of 3 May, a copy of its first edition in English, and a commemorative medal issued by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland on the occasion of the 230th anniversary of the adoption of the said Constitution.

The Ambassador donated to the Library some copies of the book 'The Constitution of 3 May 1791. Testament of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth' by Professor Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski. During a friendly conversation, Dr Olendzki and Mr Leban discussed the possibilities for further cooperation.

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The Centerary of the birth of Vladimir Lovec

6 April 2022 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer and conductor Vladimir Lovec; he was also a professional music critic and journalist. Lovec completed composition studies at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in the class of Lucijan M. Škerjanc, and also conducting studies in the class of Danilo Švara. He significantly influenced many generations of young musicians from the Primorska region who knew him as a professor and principal of the Koper Music School and conductor of the Koper Music Education Centre Orchestra; Lovec dedicated to the Orchestra his Concertino for Flute and Orchestra. The Music Collection of the National and University Library holds the composer's entire bequest that composer's wife Zdenka Lovec and the Centre for Music Education in Koper donated to the Library in 1993.

The inventory of the composer's documentary material is available in the collection Zapuščina skladatelja Vladimirja Lovca /The Bequest of Composer Vladimir Lovec/, while the digital collection includes autographs of original compositions, and compositions included in the editions of the Society of Slovene Composers. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Vladimir Lovec's birth, a website has been created to raise awareness of the importance of his work and legacy, and to make his works more widely accessible.

Visit the collection on the Digital Library of Slovenia portal.

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Birth of new homelands in London

BIRTH OF NEW HOMELANDS IN LONDON

The Exhibition Birth of New Homelands – Rich Creativity of Slovenian Refugees in Italy and Austria, continues its mission by visiting London. At the invitation of the Slovenski dom (Slovenian Catholic Chaplaincy), the exhibition is moving to the UK capital, where it will be on show from 23 April to 26 June 2022. Mr Keith Milles, a long-time friend of the Slovenian nation who was at the forefront of Slovenia's efforts to gain recognition in the UK, spoke at the opening ceremony, and the programme was enriched by music performed by Stella Cobbson.

You are invited to visit the exhibition on 62 Offley Road, London SW9 0LS; it is on view from Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 6pm, and on Saturdays between 10am and 4pm.

For more information, please visit the Slovenski dom website.

Test access to Brill Journal Collection

Brill Journal Collection is a collection of all scientific and professional journals published by Brill. It offers more than 400 journals, mainly in the humanities and social sciences (philosophy, law, political science, sociology, linguistics, etc.), and also some works in works in the field of biology.

Test access is available from 11 April to 31 May 2022 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), the Central Technical Library (CTK), the National Institute of Biology (NIB) and the National Library and University Library (NUK). Remote access is available for students and employees of the Ljubljana University, NUK, CTK and NIB, as well as NUK members.

Entry point

Works in the field of librarianship digitised

In the framework of the EODOPEN project, five publications relating to librarianship have been digitised on the proposal of the Library users.

They include three collections dealing with school librarianship (Zborniki), a collection on information literacy, and a manual on weeding and discarding of library materials (Priročnik za izločanje in odpis knjižničnega gradiva).

The Library is most grateful to the authors, as well as the National Education Institute for the permission to digitise the publications and to publish them open access on the dLib.si portal.

You can browse the works by using the links:

Zborniki: http://www.dlib.si/sh/F7510D88
Priročnik za izločanje in odpis knjižničnega gradiva: https://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-RTQGYDRX

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization. Fill-in the form for submitting proposals for digitization.

Plečnik at the Prague Castle

At the end of last week, the Prague Castle hosted opening of exhibition of photographs by Mr Saša Fuis with motifs of the National and University Library. The exhibition was organised by the Dolenjski Muzej Novo mesto, the Municipality of Novo mesto and the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Prague. Dr Ines Vodopivec, NUK Assistant Director and Ms Andreja Kozjek, Head of NUK Conservation and Preservation Department also attended the opening event.

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The Slovenian delegation: Ms Jasna Dokl Osolnik, Director of the Dolenjski Muzej, Mr Gregor Macedoni, Mayor of the Municipality of Novo mesto and Mr Boštjan Grobler, Deputy Mayor, Mr Saša Fuis, the author of the photographs, a representative of the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Prague and Dr. Ines Vodopivec, NUK Assistant Director.

Impressions 30 (Vtisi 30) in the Albert Sirk cultural centre in Križ near Trieste

Last year, the Exhibition “Impressions 30 - memories of Slovenes abroad on the Recognition of the Independence of Slovenia" (Vtisi 30) was on display at the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum. The exhibition continues its mission - at a reduced volume, it is presented at the Albert Sirk Cultural Centre in Križ near Trieste. It mainly features testimonies of Slovenes from the Trieste and Gorizia regions, as well as memoirs of some individuals of Slovenian roots from around the world.

The exhibition, which opened on Saturday, 2 April 2022, will be on display until the beginning of May 2022. At the opening of the exhibition, the audience was addressed by Mr Franco Cossutta, the keynote speaker was Dr Miran Košuta. The exhibition has been prepared by the National and University Library and the Ethnographic Museum of Slovenia.

Presentation of the Oxford University Press Collections

Oxford Handbooks Online: 1 April 2022 at 12:00; registration.

Oxford Handbooks Online is a collection of manuals or textbooks. It is one of the most prestigious fields of the Oxford scholarly publishing. It comprises in-depth articles by leading scientists and experts.

Oxford Journals: 8 April 2022 at 12:00; registration.

The Oxford Academic Journals collection is intended for searching and accessing scientific literature in the fields of medicine, biological sciences, mathematics and physics, law, humanities and social sciences. It comprises full text of articles from more than 450 magazines published by the publisher.

Oxford Art Online: 12 April 2022 at 11:00; registration.

The Grove Dictionary of Art is the basic encyclopaedia of art - painting, sculpture, architecture and decorative arts - ceramics, glass, interior design, etc. It consists of over 30,000 articles (20,000 biographies) of artists, movements, schools, techniques, theories, cities, countries, periods, etc. It also includes 40,000 pictures (link to "diagrams" from the article). The articles are accompanied by bibliographical references for further in-depth research, and by links to selected websites..

Oxford Music Online: 13 April 2022 at 11:00; registration.

The Grove Music Online is the core encyclopaedia of musicology and music in general. It features overview articles on all topics in the field of music, it also includes The Oxford Dictionary of Music and The Oxford Companion to Music. Articles are accompanied by a bibliography as a guide to further reading, and may also include illustrations, sound clips and links to interesting websites. The encyclopaedia has more than 57,000 articles and more than 40,000 biographies..

The presentations are aimed at students, professors, researchers, librarians and other users of the collections. Approximately 40 minutes presentations will be held in English. Registration is required for each presentation.

Ambassador of Israel visited NUK

Mr Eyal Sela, the non-resident Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of Slovenia, visited the National and University Library on 16 March 2022. He met with Mr Viljem Leban, the Library Director and Dr Ines Vodopivec, Assistant Director. After a short tour of the Library, the guest was welcomed in the Manuscript Collection reading room by Mr. Matjaž Lulik, the curator of the NUK Old Prints Collection. He presented to the Ambassador a selection of the works held in the collection, including some of Slovenian Protestantism, works written in the Hebrew language and Prešeren's poem A Jewish Girl (Judovsko dekle). The professional part of the visit was followed by a discussion, that among other topics covered also the construction of the new National Library in Jerusalem, which is opening its doors this year.

Works by Barica Marentič-Požarnik digitised as part of the EODOPEN project

»Clearly set life objectives help us to cope with the pressures, difficulties and inconveniences of the moment. Sometimes such goals seem too distant, too vague, to give us the right encouragement. Therefore, the path to these goals must be split into a series of stages - closer, more tangible objectives, to which a very precise pathway leads.« (Kako naj se učim)

Within the EODOPEN project, ten publications by Barica Marentič-Požarnik (1940-), Slovenian educational psychologist and university professor of educational psychology, have been digitised and made freely available. Interestingly, as early as in 1979, she wrote the analysis on the effectiveness and usefulness of specific strategies in computer-based learning. The Library is grateful to the author for her cooperation, consent to digitize her works and made them available on the Digital Library of Slovenia portal.

Her work Kako naj se učim (How Should I Learn) has also been adapted to the EPUB format, which can be downloaded from the Digital Library of Slovenia.

The Library informs its users on the novelty relating to the access to e-book reading: The Dolphin EasyReader software, for reading EPUB format on Windows PCs, is no longer subject to payment. The application and the software are available free of charge to users.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization. Fill-in the form for submitting proposals for digitization.

MIT Press Direct in testing access

In cooperation with the Central Humanities Library of the Faculty of Arts, the Library has obtained a test access to MIT Press Direct, which provides access to e-books of the MIT Press publishing house. The resource offers more than 3000 e-books, with new titles added annually. They cover the following topics: arts, architecture, biomedicine, business and finance, computer science, cognitive science, design, education, environment, computer game studies, humanities, information sciences, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, social sciences.

MIT Press Direct at Mrežnik: https://mreznik.nuk.uni-lj.si/sl/viri/the-mit-press-direct

MIT Press Direct will be available until 31 March 2022 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library (CTL), the National Institute of Biology (NIB) and the National and University Library (NUK). Remote access is available to students and employees of the University of Ljubljana, of the Technical Library, of the National Institute of Biology and the National and University Library, and members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, the Central Technical Library, the National Institute of Biology Library and of the National and University Library; access is also offered to the University of Ljubljana graduates, library members of the UL, CTK, NIB and NUK.

Discover Bara Remec's Opus

On 1 March 1991, the painter Bara Remec said goodbye for good in Argentina, in Bariloche, whose landscape is very similar to the mountainous Slovenian countryside. Her life and rich creativity are presented in the exhibition, which is also a tribute to her memory by the National and University Library, which preserves some of her works - paintings, engravings, drawings and book illustrations.

You are invited to discover Bara Remec's opus, one of Slovenian greatest female painters working in emigration.

The online exhibition is available on Google Arts & Culture.

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EODOPEN project in 2021

In 2021, NUK continued its activities within the EODOPEN project: cooperation with various partners was established and a wide range of digitised material was offered to users through the dLib.si portal. You are invited to take a look at the infographic for the past year, and to submit your suggestions for digitising books from 20th and 21st centuries from NUK’s library collection.

The EODOPEN project team is looking forward to further cooperation.

The infographic shows the activity of the EODOPEN project in 2021 according to five sets: digitization of 20th and 21st century publications, concluded agreements with copyright holders, statistics of access and transfer of publications via the dLib.si portal, adaptation of publications to EPUB format for accessibility to all and promotional activities

view bigger size

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Webinars on publishing articles and on Oxford Collections

This January, Oxford University Press (OUP) is organising three webinars, which will offer valuable information for librarians, too.

Oxford Journals:
25 January 2022 at 12:00; presentation aimed primarily at students, professors, researchers and librarians; registration
Introduction to Publishing in OUP Journals:
26 January 2022 at 12:00; seminar targeted primarily at researchers, librarians are also encouraged to attend; registration
Oxford Art Online and Oxford Music Online:
27 January 2022 at 12:00; presentation intended primarily for students, professors, researchers and librarians; registration

Registration is required for each seminar. After registration, participants will receive instructions on how to attend the seminar. Webinars will be held in English and will be approximately 40 minutes long.

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Access Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials PLUS

In cooperation with the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Theology of the University of Ljubljana, the Library has gained access to the Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials PLUS.

The Atla Religion Database (ATLA RDB) with AtlaSerials PLUS (ATLAS PLUS) combines citation indexes for journal articles, book reviews and collections of essays from all fields of religion, as well as the ATLA collection of major religious and theological journals.

ATLA Religion Database is a reference electronic resource containing citation indexes for:

more than 620,000 articles from more than 1,746 journals (575 currently indexed);
more than 250,000 essays from more than 18,000 multiauthored works;
more than 570,000 citations from book reviews.

ATLASerials PLUS is a collection of more than 560 journals in the field of religion and theology. Full-text articles are available in more than 20 languages from over 35 countries.

Access is available from locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library (CTK) and the National and University Library (NUK); remote access is available for all members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, members of CTK and NUK.

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Dr Janez Šumrada and dr Miran Košuta received the Trubar award 2021

Among the many tasks performed by the National and University Library, it is primarily to care for the material that constitutes the Slovenian written cultural heritage and makes part of the identity of the Slovenian nation. Thus, the Library guarantees the availability of materials for study and research, which promote the scientific, cultural and artistic production of tomorrow.

The Library is grateful to all individuals and organizations who help to collect, preserve and promote the heritage. Since 2008, the Trubar Award has been awarded for important contributions to the preservation of the national written cultural heritage.

The National and University Library conferred the 2021 Trubar Award to Dr Janez Šumrada and Dr Miran Košuta.

Dr Janez Šumrada is a renowned scholar of one of the key periods in the historical development of Slovenes from a people to a nation, the period from the 18th to the 19th century. He has been intensively studying this milestone time of the Slovenian language and culture for more than three decades, from drafting of his doctoral thesis, based on a study of archives in foreign and national libraries. He is predominantly interested in researching new, unknown and less exploited resources that present findings in a new historical perspective. A significant part of Dr Šumrada's studies focuses on the material held in the collections of the National and University Library, especially on the legacy of Slavicist Janez Nepomuk Primic.

