Digital Library for Dutch Literature

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Short description: Website about Dutch language and literature
Digital Library for Dutch Literature
Available inDutch
OwnerMaatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde
Websitewww.dbnl.org
Launched1999
Current statusOnline

The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren nl or DBNL nl) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) that provides access to key texts related to the Dutch language, Dutch literature, and the culture of Dutch-speaking countries and regions. It contains thousands of literary texts, secondary literature, and additional information, such as biographies, portraits, and hyperlinks.

Funding and structure

The DBNL was launched on 6 July 1999 by the Society of Dutch Literature (Dutch: Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde), which established the DBNL Foundation to manage it.[1] At an early stage, members of the society were polled to establish a list of the authors and works to be given priority, resulting in a provisional Canon of Dutch Literature, a list that was published in 2002.

Development of the DNBL was made possible by subsidies from, among others, the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research and the Dutch Language Union. In 2008, René van Stipriaan (nl) was appointed as editor in chief, and the work was done by eight employees in Leiden, 20 students, and 50 people in the Philippines who scanned and typed the texts.[2]

Stipriaan resigned as editor in 2012, and since 2013, coordination has been from The Hague rather than Leiden.[3][4]

As of 2020, the library is being maintained by a collaboration of the Dutch Language Union, the Flanders Heritage Library, and the Royal Library of the Netherlands.[5]

Basic library: 1,000 key texts

The DBNL provides the Basic Library of Dutch Literature, containing 1,000 works of fundamental importance to Dutch and Flemish cultural history.[2] The chairperson of the committee that selected the 1,000 key texts was Paul Schnabel.[2] Nevertheless, some classic texts of Dutch literature, like Gerard Reve's 1947 novel The Evenings (Dutch: De avonden) and Willem Frederik Hermans' 1966 novel Beyond Sleep (Dutch: Nooit meer slapen) are absent for copyright reasons.[2]

Reliability

Questions have been raised as to the reliability of the information contained in this database by both authors and testators alike. The DBNL lacks a confirmation procedure as well as a complaints procedure.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Over de MdNL" (in nl). https://www.mdnl.nl/?page_id=22. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Somers, Maartje (4 April 2008). "Van abel spel tot Achterhuis: de basisbibliotheek – het Nederlands erfgoed in duizend sleutelteksten" (in nl). NRC Handelsblad. pp. 10–14. https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2008/04/04/van-abel-spel-tot-achterhuis-11515719-a1145015. 
  3. ↑ Leerssen, Joep (10 October 2013). "Digitale letterenbibliotheek in gevaar". De Volkskrant. https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/digitale-letterenbibliotheek-in-gevaar~b044a2ad/. 
  4. ↑ Mijs, Katelijne (21 March 2016). "Een nieuwe lente voor de DBNL". https://neerlandistiek.nl/2016/03/een-nieuwe-lente-voor-de-dbnl/. 
  5. ↑ "Over DBNL" (in nl). https://www.dbnl.nl/overdbnl/index.php. 
  6. ↑ "DBNL onbereikbaar voor literaire auteurs?". 15 August 2020. https://neerlandistiek.nl/2020/08/dbnl-onbereikbaar-voor-literaire-auteurs/. 



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