The National Library of Luxembourg (BnL) has invited members of the public to discover 63 Luxembourg monographs which it has just digitised and made available online via the eluxemburgensia.lu portal and the a-z.lu search engine; these 63 publications are in addition to some 450 Luxembourg monographs previously published online.

Among these new titles are 18 works on the period of the First World War such including Alphonse Foos "Das Erlebnis des Weltkrieges in der Luxemburgischen Dichtung" and the chronological description of Jean-Pierre Robert's 1914-1918 aerial bombardments, the work of the young Albert Wehrer "Pour l'Indépendance du Luxembourg" published in 1919, also "Alphabetical and analytical general table of contents contained in the Memorial of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (1830-1870)" by the author Pierre Ruppert. The public can also discover the Rosenbüchlein published in 1912 by Charles Gemen, the most famous rose grower in Luxembourg, whose botanical works are now among the most sought after. The systematic digitisation of old monographs is one of the objectives of the BnL as part of its project to digitise Luxembourg's printed heritage.

Where can I find the digitised publications?

The Luxembourg publications digitised by the BnL are accessible via the portal www.eluxemburgensia.lu under the heading "digitised books" and via the search engine www.a-z.lu

The eluxemburgensia.lu portal allows the user to access the full text of the resources digitised by the BnL (such as printed newspapers, magazines, old postcards, posters, books and manuscripts).

The digitised contents of the portal eluxemburgensia.lu are also accessible via the a-z.lu search engine designed to allow searches in all the collections of the BnL and the 77 libraries of the network bibnet.lu.

Why does the BnL digitise Luxembourg monographs and periodicals?

The National Library, in accordance with its statutory tasks, as set out in the Law of 25 June 2004 on the reorganisation of the State Cultural Institutes (Arts 9, 10 and 11), collects and retains all Luxembourg publications and is responsible for ensuring access to its collections, including remote consultation using the most modern data transmission technologies. Its programme for the mass digitisation of the national heritage is precisely in line with this objective and in the context of the objectives of the European Union to make the cultural and intellectual heritage of Europe available online. By digitising and publishing Luxembourg monographs and periodicals, the BnL is responding to a growing demand from the general public and scientific research increasingly interested in the methods of digital humanities. Mass digitisation makes the written national heritage more visible and easily accessible, while at the same time guaranteeing the optimum preservation of originals that are weakened by their age and/or frequent use.

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