Dr Miran Košuta is a literary historian, critic, translator, essayist and full professor at the University of Trieste. As great connoisseur of situation, his remarkably comprehensive and varied scientific work is focusing with a special affection and sensitivity on Slovenian authors living beyond Slovenia's borders (Vladimir Bartol, Boris Pahor, Alojz Rebula, Stanko Vuk). He is committed to fulfil his mission in the field of intercultural dialogue and cooperation with the Italian culture, too. Dr Miran Košuta merits the Trubar Award for his significant contributions to the national written cultural heritage and its scientific promotion out of the country, in the homeland and in the international environment.

We congratulate and thank the awardees for their contribution to the preservation of the national written cultural heritage!

NUK wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The National and University Library wishes you a pleasant end to the year, beautiful and healthy holidays and all the best in the new year 2022.

You can play the greeting card by clicking on the image. If you have problems, copy the URL www.nuk.uni-lj.si/virtual/NUK_2022_Ang.mp4 into your browser.

Vavpotič, Jurčič year and EODOPEN

The Library is pleased to have acquired the illustration (with a call number) by Ivan Vavpotič (1877–1943) of the first Slovenian novel Deseti brat (The Tenth Brother) written by Josip Jurčič. The publication was published in Klagenfurt in 1912 by the St. Mohor Society. An unknown reader of our copy, which depicts Martinek with the gentleman at the Slemenice castle, subtitled it Father and Son (the illustration is on page 67). The copy, which has been digitised as part of the EODOPEN project, can be browsed on the Digital Library of Slovenia. You can enjoy in reading Jurčič's story, and admire Vavpotič’s beautiful illustrations - the second edition has more illustrations than the first.

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Triglav on Google Arts & Culture

»There stands Triglav, right now emerging out of the dark, shining, mystical glow of past centuries, growing into the bright light of our times. High on the blue heights, his solemn head is wreathed by the clouds of the sky, on its broad rocky forehead glitters the glow of a ruler. In deep pleats of his rocky robe, myths are hidden,” wrote Julius Kugy, one of the most enthusiastic admirers of our highest mountain.

Triglav is more than just a mountain. Throughout its long and turbulent history, Triglav has embodied a deity, an object of exploration and artistic admiration, an inspiration and a test of physical strength, a pilgrimage destination and who knows what else. Nowadays, it is one of the major symbols of the Slovenian nation, where crowds of trekkers go on pilgrimage every year.

Learn about its story on the Google Arts & Culture.

5th International meeting of the EODOPEN project partners

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fifth EODOPEN partners' meeting was held in online environment. Around fifty representatives of the fifteen project partners from eleven countries attended the meeting from their homes or libraries; Alenka Kavčič-Čolić, Tina Glavič and Andreja Hari from the National and University Library (NUK). The project partners followed the presentations of the groups work to date, and actively participated in the planning of new project activities. On the first day of the meeting, partners discussed further work in four working groups, during the joint meeting, they reviewed the new developments and changes in the six working groups. NUK is chairing the fourth working group - Delivery Formats of Digitised Material for Special Needs Users. The group is creating guidelines for adapting digitised material for users of mobile devices, and for blind and partially sighted users. The second day of the meeting started with an overview of new developments in the Working Group 7, which refers to the current state of digitisation of 15,000 publications. As part of the working group led by NUK, Andreja Hari presented the topic "eBook accessibility for all" in which she addressed the issue of people with disabilities in accessing and using e-books, with a focus on the blind and visually impaired; she presented the process of creating an EPUB format from digitised material that is accessible to everyone.

In the last part of the meeting, a promotional workshop was held to find solutions to approximate digitised material from the EODOPEN project closer to younger users.

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Acces to two new E-resources

The Library has acquired access to two new electronic resources:

The Brill eBook Collection is a collection of all eBooks published by the Brill Publisher. It comprises more than 30,000 scientific and professional books from different fields of research. Most works are in the field of social sciences and humanities (philosophy, sociology, theology, law, etc.), but books on natural sciences (biology) are also available. The access is offered until May 31 2022 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library, the National Institute of Biology and the National and University Library; remote access is available to students and employees of the University of Ljubljana, employees of the Technical Library, of the National Institute of Biology and to all NUK members.

Oxford Handbooks Online is a collection of handbooks or textbooks. It is one of Oxford's most prestigious areas of scholarly publishing, comprising in-depth articles by the best scholars and experts. The handbooks cover various topics: neuroscience, archaeology, classical studies, criminology, economics, history, law, linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, natural science, political science, psychology, religion, sociology. Oxford Handbooks Online is guided by the editorial board of the world's leading scientists. Each Handbook provides a thorough introduction to the topic, a critical overview of the current state of the fields, examines and establishes the foundations of the science, and identifies opportunities for new researches. The electronic resource will be available until 30 November 2022 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library, the National Institute of Biology and the National and University Library. Remote access is available to students and employees of the University of Ljubljana, employees of the Technical Library, of the National Institute of Biology and the National and University Library, and members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, of the Central Technical Library, of the National Institute of Biology Library and of the National and University Library.

The hundredth anniversary of the birth of France Balantič

France Balantič, one of the greatest Slovenian poets, was born a hundred years ago, on November 29, 1921. He began to establish himself as a poet shortly before the Second World War: he created an exceptional lyric, which was published only after his tragic death in 1944 under the title V ognju groze plapolam (I Flutter in the Fire of Horror). After 1945, the Slovenian community in Argentina preserved the memory of his work. The first post-war collection of his Poems was published in 1956 in Buenos Aires: it was edited by Dr Tine Debeljak and illustrated by Bara Remec. In 1966, Mitja Mejak selected and edited the collection of poetry Muževna steblika (The Sappy Stem), published by the Državna založba Slovenije publishing house. The already printed collection was destroyed, but nevertheless six preserved copies have been documented, two of which are stored in NUK. In 1976, Balantič's Collected Works were published in Argentina.

France Pibernik dealt in depth with France Balantič's work. Pibernik donated to NUK material associated to Balantič’s legacy: It comprises several photocopies of the family legacy in Kamnik (texts from the poet’s school period, poems, translations, documents), photocopies of important documents from the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia, articles that dealt with Balantič, critiques of his works, testimonies about his life, photographs, documentation on the Gonars concentration camp, documentation on Grahovo, the poet's correspondence, correspondence related to research of Balantič's work, material from exhibitions and celebrations dedicated to the poet, some original graphics by Marjan Tršar and documentation from the Yugoslav Security Intelligence Service.

France Pibernik began publishing his articles on Balantič at the end of the 1980s: in 1989, he published the book Temni zaliv Franceta Balantiča: portretna skica (The Dark Bay by France Balantič: a sketch portrait), and after Slovenian independence, a more comprehensive survey France Balantič (2008).

Today, the Public Library Kamnik is named after the poet; it also houses the Balantič statue, the work of the sculptor Drago Tršar.

You are invited to visit the digital collection of France Balantič on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia.

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Zdravko Novak Refugee Library in NUK

In 2021, the National and University Library obtained a valuable gift for its Slovenian Diaspora Publication Collection, the so-called Zdravko Novak Refugee Library. It is one of the most complete collections of this type of material, comprising a little more than 700 titles of editions, that originated in refugee camps in Austria and Italy where Slovenes who had left their homeland for fear of post-war political violence settled after the end of World War II. In the three years that Slovenes spent in refugee camps in both neighbouring countries, more than 80 periodical titles of magazines, newsletters and newspapers were published there, along with ephemera also 500 monographic titles.

Zdravko Novak collected and edited refugee press methodically and devotedly for 25 years. He began already during his stay in the refugee camps in Carinthia and continued after moving to the USA. Before his death in 1971, he had organised transfer of the valuable collection from the United States to Rome, closer to his homeland - he entrusted it to the Slovenian Pontifical Institute Slovenik Rome, (Pontificio Collego Sloveno), from where the collection has settled on the Library’s bookshelves this year.

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Naslovnica dela Razgled z ljubljanskega grada. V ozadju je ilustriran Ljubljanski grad, v ospredju se nahaja z gradu posneta starinska fotografija Ljubljane.

View from the Ljubljana Castle

Within the EODOPEN project, the library has digitized the publication View from the Ljubljana Castle: a landscape overview with panorama. It pictorially describes a view of tourist, geographical, historical and cultural attractions. The publication is available on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia, and is also adapted to the ePUB format.

The library expresses its sincere thanks to Josip Wester’s heiress for her permission to digitise the publication.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization. Fill-in the form for submitting proposals for digitization.

The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages: a new online exhibition on Europeana

A new online exhibition has been recently on display on the Europeana website. Under the title The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages, it opens a journey and exploration of reading in the Middle Ages: in monasteries and at courts, among merchants and craftsmen, in the Slavic environment, in networks of readers and at universities. The extensive online exhibition brings interesting content and reproductions of manuscripts and details from codices created in the Middle Ages. As it was created as part of the ARMA project (The art of reading in the Middle Ages), it deserves a special attention. The project will run until May 2022 and will focus on the development of medieval reading culture, and its importance for the development of the European culture. The main part of the project is searching for innovative and useful solutions to increase access to valuable library material, which is usually carefully sheltered in the vaults of individual collections.

With modern technologies, knowledge and cooperation with various European institutions in the field of cultural heritage, the ARMA project is coordinated by the National and University Library. The online exhibition, supplemented by a rich bibliography has been created as a result of collaboration among experts from various European libraries, including Dr Ines Vodopivec, Deputy Director of Library Operations and Services at the National and University Library, Ljubljana.

Rudolf Maister virtual pathway activated

The project was planned as an online experience of getting to know Rudolf Maister (1874-1934): it is a result of collaboration of fifteen different museums, libraries and archives. It was designed by Alenka Juvan and Katarina Mahnič, and led by the Inter-Municipal Museum Kamnik, which takes care of Rudolf Maister birth house. The National and University Library also participated in the realization of the project: in the spring, Viljem Leban, director of NUK, signed a cooperation agreement and the library contributed primarily to the digitization of documents from Maister's life and work. kept in the library collection. Professional and organizational issues were dealt by the expert committee. Its member was also Marijan Rupert MA, curator of the Library manuscript collection.

Maister's virtual pathway offers visitors and information seekers new opportunities in presenting material about Rudolf Maister. Chapters on his life are related to the places where he lived, including chapters on his military career, his literary activity and works about Maister, or based on his works. The project offers a corner for young people. Its aim is to motivate the interest of the professional and general public in the Slovenian poet and general, and of course, to promote resources and expand access to the material. Therefore, the most important part of the project is the digitization of material kept by various institutions in Slovenia, and also the linking of all places, documents and other chapters of Maister’s life. The result is a website created by the noviSplet agency, the animation and logo were provided by Ciril Horjak.

As stated in the project presentation, the virtual version is expected to be complemented in the coming years by Maister's real life route, so we are looking forward to further development of the project.

Maister's virtual path is available at www.rudolfmaister.si.

Pivka hosts the Exhibition on the anniversary of the Plebiscite

The NUK exhibition Peculiar Thing About Dreams Is They Sometimes Come True continues its journey around Slovenia. From Tuesday, October 25, it can be seen in the Park of Military History (Park vojaške zgodovine Pivka) in Pivka.

The Prime Minister Janez Janša opened the exhibition on the occasion of the Sovereignty Day ceremony. The audience was also addressed by Dr Ines Vodopivec, NUK Assistant Director. The guests viewed the exhibition with by its author Helena Janežič.

Find out more about the event on the web site of the Park of Military History.

IFLA's new team, Website and Newsletter

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) recently presented a renewed website, which provides an overview of the activities and presentations of individuals involved in the activities of the world umbrella organisation of librarians. IFLA is the global voice of libraries, representing the interests of the profession and acting to improve services worldwide. It draws the strength of its planning and implementation from its strong core of membership, that represents a diverse expert community and connections with its partners. Documents, strategies, reports, as well as an excellent statistical overview of libraries around the world can be found on the renewed website. Selected reflections are also published in the editorial of the first IFLA newsletter - each of its next issue will bring IFLA’s work closer to readers, by highlighting its professional and broader challenges.

In the recent elections, a new IFLA leadership and representatives in its sections were elected. Barbara Lison, Director of the Bremen General Library, became President of the organisation for the period 2021-2023. Her mandate is linked by the theme of libraries that are building a sustainable future. The umbrella organization is facing a demanding work in this post-corona period; in its implementation, many new colleagues will be participating in committees, professional and regional councils.

Among them are also three NUK employees: Dr Alenka Kavčič Čolić in the Information Technology Section, Dr Jasna Malešič in the Preservation and Conservation Section and Darija Rozman MSc in the Subject Analysis and Access.

Skrb za slepce - published in 1919

As part of the EODOPEN project, the Library has digitized publication written in 1919 by Minka Skaberne Skrb za slepce (Caring for the Blind); the work describes the situation after the First World War and the importance of caring for blind soldiers who had returned to their homeland. In the second part of the book, the author presents the development of writings for the blind, reasons for setting up a library, and the first successes in conducting education on reading and handwriting in Braille. Her endeavours are reflected even nowadays with more than a hundred year-long functioning of the Minka Skaberna Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The Library sincerely thanks the heiress for the permission to digitize the publication and to make it freely available through the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia in PDF format, and the adapted ePUB format.

NUK also keeps her correspondence with Ivan Cankar, in which she asked him for permission to transcribe some of his works.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization. Fill-in the form for submitting proposals for digitization.

