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.
The importance of digital heritage
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.