Delpher celebrates its 10th anniversary on 20 November. Delpher is an online database of digitized books, newspapers, magazines and radio messages from the KB (National Library of the Netherlands) and other libraries, scientific organisations and heritage institutions. It is a service provided by the KB that ensures that all these sources can be found on one platform.
10 years of Delpher: what can you find in this database?
Prior to 20 November 2013, you had to visit four different KB websites if you were looking for digitized sources. Since the arrival of Delpher, that is no longer necessary because everything is now collected on this platform. Ten years and 40 content releases later, the collection has expanded to over 140 million pages of digitized material. You can also use Delpher to find 10 collections from other digital archives. National and regional newspapers, news magazines and sports magazines: whatever topic you're looking for, there's something about it in Delpher.
The website also continued to develop. New search options were added and Delpher's appearance changed with it. Delpher now also meets all modern standards, which means that the website can be used by people with disabilities. The website also works well on all different types of devices such as computers, tablets and smartphones.
The importance of digital heritage
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Delpher in 2013
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Delpher in 2019
How to use Delpher
The use of Delpher has increased enormously, from around 100,000 visitors a month in 2015 to around 250,000 today. Using it also feels increasingly natural for people. Delpher has made it much easier to do historical research. You now have access to millions of texts in one place that you can search word for word.
Maaike Napolitano (Delpher service coordinator from 2014 to 2021) still remembers meeting an elderly lady at a Delpher event. This lady had been trying for years to find more information about the accident in which her grandfather died. “I stood next to her, typed in the year and her grandfather's name and got a hit within a few seconds. For me, it was just a search but for her, it was a very emotional moment. Her years of searching had finally come to an end.”
The future
Delpher will continue to grow over the coming years. We are adding to the collection and the website is also being further developed to better meet the needs of the user.