Test access to Oxford Scholarly Editions Online

The Library obtained test access to the electronic resource Oxford Scholarly Editions Online. It is a collection of full texts by classical authors, which includes works by writers, active between 701 and 1901, and Roman and Greek authors: Aristotle, Austen, Bentham, Catullus, Dickens, Plato, Virgil, Wordsworth, Aristophanes etc. It contains over 1,650 scholarly editions — the equivalent of more than 754,000 print pages.

Access is provided until 30 November 2021 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), the Central Technical Library (CTK), the National Institute of Biology (NIB), the National and University Library (NUK) and the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU). Remote access is available to students and employees of the University of Ljubljana and ZRC SAZU, employees of CTK, NIB and NUK, as well as library members of UL, CTK, NIB, NUK and ZRC SAZU.

Test Access to Bloomsbury Cultural History

The library has acquired test access to the electronic collection Bloomsbury Cultural History. It is aimed at studying and researching of cultural history:

various topics (work, childhood and family, human body, food ...),
the period from antiquity onwards,
1500 paintings of objects from museum collections (Wellcome Trust),
more than 90 e-book titles,
lecture programmes.

Test access is available until 31 October 2021.

Music Collection Department will be closed until November 30, 2021

Materials in the reading room collection (collected works, thematic catalogues and facsimiles) cannot be accessed during this time. Access to the collection card catalogue is also not possible.

Thank you for your understanding

EOD eBooks: special offer for digitizing EOD books

EOD - digitization of books on demand - is a service that allows making of digitized copies of books (monographs) in the pdf format. From 1 October to 31 October, nine-member libraries of the EOD network charge only 10 euros for digitising and a digital copy of out-of-copyright books stored in collections of nine libraries.

All books subject to this discount price can be found in the shared EOD catalogue via search link: https://t1p.de/eod2021

Digital copies can be ordered from the collections of the following libraries: National Library of Estonia (Estonia), University of Tartu Library (Estonia), University Library of Regensburg (Germany), University and State Library of Tyrol (Austria), Czech National Library of Technology (Czech Republic), University Library of the Humboldt University (Germany)*, Swiss National Library (Switzerland)*, University Library in Bratislava (Slovakia), National and University Library (Slovenia)*

Libraries marked with * reserve the right to make exceptions. *Starting from 250 pages, the regular price list applies!

Order a digital copy and make cultural heritage publicly accessible!

Slovenia's gastronomic heritage

On the occasion of the European Heritage Days and the Cultural Heritage Week, The Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia (ZVKD), has organised - together with many organizations and institutions, more than 350 events that will occur from September 25 to October 9. A program of events is available on the ZVKD website.

The 31st European Cultural Heritage Days and the 9th Cultural Heritage Week were launched by Matjaž Gruden, the head of the Council of Europe Directorate of Democratic Participation.

The red thread of this year's events is Dober tek! (good appetite), which announces a walk through the gastronomic heritage of Slovenia. NUK is also joining the European Cultural Heritage Days and the Cultural Heritage Week: Following the theme of this year's Days, a special collection has been created: Legendary Slovenian Cookbooks that is available at the Digital Library Portal. There is probably not a single Slovenian household that does not have at least one cookbook - and real treasures of this kind of literature are hidden in the Digital Library of Slovenia. We offer you to read and try recipes of some of the most famous, and for decades (even centuries) used cookbooks: from Vodnik's Kuharske bukve (Cooking Book) from 1799, the famous cookbooks written by Felicita Kalinšek and Marija Remec, to a tiny booklet Kuharska knjižica (A Cooking Book) which was published in 1948 in the refugee camp in Spittal (Austria).

You are invited to explore the cultural heritage and, of course, have a good appetite!

Postcards of Aleš Debeljak in the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum

It was a little more than two years ago that NUK acquired the legacy of Aleš Debeljak, a writer and sociologist. He received his PhD in sociology of culture In New York. Debeljak was a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences. From his first attempts as a poet, he dealt mainly with the topic of existentialism, his works were also touched by the war in the former Yugoslavia, in essay writing he was one of the founders of postmodernism in Slovenia. A translator, editor and one of the most translated Slovenian authors sent many postcards from his travels; postcards accompanied with his thoughts, are a part of his legacy. A selection of forty postcards sent to Aleš Berger, Matjaž Pikalo, Tomaž Šalamun, Igor Štiks and others, that are kept in the Library Manuscript Collection, are on display for the first time at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum (SEM) as part of the exhibition Just passing through: A Mosaic of the Postcards and Friendships of Aleš Debeljak. The exhibition can be visited until February 13, 2022.

Compositions by Josip Ipavec at the National and University Library

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has declared 2021 the Year of Josip Ipavec, a doctor and composer who created many important works. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his death. As it is written in the explanation of the Ministry of Culture “… Among his works, the first Slovenian ballet Možiček [“The Manikin”], and his most extensive work, the operetta Princesa Vrtoglavka [“The Dizzy Princess”], are of significant importance …«.

On this occasion, Dr Alenka Bagarič, curator of the NUK Music Collection, has prepared an e-book entitled Compositions by Josip Ipavec in the National and University Library. It is an excellent bibliographic monograph, with a detailed list of Josip Ipavec works which are kept in the NUK collection in a published, or a manuscript form – the latter include autographs from the composer's legacy that the Library acquired between 1964 and 1991; the autographs from the archives are of the Novi akordi editor, while the transcripts of compositions are of various provenance.

The main part of the monograph is the alphabetical list of original titles, with variants and translated titles written by copyists in musical scores, or by arrangers of the material, and translated titles from recent editions. There are other details that accurately complement the bibliography. The alphabetical list is followed by a list of editions, a list of songs by genres and performing ensembles, and a directory of names. Therefore, the publication is an indispensable source for further research and study of Josip Ipavec works, as well as for an extensive study of the Slovenian musical heritage.

Lidija Podlesnik Tomášiková (MA) contributed a peer review of the publication, it was designed by Mia Sivec, Maj Blatnik contributed the cover photo.

logotip ipavec 100

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Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Slovenia visited NUK

On August 26, 2021, Dr Krzysztof Olendzki, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Slovenia visited NUK.

The Ambassador met with Mr. Viljem Leban, NUK Director and Deputy Director Dr Ines Vodopivec. After a short tour of the library, they briefly discussed cultural contacts between Slovenian and Polish artists in the past, possibilities for further cooperation in the future, also in joint projects. A special attention was paid to the Codex Suprasliensis, one of the oldest Slavic literary monuments in Cyrillic, dating to the first half of the 11th century, discovered in Supraśl in eastern Poland. One of the three parts of the manuscript is kept in NUK - the Ljubljana Lyceum library acquired it together with other valuables in 1845 as part of the Jernej Kopitar collection. Because of its unique importance, it has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Memory list since 2007. After the discussion, the manuscript was presented to Ambassador by Marijan Rupert, the curator of the Library Manuscript Collection. The visit was held in a friendly atmosphere and with a desire to continue relations, which will offer new opportunities to expose the cultural and scientific heritage.

fotografija prikazuje knjižničarja, ki obiskovalcu razlage, pred njim je odprta škatla z rokopisi,

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Alma Karlin's Collection of ethnographic material in Vienna

To present the life story of Alma Karlin, an unusual traveller, a polyglot and a writer, the Weltmuseum Wien in cooperation with the Regional Museum in Celje, is preparing the exhibition of Alma Karlin's ethnographic material. The Manuscript Collection of the National and University Library also preserves her legacy from which the exhibition will present the typescript of the unpublished short story Warum die Tayalfrauen das Gesicht Tättowieren (Insel Formosa) - Why the Tayal women tattoo the face (Insel Formosa), and the manuscript book Wörterbuch in 10 Sprachen (Dictionary in 10 Languages); it is not dated, but can almost certainly be placed around 1913. Alma Karlin continued to study these languages at the Society of Arts in London.

The exhibition Alma M. Karlin: Einsame Weltreise (Alma M. Karlin: Alone Around the World) will be open at the Weltmuseum Wien from 16 September 2021 to 18 January 2022.

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The last meeting of the Finlit project team

Today, the last meeting of the Finlit (Financial literacy through public libraries) project group takes place in Burgas (Bulgaria), in its general library, newly opened last year. Dr Alenka Kavčič Čolić and Milena Bon from the National and University Library are attending the reunion; after a long time, it happens face-to-face, not online. The purpose of the meeting is to prepare conclusions and a plan for the promotion of the project, and the future implementation of trainings in the field of financial literacy in public libraries in all partner countries (Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia).

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Works by Janez Strehovec freely accessible through the Eodopen project

The EODOPEN project has provided access to many interesting works. We are pleased to be participating in the project that provides free access to more recent creations that will facilitate the work of students and researchers, and inspire other enthusiasts of theory and interesting reading, as well. This also applies Janez Strehovec works, which deal with contemporary issues of aesthetics in the broader context of philosophy and the humanities, and which, in collaboration with the author, can be accessed by all of the above referred.

All the titles are in Slovene language. We would like to thank the author for his cooperation!

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Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization. Fill-in the form for submitting proposals for digitization.

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NUK on the UNESCO World Heritage List

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee confirmed the inscription of selected works by architect Jože Plečnik on the World Heritage List. The selected works in Ljubljana are recognized for their exceptional universal value, as Plečnik raised the urban composition of the capital into a recognizable entity – the Plečnik Ljubljana.

The selection of works comprises seven components: the city's water axis (the Ljubljanica River embankments and bridges from Trnovski pristan to the Ljubljanica Sluice Gate) and the Trnovo Bridge; the land axis (Vega Street with the National and University Library - Plečnik's temple of knowledge and wisdom, the Congress Square with Zvezda Park); the arrangement of the archaeological park (the Roman wall); the Žale Cemetery and churches St Michael's Church in Črna vas and the Church of St Francis of Assisi in Šiška.

"Plečnik's Ljubljana is a phenomenon of the urban landscape of the 20th century, and inscription on the UNESCO heritage list is a recognition of values of Plečnik's public space, and also a commitment for systematic care of its characteristics", said Tomaž Štoka, coordinator of the working group for preparing the nomination dossier of Plečnik 's buildings and urban works. The nomination was led by the Ministry of Culture, coordinated by the Museum of Architecture and Design; members of the expert group were representatives of the Ministry of Culture, professionals of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Museum of Architecture and Design, City of Ljubljana and the city’s Museum and Galleries, and also external staff.

Congratulations to all participants for the work done.

The importance of Plečnik’s works extends beyond the borders of the city and the country. Their importance binds us to carefully preserve and safeguard his heritage.

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NUK Attended Meeting of Libraries Within Global Cleveland

On Tuesday, July 12, 2021, an online meeting of libraries was held as part of the 3rd Annual Conference of Sister Cities of the Global Cleveland Network. Along with other representatives of university and public libraries from various countries, NUK also attended the Library Mini Summit; in October last year, the Library signed an agreement on mutual cooperation with the Cleveland Public Library. Representatives of libraries presented their institutions, experiences, challenges and solutions referring to various areas of library activity. Such knowledge sharing is especially valuable nowadays when libraries around the world are meeting the challenges of the epidemiological situation, of the digital and information revolution, and changed access to information.

The National and University Library maintains close contacts with libraries in many countries, exchanging professional experience, good practices and ensuring presence of the Slovenian culture around the world. In recent years, we have developed a close relationship with the Cleveland Public Library - not only by a desire to improve library services, also due to a very strong Slovenian community living and working in Cleveland.

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Visit the Exhibition Reviewing Slovenian Independence Thought

To mark the thirtieth anniversary of the independent Slovenia, the National and University Library prepared the exhibition “The Peculiar Thing about Dreams is they Sometimes Come True”. The material kept in the library, unfolds an overview of the Slovenian independence idea by uncovering memories of our independence aspirations and activities, which are part of the rich written cultural heritage and the nation’s memory.

The exhibition is on view at the entrance to the Main Reading Room. It takes us through almost 150 years of our history: from the first clearly expressed idea of the unification of Slovenes in the Spring of Nations in 1848, through the first clearly written concept about independent Slovenia in 1941, and the development of independence inspiration among Slovenian emigrants, until the eighties of the last century when the thought of independence gained wings in the homeland as well. The idea led to a succession of events that resulted in the plebiscite for independent Slovenia and half a year later, on June 25, 1991, to the birth of an independent and sovereign Slovenia.

The exhibition was initially presented in the online form; on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Slovenia's independence, it was for the first time presented in the National Assembly.

Author of the exhibition: Helena Janežič, exhibition design: Maj Blatnik.

On inclusion of Plečnik's works on the World Heritage List

The report of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) has positively assessed the nomination of Plečnik's works, and recommended to the committee the inclusion of the architect’s works on the World Heritage List.

ICOMOS recognized Plečnik’s works in Ljubljana as an exceptional example of urban space tailored to man, in accordance with a deeply humane vision of the architect who between the two world wars transformed the former provincial city of the empire into a symbolic national capital. ICOMOS endorsed the proposed argumentation of the choice of public spaces and public institutions, among which there is also the palace of the National and University Library.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the preparation of the nomination (Ministry of Culture, City of Ljubljana, Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, ICOMOS Slovenia, Museums and Galleries of the City of Ljubljana, Plečnik House and Museum of Architecture and Design). The final decision on entry will be taken by the committee at its meeting in the second half of July.

More information is available on the website of the Ministry of Culture.

Permanent Access to Emerald Publisher e-books

For the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library and the National and University Library, the library obtained the permanent access to 50 books of the Emerald publisher.

The books cover the fields of economics, education, tourism and organizational sciences. Most of the books are by Slovenian authors, or refer to topics about Slovenia. The list of titles is available on this link.

