INTERNATIONAL LIBRARIES

International libraries

International online library directories and catalogs.

The association was founded in 1978 with the aim of coordinating the service provided by libraries belonging to Italian ecclesiastical institutions; in 1990 it was officially recognized by the Italian Bishops’ Conference. Among its institutional purposes: training courses for librarians, editing of working tools (such as the Yearbook of Italian Ecclesiastical Libraries 1995; a list of authorities in the religious field concerning the multiple realities of the Catholic Church, such as the Bible, the popes, the Roman Curia, religious orders…), the four-monthly “Bulletin of Information” which publishes news about the activities and history of Church libraries.

The Library of Catalonia collects, preserves and disseminates Catalan bibliographic output-including digital output-and that related to the Catalan linguistic field, with a holdings of nearly 4 million documents.

The Spanish Biblioteca Nacional receives and archives copies of all books published in Spain. It also keeps an extremely valuable collection of incunabula, manuscripts, illustrations, drawings, photographs, sound recordings, musical scores, etc.

The Bibliothèque nationale de France collects the national documentary heritage, preserves it and promotes its dissemination. The BnF’s collections are unique in the world: fifteen million books and printed books, as well as manuscripts, prints, photographs, maps and plans, sheet music, coins, medals, audio documents, videos, multimedia, scenes and costumes. In an encyclopedic spirit, all intellectual, artistic and scientific disciplines are represented. Approximately 150,000 documents become part of the BnF’s holdings each year, thanks to legal deposit, purchases or donations. Gallica, its digital library, now makes it possible to consult more than four million documents.

The British Library’s collections include books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, photographs, and newspapers. Most of these collections can be freely accessed online.

From the website of the Italian Library Association (AIB), a valuable list and directory of catalogs and libraries available online.

The Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog is a powerful metacatalog that can launch searches in libraries and publishing catalogs around the world.

The Library of Congress is de facto the national library of the United States of America and also the largest library in the world, with more than 162 million items. Collections include books, sound recordings, films, photographs, maps and manuscripts.

The portal provides quick and easy access to the collections of the 48 National Libraries of Europe and major European research libraries. Users can cross-search and reuse over 28,627,026 digital items and 175,511,348 bibliographic records.

Search mask for quick search of online catalogs of international libraries, especially recommended for antique, rare and out-of-print books.