The Library of the National Museum of Slovenia today holds the function of a special library in the field of culture. It has the status of a public library and is open to local experts and outside visitors, which include a large number of students. Older materials and prints of special historical significance can be used for study purposes.
Contemporary literature in the Library mainly belongs to the fields of interest to which the institution is dedicated. Efforts are being made to obtain as much literature as possible in the fields of numismatics, archaeology, applied arts, cultural history, museology and conservation.
Most of the publications are acquired through the exchange with similar Slovenian and particularly foreign institutions. In addition to the catalogues of temporary exhibitions, we also exchange many periodical or serial publications: Argo – Journal of Slovene Museums, Situla – Dissertationes musei nationalis Sloveniae, Catalogues and Monographs, and Sources – Publications about the Slovene Material Culture.
The Library has an indexed and a computerised catalogue. Since 1994, it has been part of the COBISS National Library Information System. New data is entered as new acquisitions are made, whereas older materials are being included gradually. The local database of the National Museum Library can be accessed online.
In 2001, the older library catalogue – up till 1945 – was scanned. These records can be searched by clicking on the link. The database contains 33600 items. Items can be searched for by the surnames of authors, titles of book collections, serial publications or titles of books, where the authors are not highlighted or a work by several authors – for example miscellanies. However, when looking for a title, the old cataloguing rule must be considered – the noun should always take precedence, so a search should be conducted by looking for Nation Slovenian, and not Slovenian Nation. On the other hand, only “Slovenian” or “Nation” can also be searched for, in which case the search will yield more results among which the desired one will have to be chosen. By clicking on it, the image of the old catalogue will be retrieved, providing basic information about the book and, of course, the shelfmark in the NMS Library. By searching in both databases, 85% of the NMS Library data can be obtained.
Information can be obtained via phone and e-mail:
T. +386 1 241 44 63
E. citalnica@nms.si