The books are available through the Emerald Insight portal. Access is provided from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library and the National and University Library; remote access is available to students, graduates and employees of the University of Ljubljana - members of the Ljubljana University libraries, of the Central Technical Library, and to all NUK members.

Short stories on Aviation and Aeronautics

Man has always wanted to fly like a bird in the sky, and see Mother Earth from the air perspective.

The publication Short Stories on Aviation and Aeronautics, published in 1911, has been digitized as part of the EODOPEN project. It takes us into the clouds with an overview of different types of aircrafts of the time, and their development.The book is accessible on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization. Fill-in the form for submitting proposals for digitization.

Picture 1 shows a drawing of a biplane, below the plane is written the aeroplane of brothers W. and O. Wright picture 2 shows a man flying and holding framed cloths his hands; below the picture is written the Frenchman P. Besnier descends with a parachute device to the ground.

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On the World Bee Day

On the World Bee Day, the Library has digitized - as part of the EODOPEN project - the translation of the book The Life of the Bee written by Maurice Maeterlinck (1901). In 1929, it was edited and translated into Slovenian by Josip Wester. The work represents the life cycle of bees, “from the first trip in early Spring to their last jobs in late Autumn, when the bee family gathers on the honeycomb and indulges in a winter nap” (page VIII).

The Library sincerely thanks the heiress for the permission to digitize the publication and to make it available on web. The work is accessible on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization. Fill-in the form for submitting proposals for digitization.

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Access to De Gruyter e-books

The Library acquired access to the De Gruyter eBooks collection (EBA - All eBooks Collection).

De Gruyter eBooks (EBA - All eBooks Collection) is a collection of more than 100,000 scientific and professional books published by more than 40 esteemed publishers (e.g. New York University Press, De Gruyter, Harvard University Press).

The books deal with topics of social sciences and humanities, as well as natural sciences, technology and medicine. Most books are in English or German.

The Collection can be accessed via the De Gruyter Online portal from 17 May 2021 to 16 May 2022.

The access is offered from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library, the National Institute of Biology and the National and University Library; remote access is available to students and employees of the University of Ljubljana, of the National Institute of Biology and to all NUK members.

Experience of reading e-books - survey findings

Desiring to increase the volume of digitally available material and to reach many, especially young, blind and visually impaired, the National and University Library (NUK) is honoured to participate in the four-year European project EODOPEN - E-books on demand. It is co-funded by the European Commission under the Creative Europe program.

In 2020, the National and University Library conducted two surveys among the users of e-books of all fifteen EODOPEN project partners. The aim of the first survey was to gain insight into users' experience of reading e-books on mobile devices. With the aim of better understanding special needs, the second survey was conducted among blind and visually impaired e-book users. Brief summaries of key results can be viewed on the NUK website.

The results of both researches will be used for further work of the project working group Delivery forms of digitized material for special purposes, which operates in NUK.

For additional information, please contact Tina Glavič and Andreja Hari.

Research findings on reading e-books are on the EODOPEN website.

Opening hours of the Library in the next days

Opening hours from April 24 to May 1, 2021

Saturday April 24, 2021	regular opening hours	9am–2pm
Monday April 26, 2021	Saturday timetable for users	9am–2pm
Tuesday April 27, 2021	Day of Uprising Against the Occupation	closed
Wednesday April 28, 2021	regular opening hours	9am–6pm Main Reading Room: 8am–8pm
Thursday April 29 ,2021	regular opening hours	9am–6pm Main Reading Room: 8am–8pm
Friday April 30, 2021	regular opening hours	9am–6pm Main Reading Room: 8am–8pm
Saturday May 1, 2021	Labour Day	closed

From Wednesday, April 28 2021, the use of NUK reading rooms is possible again

Test Access to Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials PLUS

The Library obtained a test access to Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials PLUS.

The Atla Religion Database (ATLA RDB) with AtlaSerials PLUS (ATLAS PLUS) combines citation indexes for journal articles, book reviews and collections of essays from all fields of religion, and the collection of the ATLA Association religious and theological journals.

The ATLA Religion Database is a reference electronic resource containing citation indexes for:

more than 620,000 articles from more than 1,746 journals (575 currently indexed);
more than 250,000 essays from more than 18,000 multi-author works;
more than 570,000 citations from book reviews.

The ATLASerials PLUS is a collection of more than 560 journals in the field of religion and theology. Full texts of articles in over 20 languages from more than 35 countries are available.

Test access is available from 21 April to 23 May 2021 for students and employees of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library (CTK), the National and University Library (NUK) - at locations of libraries and via remote access, and to all members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, CTK and NUK.

Test Access to Numérique Premium

In cooperation with the Central Humanities Library of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, the Library obtained test access to the electronic resource Numérique Premium.

It is a collection of e-books in the fields of humanities, social sciences, law and political science. It comprises more than 3,800 books in French, published by 50 publishers.

Test access is available from 20 April to 19 May 2021 (at the Library locations and via remote access) for students and employees of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library (CTK), the National Institute of Biology (NIB), the National and University Library (NUK), and to all members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, CTK, NIB and NUK.

Publication Gostilne v stari Ljubljani (Inns in old Ljubljana) digitized within the EODOPEN project

As part of the Eodopen project, the Library has digitized the publication Gostilne v stari Ljubljani (Inns in Old Ljubljana), published in 1926. With an overview of inns, the publication illustrates a historical insight into the events of the epoch, by portraying traditions and people who marked different periods of time. The first inn with a Slovenian name in Ljubljana is presented, the person who was the first to introduce electric lighting in a Ljubljana inn, and some events that influenced Prešeren's life and his inspiration for writing.

The publication is accessible via the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia, and it is also adapted to the ePUB format.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization.

Online Workshop on publishing in Academic Journals (Taylor & Francis)

In collaboration with the Taylor & Francis publisher, the COSEC consortium presents an online workshop on publishing in academic journals, entitled Publishing and Academic Journals. Publishing of professional and scientific articles is an integral part of a research process that academics must accomplish at least once in their professional career. Researchers must also adapt to the ever-changing publishing situation.

The workshop will present the publishing process and guidelines that are key factors for success in publishing. To this end, a basic overview of the current situation in academic publishing will be presented, with a special emphasis on open access. Examples will be used to present topics on which participants will be able to ask questions:

overview of the publishing situation,
evaluation of journals: what is important in choosing a journal,
advantages and challenges of open access,
open access at Taylor & Francis Publishing,
preparation of the manuscript,
research and publishing ethics: a review of publishing ethics,
principles of the peer-review process: presentation and recommendations on how to respond to reviewers' comments,
common reasons for rejecting articles and how to avoid them.

The workshop is aimed primarily at researchers who are at the beginning of their career, and their publishing experience is limited. The workshop will be held in English on Thursday 22 April 2021 from 14.00 to 15.30. Registration is required to participate.

New image of the Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Encyclopaedia Britannica is an exceptional resource which offers the complete printed edition online.

More than 108,000 articles with supplementary pictorial material and many accompanying search tools are available through remote access to students and employees of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library of the University of Ljubljana, the National Institute of Biology and to all members of the UL libraries, the Central Technical Library of the University of Ljubljana, the National Institute of Biology and to all NUK members.

Recently, the Encyclopaedia has been given a new look, offering an improved user experience: a video guide and a brochure with introductory information for more efficient search are also available to users. Special attention is paid to students, and online trainings are offered, too.

Professor Pavel Zdovc received Trubar award in Vienna

Ms Ksenija Škrilec, the Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia in Vienna, handed over the Trubar Award to Brigitte Zdovc, the niece of Professor Pavle Zdovc, the Trubar laureate. Due to the current epidemiological situation, Professor Zdovc was not present to accept the Trubar Award himself. The award ceremony at the embassy was attended by the embassy staff and Dr Elizabeth Jenko, professor of Slovenian studies at the University of Vienna.

One of the most important missions of the National and University Library is caring for the material that represent Slovenia's written cultural heritage; that is why the Library has been conferring the Trubar Award for many years. We would like to thank the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Vienna for supporting the award ceremony.

The Library congratulates Professor Zdovc once more, and pays tribute to his work by stressing the words of the award committee “With his modesty and dedication, Dr Zdovc made a decisive contribution to a constant development of the Slovenian studies at the University of Vienna in the 20th century, thus we can write down that what was Miklošič to Slavic studies, Zdovc is to modern Slovenian studies in Vienna."

The photos from the award ceremony were taken by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Vienna

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Serendipity Searcher continues in Dresden

The National and University Library is proud of its participation in the oldest European Biennial of Design two years ago. As part of the 26th Biennial of Design in Ljubljana, BIO 26| Common Knowledge, the Library employees had the opportunity to work in a creative and innovative way with groups of designers from all over the world. As a partner and mentor, the Library was one of the six institutions ranked by BIO 26 as the common knowledge leaders. It was interesting to see the revival of the Library which became a place of meetings and social contacts, and to observe how participants used digital technologies to enrich the experience of visiting the library, and their searching for information.

This is how the Serendipity Searcher was created. The goal of the project was to find a way to present library’s treasures in a different way, with a combination of spatial installation, machine learning and human experience. The prototype of the Serendipity Searcher was created in less than six months; based on the algorithm, it recommends random materials to a user, and interactively includes a searcher to explore.

As the installation was available to NUK visitors for viewing and testing between 14 November 2019 and 9 February 2020 in the hall in front of the Main Reading Room, the project was introduced to many Library visitors; during guided tours members of the group were also present, thus the insight into the process of making and designing the Searcher was offered. It was the only Biennale project also presented at the Milan Design Week, at the Ars Electronica, the last 19th Dutch Design Week, and in Dresden Kunstgewerbemuseum where the project will continue to live on within the framework of the Design Lab.

We will follow with interest news on the Serendipity Searcher’s journey through different countries, projects and presentations – also because the NUK employees participated in the project as mentors from its very beginning.

More information about the Random Searcher and its team is available at web site designcampus.org

On the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Pavla Gruden

Pavla Gruden, who would turn 100 this year, was among the many Slovenian expatriates who found their new homeland on the remote continent under the southern cross. She was born in Ljubljana, on February 14, 1921. At the age of twenty-four, she went to Australia where she soon became one of the main creators of cultural life due to her relentless work and stunning appearance.

She published her first poems in the 1950s in the Australian Slovenian magazine Misli (Thoughts). Pavla Gruden was one of the three editors of the emigrant newspaper The Australian Slovenian, published by the Slovene Association Sydney, and also among the co-founders of the Slovenian-Australian Literary and Artistic Circle (SALUK). On her initiative, the magazine Svobodni razgovori (Free Dialogues) was published, which was a kind of the Australian response to the events in Slovenia. In many other publications, she has also published poems and prose, as well as journalistic articles.

In 1994, her first collection of poems, Snubljenje duha (Courtship of Spirit), was published in Slovenia; considered by many, it is one of the finest collections of haiku poetry in Slovenian. In her work Ljubezen pod džakarando (Love under the Jakaranda) from 2002, she presents her life and poetic journey to a distant continent, and her development into a critical observer of the world, social turmoil and injustices.

You are invited to read newspapers and collections on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia, and to visit the website of NUK Collection of Library Material of Slovenes Abroad.

Instructions for amateur photographers form 1926 digitized within the EODOPEN project

Mobile devices and related accessories are results of the rapid development of new technologies enabling near-instant capture of high-quality images. The publication Navodila za fotografe - amaterje: nauk o fotografiranju s praktičnimi nasveti in slikami (Guidelines for Amateur Photographers: The Doctrine of Photography with Practical Tips and Images) published in 1926, digitized within the Eodopen project, reminds us of the time when capturing and developing images were very different from what we know today.

The publication recalling the past is available on the dLib.si portal.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization.

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Test Access to Project MUSE Premium

In cooperation with the Central Humanities Library, the National and University Library obtained test access to the electronic resource Project MUSE Premium. It is a collection of professional and scientific journals in the field of humanities and social sciences. Texts from more than 700 newspapers published by 125 publishers are fully accessible.

Test access is available until May 5, 2021 (in libraries and via remote access) to students and employees of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library (CTK), the National Institute of Biology (NIB) and the National and University Library (NUK), and all members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, CTK, NIB and NUK.

Test access to Central & Eastern European Academic Source

The library has acquired the test access to the Central & Eastern European Academic Source (CEEAS). The resource will be available until April 15.

The collection includes full texts of more than 2,000 publications. Most of them are scientific articles in the fields of economics, education, humanities, history, international relations, law, literature, medicine, politics, social sciences, natural sciences and technology.

Access is provided from the sites of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library of the Ljubljana University and the National and University Library; via remote access, it is available to all members of the libraries of the University of Ljubljana, of the Central Technical Library and the National and University Library.

Dissertation of Melita Pivec Stele on dlib.si, also by means of the EODOPEN project

Within the Eodopen project, the library digitized the doctoral dissertation La vie économique des Provinces Illyriennes: (1809-1813): suivi d'une bibliographie critique, by Melita Pivec Stele. She was a historian and the first Slovenian woman with two doctor's degrees. She worked as librarian at the then State Study Library, the predecessor of the National and University Library. The library thanks her heirs for transferring copyrights of her work for digitization and free publication on the dLib.si portal.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization.

dekorativna slika slika prikazuje portret Melite Pivec Stele s profila, ki v naročju drži hčerko Melite

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New Material in Library Collections in 2020

The NUK library collection has the status of a cultural monument, which is why acquirements augmenting its collections are of a particular importance. These include legacies that are important witnesses of artistic or scientific process, as well as other printed and manuscript material related to the cultural and scientific heritage of the Slovenian nation. They all offer new and excellent opportunities for the study and research of a particular author, contents of his/her achievements or the period of working; at the same time, their works essentially complement the collection of the National and University Library. The NUK collection is the fundamental collection of the Slovenian nation written heritage; it holds about 2.8 million units of library material.

You are invited to visit the website presenting the most important new material enriching the NUK library collection in 2020.

Oton Župančič on dLib.si as a result of EODOPEN project

As part of the EODOPEN project, some fundamental works by Oton Župančič have been added on the dlib.si portal - poems Čaša opojnosti, Čez plan, Samogovori, V zarje Vidove, Zimzelen pod snegom and his drama Veronika Deseniška. The author's personal notes are preserved in the publication Samogovori, and on the title page of Veronika Deseniška, the author's dedication to Karel Dobida is preserved.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization.

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Studies for determination appropriate techniques for protection and safeguard of library material

The UNCERTIR postdoctoral project of Dr Floriane Coppola (University of Bologna) was successful in the EU Marie Skłodowska Curie tender. The topic of her project will review the library materials by using non-destructive infrared spectroscopy analytical techniques. The results of the measurements will be used to determine appropriate procedures for protection and preservation of the library material. Research will be conducted at the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology (University of Ljubljana), in connection with the national hub of the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science. Dr Coppola will date archival material of the National and University Library by using non-destructive analytical techniques. The mentor of the project is Professor Dr Matija Strlič, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Ljubljana.

Dr Jasna Malešič from the National and University Library, and dr. Manfred Anders from the ZFB GmbH (Leipzig) company are also participating in the project.

More information is available on the web HSSL

dr. Floriana Coppola from the University of Bologna

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NUK e-Reading Room

On the initiative of its users, the Library is opening doors of the e-reading room. Join your studying fellow sufferers and raise your motivation to study! The e-reading room is open from 8 am to 8 pm during the week, on Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm, it is closed on Sundays. To enter the ZOOM e-reading room, write to citalnica@nuk.uni-lj.si To enable a quiet reading room, your microphones will be turned off when you log into the e-reading room.

ARMA - the Art of Reading in the Midlle Ages

In October 2020, the ARMA project was launched. In addition to the National and University Library -coordinator of the project, seven European heritage institutions from the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, France, Germany and the Czech Republic are participating in the project. A few days ago, a joint website was created, gathering all information about the project and the most important links.The first document of the Milestone 01: Selection and Digitisation Plan - the results of the project’s first activity, taking place between 1 October 2020 and 31 January 2021, and content selection and digitization plan, are published on the website.

The ARMA project - The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages, will run until May 2022 and will focus on the development of medieval reading culture, and its importance for the development of the European culture. The National and University Library is pleased to participate in the project: with modern technologies, knowledge and cooperation with various European institutions in the field of cultural heritage, the project will search innovative and useful solutions to increase access to valuable library material, which is usually carefully kept in libraries’ collections. Digitization will increase the availability of material that will be enriched by experience of users, it will be supplied by data in the digital library, and will enable creation of diverse learning resources and interesting online exhibitions. We will seek new opportunities to connect experts, create good practices and expand the Europeana joint project.

The main aims of the project are:

Greater accessibility to material: 20,000 digital objects (medieval manuscripts, early prints, etc.) of material created between 500 and 1550 will be available through the Europeana portal;
Promoting inclusion: encouraging colleagues who take care of medieval material to include it in learning activities at the Europeana;
Linking innovation in the field of cultural heritage and innovation in the digital learning environment, and
Strengthening the capacity of heritage institutions to better understand the significance of books and reading in the Middle Ages. These activities include the 3D digitization of medieval manuscripts, the enriched access and use of the resources, the use of common digital infrastructure facilities, and the development of digital learning tools for understanding medieval collections.

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Photographic Archive of the Daily Jutro

After conservation/restoration treatments and digitization of the archive of photographic negatives of the daily Jutro, kept in the National and University Library, the identification of 2203 silver gelatin negatives on glass plates and 35 nitrocellulose negatives started last year.

After digitization, the negatives have been safely stored in archival envelopes and protective boxes that are kept in the appropriate climatic conditions of the depot. The library restricted handling with the material, but enabled unlimited research and identification, and gradual publication of negatives with relevant data on the Digital Library of Slovenia. Through photographic lens, the access to insight of high-profile and great stories of that time, is now available. You can also follow reports from sports events, recordings of trivial moments and portraits of unknown inhabitants of our country, as well as other documentary images that complement and enrich the words written in the newspaper Jutro.

We invite you to explore the first set of published negatives created in 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1931, or to browse the newspaper Jutro in which the negatives were published.

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Schönleben’s Manuscript in NUK

In November 2020, the library supported by the Ministry of Culture, obtained one of the most interesting manuscripts written by a theologian and historian Janez Ludvik Schönleben (1618–1681).

It is a compilation of texts entitled Varia statum politicum, judicialem, et oeconomicum Carnioliae concernentia ("Various political, judicial and economic affairs of the Land of Carniola"). In addition to legal texts, the compilation comprises a polemical version of the Lord's Prayer against the Swedish King, a report on the Ljubljana Capuchin Passion Procession on Good Friday, dated June 1, 1681, a recipe for aloe vera pills and a waist-high portrait of Emperor Leopold I.

Although the Manuscript does not comprise Schönlebn’s original work, it was ordered by him and includes his handwritten commentaries and notes.,According to the greatest Slovenian expert of Janez Ludvik Schönleben life and work, Dr Monika Deželak Trojar, from the Institute of Slovenian Literature and Literary Studies (Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts), Schönleben collected the texts for the planned second book of Carniolia antiqua et nova, in which he intended to describe the history of Carniola from 1000 to his time, or until 1660. That is why the manuscript will be of the utmost interest to researchers of the Slovenian legal and cultural history.

Eighteen of Schönleben's works are kept in the National and University Library. Most of his oeuvres from the NUK collection and from the City Library of Ljubljana are also available on the portal of the Digital Library of Slovenia.

EODOPEN Project in 2020

The National and University Library is pleased to participate in a four-year European project EODOPEN - eBooks-On-Demand-Network Opening Publications for European Netizens. Its objective is to increase the amount of digitally accessible material and to reach various groups of users, especially young, blind and partially sighted. The project is co-financed by the European Commission under the Creative Europe program. The team-mates on the project prepared an overview of the most important results of the project in 2020:

83 publications of the 20th and 21st centuries digitized, suggestions were provided by users and colleagues;
43 digitization proposals. Online form for digitization of works of the 20th and 21st centuries was set up;
2 copyright agreements for digitization and publication on the dLib.si portal were obtained and
73 promotional activities, informing about project activities through social networks, websites, news in media and project presentations to interested public.

Anyone can participate in the project! Take part in selecting material for digitization.

Dr Pavel Zdovc and Dr Michael Biggins received the “Trubar Award “

Caring for the written cultural heritage of the Slovenian Nation, which guarantees the accessibility of materials for study and research that promote the scientific, cultural and artistic production of tomorrow, is among the main tasks of the National and University Library.

We are very pleased that we are not alone in preserving the written cultural heritage of the Slovenian nation. We are grateful to all individuals and organizations who help us collect, preserve and promote material. Therefore, since 2008 Trubar Prize has been awarded for important contributions to the preservation of the national written cultural heritage.The award is in the form of a diploma, and can only be received once. It is awarded by a special commission, which collects initiatives on the basis of a public tender. Members of the Commission decided to bestow the 2020 Trubar Award to Professor Dr Pavel Zdovc and Professor Dr Michael Biggins.

As it is stated in the explanation “Dr Zdovc with his modesty and dedication, made a decisive contribution to a constant development of the Slovenian studies at the University of Vienna in the 20th century, thus we can write down that what was Miklošič to Slavic studies, Zdovc is to modern Slovenian studies in Vienna. His scientific work is an exceptionally valuable contribution to the placement of culturally important documents in space and time. "

Professor Dr Michael Biggins stressed that “although Slovenia is a small country, but its literature is significant”. According to the explanation of the award, “it is due to of such personalities, that Slovenian culture can realize Trubar's vision “to be and to remain.” Professor Biggins, who internalised Slovenian language as his intimate or artistic language, is awarded the Trubar Award for his outstanding merits and lifelong preservation, translation and promotion of Slovenian written cultural heritage at the highest level in the international arena.”

We would like to thank Trubar Award laureates for 2020 for their great contribution to the preservation of the national written cultural heritage.

We sincerely congratulate them!

The peculiar thing about dreams is they sometimes come true

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the plebiscite for the independent and sovereign Slovenia, we have prepared an online exhibition reviewing Slovenian independence idea.

The exhibition subtitled An Overview of Slovenian Independence Idea offers the inside to almost 150 years of our history. It takes us from the first noticeably expressed idea of independence during the spring of nations in 1848, through the first clearly written thought about independent Slovenia in 1941, and the development of independence idea among Slovenian emigrants, to the eighties of the last century, when the idea of independence gained its wings in Slovenia. It led to a series of events that thirty years ago resulted in the plebiscite of December 23, 1990. By a large majority, we endorsed the legitimacy of Slovenia's millennial dreams. Six months later, on June 25, 1991, the independent Slovenia was born. The sentence “The peculiar thing about dreams is they sometimes come true” said by Professor Oton Muhr in the 1950s, voices his unconditional belief in his dreams. It also reflects views of many individuals and groups who were thinking about, and acted towards an independent Slovenia.

The exhibition presents the memory of our independence aspirations and activities, which are part of the rich written cultural heritage and the memory of our nation. We are joining the celebrations on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the plebiscite for an independent Slovenia wishing the exhibition to enrich the memory of one of the most important historical decisions of our nation.

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Test Access to Oxford Handbooks Online

In cooperation with the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana, the library obtained test access to Oxford Handbooks Online.

Oxford Handbooks Online is a collection of manuals or textbooks. It is one of the most prestigious and successful strands of Oxford’s scholarly publishing. The collection contains high-level articles by the best scientists and experts of their fields.

The manuals cover various topics:

neuroscience
archaeology
classical studies
criminology
economics
history
law
linguistics
literature
music
philosophy
science
political science
psychology
religion
sociology

Oxford Handbooks Online is guided by a world-class Editorial Board that brings together the world’s leading scholars. Each Handbook offers thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of knowledge, creating an original conception of the field and setting the agenda for new research.

Test access is offered until 15 January 2021. Remote access is available to students and employees of the Ljubljana University, to personnel and members of the Central Technical Library, the National Institute of Biology and the National and University Library.

Test Access to Statista Electronic Resource

In cooperation with the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, the library obtained the test access to the Statista Electronic Resource.

Statista is one of the largest statistical and marketing platforms, providing access to more than 1.5 million statistics, forecasts, dossiers, reports and infographics. It covers over 80,000 different topics from more than 22,500 resources, covering over 170 industries and more than 150 countries.

On the platform you can search data on the music industry, the level of poverty in the world, on arms control, reports from different fields in particular countries and cities, consumer habits, statistics on library activity, and many other interesting statistics and reports.

Amongst others, the collection, offers several practical tools - graphic displays can be exported in png, pdf, xls and ppt formats.

Test access is offered until 31 January 2021. Remote access is available to students and employees of the Ljubljana University, and personnel of the Central Technical Library, the National Institute of Biology and the National and University Library.

Test Access to Bloomsbury International Encyclopedia of Surrealism

In cooperation with the Library of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, we obtained the test access to electronic resource Bloomsbury International Encyclopedia of Surrealism. It is the electronic version of the printed encyclopaedia of surrealism in three volumes. It provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of one of the most influential art movements - from its foundation, it has influenced all art forms from painting, architecture, film, literature, music, theatre, fashion and design. Topics can be searched or reviewed according to art styles, fields, places and artists. Available is also rich image material, as well as a timeline and a map of the world to view to which countries the contributions in the encyclopaedia are referring.

Test access is available until 31 December 2020. Remote access is provided to students and employees of the Ljubljana University, the Central Technical Library, the National Institute of Biology and NUK, as well as to members of the National and University Library.

Bulletin Kaljenje on dLib.si

Within the EODOPEN project, the library obtained authorization from the Association of Centres for Social Work of Slovenia to digitize and publish the association’s current serial publications. The agreement also refers to digitization of all thirteen issues of the bulletin, and a free access to editions that can no longer be purchased. By using dedicated computers in the library, the editions that can be bought are accessible on the dLib portal.

You are invited to participate in the selection of materials for digitization. You can submit your proposal on the website https://www.nuk.uni-lj.si/storitve/eodopen

The library takes part in the EODOPEN project with the aim of increasing the amount of digitally accessible material. The project is co-financed by the European Commission under the Creative Europe Program.

Test Access to Building Types Online

The database Building Types Online is a resource to study and implement architectural design. It is based on a high international reputation of the Birkhäuser publishing house, its professional architecture books, on the knowledge of their authors and editors who are leading experts in their fields, as well as on the technical quality of the illustrations. The database offers a very flexible and detailed search and browsing of the content. All topics were written and selected by internationally renowned authors in architectural design.

The electronic resource is available until December 24, 2020. Remote access is provided to students and employees of the Ljubljana University, the Central Technical Library, the National Institute of Biology and NUK, as well as to members of the National and University Library.

Fifteen Years of the Digital Library of Slovenia

On November 29, 2020, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Digital Library of Slovenia. We are proud that the website www.dlib.si has become a crucial source for accessing the richness of Slovenia's written cultural heritage and modern professional and scientific contents in digital form.

The National and University Library is responsible for maintenance and development as well as for most of the material available on the Digital Library of Slovenia portal; however, it is the result of an excellent cooperation as the portal is co-created by numerous partners, in particular Slovenian libraries and other heritage institutions, as well as publishers, authors and the Slovenian Research Agency – they all are providing digitally born contents. The anniversary is therefore also a celebration of cooperation, and the opportunity to warmly thank all partners.

There are currently 902,745 units (and an even higher number of digital objects) available on the portal, the majority of them are texts (869,245) and pictorial material (28,457). Around 14,500 digitized books and many non-book materials (photographs, postcards, sheet music, maps) are also available. At the annual level, the dLib.si is enriched with around 50,000 new units. The statistics of visits to the website has been growing promisingly over the years, showing that the method enabling users to access information and materials remotely is an important paradigm of modern education, research and leisure. In 2020, we have recorded more than 4,300,000 accesses to the content on the portal.

As a result of diverse requirements and aspirations to explore our cultural and scientific heritage, the Digital Library of Slovenia will continue to provide access to various digital contents in the field of science, art and culture. dLib.si will remain an online information resource, which is a crucial aspect of the modern educational and scientific research infrastructure. We will continue to enable the permanent preservation of Slovenia's written cultural heritage in digital form, thus ensuring accessibility of material to future generations.

Nowadays, like fifteen years ago, you are invited to research the Digital Library of Slovenia.

Test access to Neues System der philosophischen Wissenschaften im Grundriss Online

In cooperation with the Central Humanities Library (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana), we obtained a test access to the Neues System der philosophischen Wissenschaften im Grundriss Online (Brill).

The Neues System der philosophischen Wissenschaften im Grundriss Online is a collection of Dirk Hartmann's philosophical works. The title alludes to Hegel 's remarkable work Neue Enzyclopädie der filozophischen Wissenschaften im Grundrisse from 1817. Since then, there has been no philosopher who would try to comprehensively describe the main philosophical problems and their systematic interrelationships. Two hundred years after Hegel's Encyclopedia, Dirk Hartmann tackled the challenge, and attempted to make a systematic and coherent study of the contemporary philosophy. He tried to give a greater meaning, and to some extent also eliminate increased fragmentation and specialization that philosophy and science experienced in the 20th century.

The electronic resource is available until 11 December 2020.

Remote access is available to students and employees of the University of Ljubljana and of the Central Technical Library, the National Institute of Biology and members of the National and University Library.

Free delivery by email

The decree on temporary partial restriction of free movement of people, and the restriction of gathering to prevent the spread of infections and to control the COVID-19 epidemic, for the time being restricts the passage between municipalities. Thus, many users of the National and University Library are prevented from taking the library materials in person. Therefore, we have set up a remote, by poste, borrowing system; we will send you delivery free of charge ordered material to your address by post.

Free sending of ordered material by post is in force until the release of the Government measures that restrict movement between regions or municipalities.

For more information, please contact izposoja@nuk.uni-lj.si , or call the telephone number 01/2001 205.

3rd meeting of the EODOPEN project, 5 and 6 November 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the third meeting of the EODOPEN project has relocated to the online environment. From their homes or libraries, the meeting was attended by some 50 representatives of 15 project partners from 11 countries; representatives of the EOD network also joined the meeting. On November 5 and 6, the project partners followed presentations of each of the working group, and actively participated in planning of new project’s activities.

At the start, changes and adaptations required by the COVID-19 pandemic were reviewed; it was followed by a workshop on copyright clarification. Participants of the workshop, which took place in the web application Miro, tried to gather experience and good practices in finding copyright holders, and obtaining permission to digitize material, and its use. The results of the workshop will be used in designing tools for documenting copyright acquisition procedures.

At the second day meeting, the working Delivery Formats Group of Digitized Material for Users with Special Needs (led by the National and University Library) presented an analysis of the survey’s results conducted among e-book users, blind and visually impaired e-book users. The research represents one of the starting points for drawing up guidelines and recommendations for delivery forms of digitized material for specific purposes. The meeting continued with a review of the project's promotional activities. The approaches that successfully addressed the project’s target groups were highlighted. At the end of the meeting, the participants focused on technical aspects of setting up a portal which would offer access to digitized works of the 20th and 21st centuries.

EODOPEN, or eBooks-On-Demand-Network Opening Publications for European Netizens, is a four-year project co-financed by the European Commission under the Creative Europe program. Its aim is to work directly with national, regional and local communities in the selection of the 20th and 21st century material for digitization. The partner countries of the project are Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. The total value of the project is about 4 million euros.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia handed over a copy of the Dalmatian Bible to the National and University Library

At the initiative of Janez Janša, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, a copy of the Bible (full title - Biblia, tu ie, vse Svetu pismu, Stariga inu Noviga testamenta), was handed over to the National and University Library for safekeeping; In 1584, the Bible was translated and published by Jurij Dalmatin. The handing over of the Bible took place on Wednesday, 28 October 2020. We would like to thank the Government for its confidence. The copy has been placed among the library’s collection of the Protestant prints, which includes some of the greatest valuables of our library.

According to the existing sources, the copy was originally owned by Baron Adam Egkh from the Brdo Castle near Kranj, now a protocol building. In the past, it changed many owners, among whom were also the Zois Barons. This copy of The Bible has presumably been kept in the castle since its publication in 1584. It was received as a gift for supporting Protestant provincial estates by Adam Egkh, the grandson of Baron Janez Jožef Egkh, a Primož Trubar’s friend, and a member of the commission that reviewed Trubar’s works in order to determine whether they were compliant with the Augsburg Confession and suitably translated into Slovenian.

The National and University Library keeps a number of copies of Dalmatin’s Bible from 1584. Some of the prominent former owners and annotators include Jurij Rain from the Strmol Castle, Doroteja Bohorič, Maksimilijan Leopold Rasp, Žiga Zois, Jernej Kopitar, Ivan Vrhovnik and Tomo Zupan. Rain’s copy also includes Dalmatin’s personal inscription.

The copy from Brdo has been excellently preserved. It is bound in alum skin. On the front cover, it has a debossed portrait of Martin Luther and a portrait of the Lutheran reformer Philip Melanchthon on the back cover.

Test Access to Index Buddhicus Online

In cooperation with the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, the library obtained test access to the electronic source Index Buddhicus Online. The Index Buddhicus Online of the Brill international scholarly publisher is a classified comprehensive bibliography of Buddhist Studies; it is aimed at finding information on articles in journals, proceedings, reference resources, books, doctoral theses etc.

Test access is available until 25 November 2020 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana (UL), the Central Technical Library (CTK), the NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGY (NIB) and the National and University Library (NUK). Remote access is available to students and employees of the UL, the CTK, the NIB and the NUK, and members of NUK.

Cooperation agreement with the Cleveland Public Library

Mr. Viljem Leban, Director of NUK, participated in the web conference of Cleveland's sister cities, together with representatives of the city of Cleveland, it’s the most important institutions, and guests from various countries, including Ljubljana, which is also one of Cleveland's sister cities. The conference addressed a variety of topics, from urban development policy, society, sustainable energy, mobility, education, economy and culture. Attention was also paid to good practices in addressing the challenges posed by the global Covid pandemic 19. During the conference, Director Viljem Leban presented the National and University Library, and signed a cooperation agreement with Mr. Felton Thomas Jr., Executive Director of the Cleveland Public Library.

The agreement on mutual cooperation between the Cleveland Public Library and the National and University Library aims to strengthen the missions of both institutions through reciprocal collaboration, partnership projects and service exchange. It provides a basis for joint planning and sponsorship of events, coordination of activities and programs, education and professional exchange of employees and organization of occasional exhibitions in both libraries. The agreement is an important and encouraging gesture emphasizing the significance of global cooperation between libraries at the time of major challenges posed by the information age, especially under the current epidemiological situation.

It is no coincidence that the Slovenian National Library signed the agreement with the Cleveland Library: a hundred years ago, it was considered one of the three cities with the largest Slovenian population (Trieste, Ljubljana, Cleveland). In Ohio, there is a very strong community of Slovenes. The signed agreement between the two libraries will also serve with the thought of the Slovenian communities in the United States, especially in Cleveland.

Audio Books Available to Members of the National and University Library

Members of the National and University Library have access to the Audibook portal, the collection of audio books in Slovenian language. Through application installed on a smartphone, users have access to hundred fiction audio books. Per day, a maximum of five books at a time can be borrowed, each book for a maximum of 14 days. If a user does not give back the material after this time, the return is made automatically.

Test Access to Taylor & Francis Medical Journals

The COSEC consortium acquired a test access to the Medical Library collection of the Taylor & Francis publisher.

Users can now access three extensive publisher's collections:

Science & Technology Library (S&T Library): 535 journals from the field of natural sciences and technology (biology, environment, chemistry, mechanical engineering, computer science, mathematics, statistics and physics);
Social Science & Humanities Library (SSH Library): 1,473 journals dealing with social sciences and humanities (anthropology, archaeology, art, economics, law, education, geography, librarianship, information science, culturology, communication science, social work, political science, international relations, psychology, sociology, tourism, sports, security studies);
Medical Library (MED Library): 201 journals from the field of medicine (public health, clinical psychiatry, neuroscience, general medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, toxicology).

Access provided at least until September 31 2020, will be available from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library (CTK) and of the National and University Library (NUK). Remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana - members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, CTK and NUK.

Test Access to Sources Chrétiennes Online

In cooperation with the Faculty of Theology of the University of Ljubljana, we obtained test access to the Sources Chrétiennes Online.

The series consists of critical editions of Christian texts in Greek and Latin, but also in oriental languages, such as Syriac, Armenian and Georgian, dating from the first 1,400 years of the Church. The texts are accompanied by French translations as well as introductions and footnotes. The aim of the collection has been to make the texts as accessible as possible for reference and (linguistic, historical, philosophical and theological) study; moving the collection to the Sources Chrétiennes Online web format, further increases these possibilities.

Access is available from September 1, 2020 until September 30, 2020 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library and the National and University Library. Remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana - members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, of the Central Technical Library and of the National and University Library.

EODOPEN: 37 Works Digitized

Within the framework of the EODOPEN project, we have digitized the first 37 works; soon, they will be available to the public on the dLib.si portal. It is older material from the 20th century – as it is damaged, it is not suitable for borrowing. We are pleased that very interesting publications - short stories, entertaining stories, teaching materials, adventure publications, lexicons, professional material, instructions, studies, dream books, manners books and books on national costumes - will be preserved in digital form.

Help selecting material for digitization on: https://www.nuk.uni-lj.si/storitve/eodopen

The Library is participating in the EODOPEN project to increase the volume of digitally accessible material. The project is co-financed by the European Commission within the framework of the Creative Europe program.

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New Book on Slovenian Cartographic Heritage

The newly published bilingual Slovenian-English monograph Cartographic Treasures of the Slovenian Territory book represents a wealth of historical cartographic representations of Slovenian territory.

The book presents the history of European cartography until the end of the 19th century and cartographic representations of the Slovenian territory until the early 20th century, and presents maps as cultural heritage. The pictorial part gives a chronological order of important historical maps of the territory. The book format enables an excellent presentation of quality reproductions of maps dating from the middle of the 16th century – when the first individual cartographic works of today's Slovenian territory were created - to the beginning of the 20th century, when cartography developed into a modern science. A list of maps of a described territory is published at the end of the book. The monograph is bilingual, since cartography in the Slovenian territory was part of the wider Central European cartography; thus, it is also interesting for the broader region.

The first e-edition of the book is freely available on the ZRC SAZU website.

Authors of the monographs are Dr. Primož Gašperič (Anton Melik Geographical Institute, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), Dr. Renata Šolar (National and University Library) and Dr. Matija Zorn (Anton Melik Geographical Institute, ZRC SAZU). In October, a selection of valuable maps presented in the book will also be on display at an exhibition at NUK. Both projects are the result of cooperation between two institutions - Anton Melik Geographical Institute of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and the National and University Library.

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Access to Brill Collections

In cooperation with the National and University Library, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Theology, the Faculty of Law and the Student Council of the Faculty of Arts, the COSEC consortium obtained a permanent access to new collections of the Brill Publisher

New Pauly Online is an encyclopaedic academic information resource dealing with the Old Age period. It is supplemented by two additional collections:
- New Pauly Supplements Online I (Chronologies of the Ancient World; Dictionary of Greek and Latin Authors and Texts; Historical Atlas of the Ancient World; The Reception of Myth and Mythology; The Reception of Classical Literature; The History of Classical Scholarship)
- New Paully Supplements Online II (Figures of Antiquity and their Reception in Art, Literature and Music; The Reception of Antiquity in Renaissance Humanism; The Early Mediterranean World, 1200 - 600 BC; History and Culture of Byzantium; Byzanz)
Brill’s Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World Online is a reference resource following history and wide cultural influence of modern Latin, dating from the Italian Renaissance and lasting to the modern times.
The Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics Online offers a comprehensive overview and studies of Slavic languages.

Access is available from locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library and the National and University Library. Remote access is offered to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana, who are members of the University of Ljubljana libraries and of the Central Technical Library, and to all NUK members.

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Extended Access Period to De Gruyter Publisher e-books

The COSEC consortium has extended period of test access to the collection of 75,000 e-book titles of the De Gruyter publisher and its publishing partners. The books covering various fields of humanities and social sciences were published between 1650 and 2016.

Access to the collection is offered through the De Gruyter online portal, where all scientific and professional journals of the publisher are available as well. Remote access is offered until 31 July 2020 for students and staff of the University of Ljubljana, who are members of the University of Ljubljana libraries and of the Central Technical Library (CTK), and for all members of the National and University Library (NUK).

The agreement on open access also gives 30% discount on the cost of publishing articles (APC) of correspondent authors who are students, employees or contractors of the following institutions:

University of Ljubljana (with NUK and CTK)
University of Maribor (with the Universiyt Library of Maribor)
University of Primorska
Intitute for Economic Research
Institute for Ethnic Studies
Educational Research Institute
Institute of Oncology Ljubljana
Institute of Information Science (IZUM)

Details of the agreement can be found at https://mreznik.nuk.uni-lj.si/oa/en/30-discount-on-apcs-at-de-guryter

Access to Extended Set of Contents on JSTOR Prolonged

The Central Technical Library of the University of Ljubljana has prolonged the period of extended access to the JSTOR contents to members of the consortium until 31 August 2020. Users can access all archival and current collections of magazines and about 35,000 books of some publishers. Remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana - members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, of the Central Technical Library and of the National and University Library.

Link to extended set of contents https://www.jstor.org/action/showJournals?browseType=title

Test Access to Drama Online

The Library obtained a test access to the electronic resource Drama Online.

The collection presents contemporary writers and famous names in the history of drama as well. Through scientific works and practical guides, it provides user with a historical context and a critical background, too. The collection is constantly evolving and meets a variety of learning needs: theatre studies, literature courses, drama schools. Access is available until July 10, 2020 from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library and the National and University Library. Remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana - members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, of the Central Technical Library and of the National and University Library.

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Extended test access to electronic resources of the Brill publisher

Currently, users can access to:

Religion Past and Present (RPP) Online is an encyclopaedic resource in the fields of religion, theology and biblical studies.
Brill's Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World Online is a reference source that traces the history and a broader cultural influence of the modern Latin, dating back to the Italian Renaissance and lasting until the modern age.
Jacoby Online combines a collection of fragments of ancient Greek historical texts Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker by Felix Jacoby and Brill's New Jacoby Online, representing the new edition of the Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker.
The New Pauly Online is an English edition of the German historical resource Der Neue Pauly Online, an encyclopedic academic information resource dealing with the period of ancient times (ancient Rome and Greece). The New Pauly Supplements Online are also accessible.
The Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics Online offers a comprehensive overview and studies of Slavic languages.
The Jesuit Historiography Online is an open access resource that offers a number of scholarly essays dealing with the Jesuit history.

In cooperation with the Central Humanities Library (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana) and the COSEC Consortium, the test access is extended until 31 May 2020. Remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana - members of the University of Ljubljana libraries and of the Central Technical Library and to all NUK members.

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Test Access to Oxford Scholarly Editions Online

The COSEC consortium has obtained test access to the Oxford Scholarly Editions Online. It currently includes writers active between 701 and 1901, as well as Classical Latin and Greek authors — Aristotle, Austen, Bentham, Catullus, Dickens, Plato, Virgil, Wordsworth, Aristophanes and others. It contains over 1,500 scholarly editions — the equivalent of more than 754,000 print pages.

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Test Access to three e-resources of the Brill Publisher

Jointly with the Central Humanities Library (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana), we obtained test access to three collections in the fields of humanities and social sciences of the Brill publisher:

Religion Past and Present (RPP) Online is an encyclopaedic resource in the fields of religion, theology and biblical studies.
Brill's Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World Online is a reference source that traces the history and a broader cultural influence of the modern Latin, dating back to the Italian Renaissance and lasting until the modern age.
Jacoby Online combines a collection of fragments of ancient Greek historical texts Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker by Felix Jacoby and Brill's New Jacoby Online, representing the new edition of the Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker.

Electronic resources will be accessible until May 22, 2020. Remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana, who are members of the University of Ljubljana libraries and of the Central Technical Library, and to all NUK members.

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Research on Reading eBooks on Mobile Devices

The National and University Library (NUK) is proud to be participating in the four-year European project EODOPEN - E-Books on Demand that opens access to European web users. Our goal is to increase the volume of digitally accessible material to young, blind and visually impaired users. The project is co-financed by the European Commission under the Creative Europe program.

Within the project, we are conducting two survey researches among users of all fifteen project partners. The first survey aims to reach e-book readers on mobile devices, especially young people, while the second is designed to reach blind and visually impaired e-book readers, also on mobile devices. The research helps to determine the needs for customizing the material in different file formats, offers information on how a structure and characteristics of eBooks affect users' experience and reading practices, and what are applications and devices that blind and visually impaired users need to read e-books. Data collected in the research will be used in the project's further activities, and in making guidelines and recommendations for the creation of accessible digitized material.

Please take about seven minutes to complete the questionnaire (in Slovene language):

The questionnaires are active until May 31, 2020. Should you need assistance in filling in the questions, please e-mail to tina.glavic@nuk.uni-lj.si or andreja.hari@nuk.uni-lj.si.

During the lifetime of the project, we also collect proposals for digitization of the NUK collections’ material. Proposals can be submitted via the form on EODOPEN website (in Slovene).

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Test Access to Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO)

The COSEC consortium has obtained test access to the Academic Search Ultimate (the EBSCO provider).

The Academic Search Ultimate offers a collection of peer-reviewed journals with full texts, including many journals indexed in major citation indices. Scientific journals, popular magazines, periodicals, reports, books and videos are intended for professionals in many branches of knowledge - astronomy, anthropology, biomedicine, engineering, health sciences, law, literature, mathematics, pharmacology, women's studies, zoology and other fields.

Remote access is available until June 16, 2020 to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana, members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, of the National and University Library and the Central Technical Library.

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Test Access to De Gruyter E-Books

The COSEC consortium has acquired test access to 75,000 e-book titles of the De Gruyter publisher and its affiliate publishers. The book collection published from the years 1650 to 2016, covers various fields of the humanities and social sciences.

The collection can be accessed through the De Gruyter Online portal.

Until June 30, 2020, remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana who are members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, of the Central Technical Library as well as to all members of the National and University Library.

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Test Access to SAGE online resources, renewed testing of New Pauly Supplements Online and Access to Cambridge Core

Due to the coronavirus epidemic, some providers and publishers of electronic information resources have expanded their content, or provided wider access to existing ones. In co-operation with the Central Technical Library of the University of Ljubljana, we have provided access to the Cambridge Core electronic resource of the Cambridge University Press. The collection will be accessible until May 31, 2020.

At the University of Ljubljana, we have extended the test access to supplements of the New Pauly Online, encyclopaedic source relating to ancient world. It consists of:

New Paully Supplements Online I:

Chronologies of the Ancient World
Dictionary of Greek and Latin Authors and Texts
Historical Atlas of the Ancient World
The Reception of Myth and Mythology
The Reception of Classical Literature
The History of Classical Scholarship

New Paully Supplements Online II:

Figures of Antiquity and their Reception in Art, Literature and Music
The Reception of Antiquity in Renaissance Humanism
The Early Mediterranean World, 1200 - 600 BC
History and Culture of Byzantium

Test access, extended until May 10, 2020, is enabled in cooperation with the Central Humanities Library (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana) and the COSEC Consortium. Remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana, who are members of the University of Ljubljana and of the CTK library, and for all NUK members.

The COSEC consortium also obtained test access to two resources of the SAGE publisher

SAGE Knowledge is a comprehensive electronic resource that includes segments of SAGE Books, SAGE Reference, SAGE Navigator, SAGE Video, SAGE Business Cases and CQ Press. The collection covers various fields of social sciences, including e-books, review and reference works and videos. More than 10,000 units of material can be searched through.
SAGE Research Methods Video includes videos on the topic of a research process. Nearly 500 recordings are available for a total of 125 hours. Digital content is meant for study and exploration purposes. Guides are offered to users to facilitate their work with e-resources.

Electronic resources are available to all members of the SAGE consortium by 7 July 2020, i.e. subscribers to SAGE Journals Online (SAGE Premier). Remote access is available to students, graduates, full-time or part-time employees, contractors and retired persons of the following institutions:

University of Ljubljana (also National and University Library, Central Technical Library)
University of Maribor
University of Primorska
Institute for Ethnic Studies
Institute of Oncology
Educational Research Institute
Urban Planning Institute
Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
New University

Expanded content and increased access to electronic resources through remote access

During exceptional measures due to the coronavirus epidemic, some suppliers and publishers of electronic information resources have expanded their range of contents, and enabled a wider access to the existing ones.

The Central Technical Library of the University of Ljubljana has obtained expanded access to contents for all members of the JSTOR consortium. Users can access all archive and current journal collections, as well as about 35,000 books of some publishers. Remote access is enabled to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana who are members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, members of the Central Technical Library and the National and University Library.

The COSEC consortium has revised most of the EBSCO's electronic license agreements, thus a remote access to resources is now available to all members of libraries or institutions. Details are available on the Mrežnik web site.

Between April 6 and June 5, the Elsevier publisher is facilitating access to six additional electronic resources (remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana who are members of the University of Ljubljana libraries, members of the Central Technical Library and the National and University Library.

Cell Press Journals is a collection of 30 scientific journals in the field of biology.
ClinicalKey is a collection of various topics (journals, books, videos) in the field of clinical health and medicine.
Embase is a comprehensive source of medical literature (articles, conference papers).
Funding Institutional is an information source, aimed at finding information about funding scientific researches.
Reaxys is a database in the field of chemistry (e.g. properties of compounds, reactions).
SciVal is an electronic resource for comparing research achievements.

Test Access to Four Bloomsbury Publishers Collections

The Library acquired a test access to four Bloomsbury collections.

Bloomsbury Collections is a collection of more than 6000 books in the field of humanities and social sciences.
Bloomsbury Cultural History is a collection of different contents (paintings, books) meant for studying and exploring the cultural history.
Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies is the electronic source of the Bloomsbury publishers providing systematic and comprehensive coverage of education and childhood studies around the world.
Screen Studies is an electronic resource for film studies.

Remote access is available to students and employees of the University of Ljubljana - members of the University of Ljubljana libraries and of the Central Technical Library (CTK), and to all NUK members.

European Commission Endorsed Nomination of Prešeren's Zdravljica for the European Heritage Label

We are pleased to announce a wonderful news - the European Commission has endorsed the nomination of Prešeren's Zdravljica for the European Heritage Label. Thus, this valuable document has been classified among the most important monuments that bear witness to the history of the European idea and integration. The nomination of the Zdravljica poem was submitted jointly by the Ministry of Culture and the National and University Library, that keeps the poet’s manuscript, and some experts. This is the third entry of the Slovenian heritage on the prestigious European heritage list – in addition to the Javorca Church and the Franja Partisan Hospital.

With its humanistic message, the poem reflects the idea of a united and peaceful Europe. Prešeren's freedom-loving and cosmopolitan verses go beyond time and space boundaries, they are relevant even today. The poem is not only the Slovenian national symbol: it is a direct reflection of the Spring of Nations, the aspiration for a peaceful coexistence of groups and individuals, the fight for freedom of expression and the abolition of censorship. It is the only national anthem to build a community identity on a universal, cosmopolitan experience of coexistence and friendship, thus echoing the message of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, the anthem of the European Union.

Awarding of the European Heritage Label is a recognition to the cultural heritage of the Slovenian nation, and its contribution to the idea of the European integration. The National and University Library, which keeps the poet’s manuscript of the poem, has become the memorial site of Prešeren's Zdravljica. Digitized Zdravljica manuscripts can be seen on the DLib.si website

Open Access to IMF eLibrary

The IMF eLibrary electronic resource has been open to all users since 1 January 2020. The collection contains books, serials and statistics in the field of economics published by the International Monetary Fund.

Test PressReader

From 31 January 2020 to 3 March 2020, test access to the PressReader electronic resource is made available to all members of the University of Ljubljana libraries (including NUK and CTK).

The PressReader Collection offers current issues of more than 7,000 national, regional and local newspapers and journals from Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Latin and North America.

NUK2NOW! - Typographic Visions of Students

As letters are an everyday and natural element of our information society, the importance of their form is often overlooked. A font format complements a text’s content: a format can emphasize and make a content stronger, or it obscures and belittles it. In the age of ever-present screens and messages, choosing the right typography is more important than ever. This especially applies to libraries, as they are institutions whose life, activities and identity are inseparably linked to letters: in a changed information scenery, libraries are required to rethink their mission. At the time of planning programs content for the new NUK2 building, fifteen Slovenian and two visiting students were invited to create their own type of writings for the National and University Library. The project was realized jointly with the Department of Textiles, Graphics and Design (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering) as part of the Creative Typography Subject. Under the mentorship of Nace Pušnik, PhD Assistant Professor, seventeen original typographies were created. They express students' visions of the institution, in which centuries of tradition are intertwined with new information trends. Students also expressed their ideas about what a library is, and what a modern library should look like.

The opening of the NUK2ZDAJ exhibition will be held on Thursday, February 13, 2020, at 6 pm in the Plečnik Hallway.

Exhibition of manuscripts, printed and translated editions of Prešeren's Zdravljica

On Saturday, February 8, 2020, the day of Prešeren’s death and the Slovenian Cultural Holiday, you are invited to the Main Reading Room of the National and University Library to visit the exhibition of selected manuscripts, translations and printed editions of Prešeren's Zdravljica (A Toast).

New Journals of Emerald Publishing

In 2020, the Library obtained access to all journals of the Emerald Premier publisher, thus the access to 309 scientific and professional journals, thus access to additional 112 journals. The journals cover the fields of economics, marketing, logistics, mechanical engineering, education, information sciences, tourism, organizational sciences, healthcare and environmental sciences.

Emerald Premier online is available from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library (CTK) and NUK, and through remote access to students, graduates and staff (including retired professors) of the University of Ljubljana and CTK, and to all NUK members.

“PLečnik’s Ljubljana” for inclusion in UNESCO’s World Heritage List

The Government adopted a nomination of the buildings and urban development works of Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana for inclusion in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The list of Plečnik's works comprises also the National and University Library building.

More information on gov.si portal.

New Oxford University Press Journals

In 2020, the Library obtained access to additional 47 journals, so now 291 subscribed newspapers of the Oxford University Press can be accessed. The collection includes different topics: medicine, biology, mathematics and physics, law, humanities and social sciences.

The collection is available from the locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library (CTK) and NUK, and through remote access to all members of the University of Ljubljana, NUK and CTK.

Access to De Gruyer Journals

More than 450 scientific and professional journals (about hundred are of open access) can be accessed through the De Gruyter Online portal. Most journals are in English, the majority of them resulted also from cooperation between international societies. They cover various thematic areas: biology, chemistry, geography, history, law, librarianship and information science, linguistics, literature, mathematics, physics, medicine, philosophy, theology, religion, political science, economics and sociology.

De Gruyter online is available from locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library (CTK) and NUK; through remote access is available to students and staff of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technical Library and to all NUK members.

Library hours during holidays

Tuesday, 24 December	9.00 – 14.00
Wednesday, 25 December	Christmas - CLOSED
Thursday, 26 December	Independence and Unity Day – CLOSED
27 – 28 December	Regular opening hours
Monday, 30 December	Regular opening hours
Tuesday, 31 December	9.00 – 14.00
Wednesday, 1 January	New Year's Day - CLOSED
Thursday,2 January	New Year's Day - CLOSED
Friday, 3 January	Regular opening hours
Saturday,4 January	Regular opening hours

We wish you Happy Holidays and all the best in the New Year.

EODOPEN Launched to Digitize 15,000 Books

On November 19, the kick-off meeting of the 4-year project EODOPEN, co-financed by the European Commission under the Culture Programme, took place at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland. The aim of the project is to digitize 15,000 textual materials from the 20th and 21th century, taking into account the needs and requests of the defined target groups.

“EODOPEN expects to directly target more than 1 million people in Europe,” Silvia Gstrein, the leader of the project and the Head of the Digital Services Department of the University of Innsbruck, introduced the ambitious plans. “We have a team of more than 40 persons from 11 countries, so it will be a 4 years’ challenge for all of us. But the outcome, 15,000 digitized materials that will be available for everyone, is definitely motivating.”

EODOPEN aims at the engagement with the local and regional communities in the selection of materials. Also, one of the goals is to provide the digitized materials in different formats, so that they would be accessible for everyone (e.g. mobile users, blind users). At the same time, the second goal is to strengthen the capacity of library and other culture heritage institutions staff with regards to dealing adequately with rights clearance questions.

During the project, different events will be organized to get feedback from several target groups on the selection of textual materials to be digitized. Students, academics, researchers, teachers, but also the general public are expected to express their needs for digitization.

The digitized items will be made available to the broad European public on the project participants’ well-established digital libraries as well as on a common portal developed during the project lifetime, ensuring transnational circulation and access to cultural works as a result of the project.

EODOPEN or eBooks-On-Demand-Network Opening Publications for European Netizens is a 4-year project, co-funded by the European Commission under the Culture Programme, aiming at the direct engagement with national, regional and local communities in the selection of materials from the 20th and 21st century to be digitized. The project partner states are Austria, Estonia, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Germany, Portugal, Hungary, Sweden, Slovenia and Lithuania. The total project amount is approximately 4 million euros. Additional information: Silvia Gstrein, coordinator of the EODOPEN network, University of Innsbruck, Library, silvia.gstrein@uibk.ac.at, tel. ++43-(0)512-507-25400.

NUK is Partner of the National Gallery Exhibition The Great City of Ljubljana and Its First Bishop Sigismund Lamberg (1420–1488)

The exhibition at the National Gallery reveals a lively, but in our time little-known period of Ljubljana at the turn of the 14th to the 15th century. The key exhibit is the breviary from the personal library of Bishop Lamberg. Four years ago, the Archdiocese of Ljubljana bought this prayer book at an auction abroad, thus enabling a valuable object of our heritage to be returned to its place of origin. It is an incunabulum, printed on parchment in Venice that was illuminated by one of its painters, the Pico Master (the Master of the Pico Pliny), resp. Bartolomeo del Tintore. In addition to the breviary, there twenty-nine other items on display: from illuminated manuscripts, original prints, documents related to the founding of the diocese, Lamberg’s nomination as bishop, to seals and paintings.

Authors of the exhibition: Dr France Martin Dolinar, Ddr Nataša Golob.

The National and University Libraries, as a partner of the project, borrowed the materials for the exhibition. Dr Jasna Malešič and colleagues of the Library Preservation and Restoration Centre participated in the preparation of the objects exhibited at the Gallery. For more information on the exhibition, visit the web site of National Gallery.

Vabljeni na ogled.

Registration and renewal of the membership for students of the Ljubljana University

Students of the Ljubljana University are invited to join the library, or renew the membership.

As the membership fee has been paid upon enrolment in a higher education institution, only the following documents are required:

For registration
- Student card or enrolment certificate,
- Valid identity document, with the address of the permanent residence,
- 3 € for the membership card.
For renewing of the membership
- Student card or enrolment certificate,
- Valid identity document, with the address of the permanent residence.

For more information, visit the web site https://www.nuk.uni-lj.si/eng/node/503.

New Director of The National and University Library

Starting from 24 July 2019, Viljem Leban has been appointed as the new Director of The National and University Library.

Visiting the library during the national holidays

The Main Reading Room will be open for tourists on Wednesday, October 31st 2018, between 10am and 6pm, as well as on Saturday, November 3rd 2018, between 2.30pm and 6pm. The library Café will be open as well.

The library will be closed on Thursday, November 1st 2018.

Žiga Herberstein's Biography on dLib.si

Jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Library is enabling access to a digital copy of one of earlier and very rare biographies of Žiga Herberstein, a diplomat and a travel writer. The biography from 1561 also includes Herberstein’s six full-scale portraits in different outfits that he wore during his travels, several depictions of sovereigns he had visited, as well as scenes from his travels. The biography is accessible on The Digital Library of Slovenia - dLib.si.

The exhibition To the promised land - Slovenian Women in the USA - on American tour

From February 7 until March 7, the exhibition is on display in the Slovenian Museum and Archives in Cleveland. The exhibition will then move to the Cleveland State University and Slovenian Museum and Archives, and later to the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia, Washington D. C.

Since its discovery, the North America was considered the Promised Land - people came there in large numbers to find better living conditions. Slovenians massively emigrated to America in the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century; after 1945, a new wave of emigrants followed. In the early 20th century, emigrants born in Slovenia represented a majority of the community; nowadays, the leading role has been taken over by generation born in the USA, so the American-born descendants of emigrants represent more than ninety percent of the Slovenian emigrant population.

EoD celebrating the international public domain day

Thousands of Works Newly Released from Copyright are available for Digitisation at a Special Price.

Request digitisation for 10 euros in January: https://books2ebooks.eu/en/2018

Day of Slovenian Literature in Skopje

On November 6 20017, Day of the Slovenian Literature in Skopje was organised at the initiative of the National and University Library "St. Clement of Ohrid. The aim of the event was to strengthen long and excellent relations between Macedonian and Slovenian writers and national libraries, as well as the promotion of Slovenian literature.

After the Second World War, renowned Macedonian writers have translated the most important Slovenian literary works. After independence of both countries, translation activity has intensified so contemporary literary classics and promising young Slovenian authors are printed in the Macedonian language. At a literary event in the Macedonian national library, three Slovenian authors, well known in Macedonia, presented their works - Stanka Hrastelj, Jurij Hudolin and Ivo Svetina, President of the Slovenian Writers’ association.

Directors of the national libraries, Ms Senka Naumovska and Ms Martina Rozman Salobir, signed a cooperation agreement between the two libraries. They also participated at the panel discussion on cooperation in the field of culture between the countries, attended by authors, translators, Dr. Milan Jazbec, ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Macedonia, and representatives of the Ministry of Culture of Macedonia. On this occasion, two exhibitions were opened: Slovenian literary works translated into Macedonian in the Macedonian National Library, and works by Slovenian painters in the Osten gallery.

We are happy and proud that we support cultural cooperation, and strengthen literary and linguistic contacts between the two nations. Next year we will organize a similar event in NUK: a part of rich creativity of contemporary Macedonian authors translated in Slovenian will be presented.

New Donation by Boris Pahor

Last week, Boris Pahor, the doyen of the Slovenian literature, donated to the Manuscript Collection of the Library another part of his extraordinarily large personal archive - mostly an extensive and diversified correspondence with respectable Slovenian and foreign intellectuals. The gift comprises five meters of material! On Saturday August 26, the writer will celebrate his 104th birthday. He is still a lively and lucid interlocutor. NUK wholeheartedly thanks the respected writer for his gift and joins to congratulations for his honourable anniversary.

SpringerMaterials and Nano Data Collections

Until November 30 2017, test access to SpringerMaterials and Nano Data Collections will be available from locations of the University of Ljubljana, the Central Technological Library and the National and University Library.

SpringerMaterials is the largest specialized collection, dealing with more than 290,000 materials and over 3,000 physical and chemical properties in all major fields of materials science. The contents of the SpringerMaterials collection are compiled from scientific sources, such as Landolt Börnstein, MSI Eureka, Linus Pauling Files, Springer Handbooks and others. The collection offers several types of searches, ways to improve search results, and a number of advanced and interactive functionalities for visualizing and analysing data on materials, which means saving time.

Nano is part of the Nature Research, it is specifically designed for nanotechnology. It combines hand-indexed articles and data from 171 scientific journals, including leading publishers, such as AAAS, ACS, Elsevier, RSC, Nature, Springer, Wiley and many others. By combining the key functionality of databases and information tools, Nano provides insights into more detailed information about nanomaterials, such as properties, applications, methods of preparation, and toxicity.

The online seminar and video for using the Nano and SpringerMaterials collections give more information as to what the collections are offering.

Ivan Vrhovnik's Legacy

The Library Manuscript Collection acquired many letters, photos and correspondences of Ivan Vrhovnik, a famous priest of the Trnovo parish church; he was also a writer and an enthusiastic historian. The Library is most grateful to Ms Marta Benedik from Grosuplje for the valued material.

Ivan Sivec's Donation to the Manuscript Collection

The Manuscript Collection received a new, comprehensive gift: personal archive of Ivan Sivec, the most prolific Slovenian writer who has published 144 books; over 340,000 copies of his works have already been printed! Sivec writes texts for the elderly and children in various literary genres - from historical stories, biographical and documentary works, psychological novels, peasant stories, to texts for songs. The archive currently includes ten boxes of manuscripts of his works with related material and documentation. We are most grateful to the author for the valuable contribution to the treasury of the Slovenian written heritage.

Literary Legacy of Dr Tine Debeljak in NUK

The Library has received the literary legacy of Dr Tine Debeljak, a literary critic, poet, writer, editor and translator (born in Škofja Loka). Since 1948, he worked in the field of literature and culture in Argentina; his family joined him in 1954. After being ignored for a long time, Dr Debeljak is on a symbolic level returning to his native country. The Library is most grateful to his daughters Meta and Jožejka for their valuable donation to the National and University Library.

Test access to Chinese database CNKI

Until 22 April 2017, the University of Ljubljana enables access to China's extensive multidisciplinary collection CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure). It is the main Chinese national information project launched by the Tsinghua University, and supported by various ministries. It is an extremely sophisticated collection of Chinese journals, doctoral dissertations, master’s dissertations, and newspapers, papers from conferences, chronicles, reference material, encyclopaedias, patents, standards, and results of technological researches, laws and regulations. CNKI includes and enables access to 90% of Chinese information resources.

More information about the CNKI content is on the website:

http://oversea.cnki.net/kns55/

From locations of the University of Ljubljana (without registration).

#AllezLiterature

On March 21, on the World Poetry Day, a new campaign entitled #AllezLiterature started within the Europeana.eu. In the coming month, poetry from around the world will flood social networks. The power of poetry will point to its amusement and diversity, and its close connection or interlinking with our lives. We are particularly proud that Simon Gregorčič’s poem Soči (To the River Soča) launched the campaign: Filip, a nice three-year old boy, tells the poem - it is available on Facebook and Twitter.

Analysis of Two Codices

On Friday, 10 March, the Library hosted a team of experts from the Institute of Slavic Studies of the University of Vienna and the University of Krems. In the framework of a research project of old Slavic manuscripts, they analysed two the most important medieval Old Church Slavonic codices of the Kopitar collection (Codex Suprasliensis and Bosnian Evangeliary). Through spectroscopic analysis, they studied materials present in the ink and parchment, and they carried out microbiological tests on parchment. The Library will also receive results of the research that would undoubtedly significantly contribute to the study of ancient cultural heritage.