Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
The aim of the National Library of Korea (NLK) is to collect and hold two copies of all
documents published in Korea and at least one copy of Korea related documents
published out of Korea.
General collections
The size of the collection is over 7.6 million items as of 2010, which has been
increased about 500,000 items yearly. The collection consists of all different subjects
in various genres and formats.
Special collections
It is such a valuable fact that the National Library of Korea has special collections of
over 1,600 rare books (5,300 volumes).
As part of the general collection, there are about 270,000 old books, which were
published before 1910. The noticeable items among the old books are: the fifteen
cultural properties of the National Treasures of Korea, the general treasures, and the
ancient literature works which is designated as the tangible cultural properties by the
Seoul City. There are also 895 valuable ancient works of literature (3,355 volumes)
which are designated by the NLK under its regulations of the Treatment of Valuable
Personal collection
As part of the effort to ensure a more comprehensive collection, the Library has been
engaged in a nation-wide book donation campaign, and organized personal
collections in the name of the donors.
Documents on Korea
‘The Library has been collecting photoprint edition of the Korea related materials
published in the period of the modern and the contemporary periods. Specially, the
materials related Korea have been shipped from the United States’ Government public
documents and the United States’ National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) since 2004, and contributed to the research on the dynamics of the Korea and
its relations with the neighbors during the period. Now, it is a database of over 1.2
million digital files, which anyone can access to via the Library’s OPAC.
Union Catalogue
KOLIS-NET is a collaborative library cataloguing network which has merged the full
resources held by public libraries nationwide into a union catalogue of national
resources for all public libraries (www.nl.go.kr/kolisnet).
KORCIS (Korean Old and Rare Collection Information System) is union catalogue
which is contained catalogues, annotations, and full texts of old and rare Korean
books and documents from 90 participant institutions (www.nl.go.kr/korcis),
Bibliographies
The bibliographic information compiled based on these rules is published as The
Korean National Bibliography, a cumulative bibliography released annually in DVD
format. The scope of the national bibliography includes the entirety of materials
deposited in the NLK since 1945, the university library union catalogue data of the
Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS), the Korean public library
catalogue data from the Korean Library Information System Network (KOLIS-NET), the
union catalogue of the Korea Special Library Association (KSLA), and the catalogue
Standardization
Establishment of databases
The National Library of Korea has different database, such as the National Union
Catalogue, the Union Catalogue for the visually impaired, the table of contents of
materials published in Korea, the indexes, the abstracts, and the articles of journals,
the full texts of primary resources, and the full texts of the resources for the blinds.
Services in General
Public service
The National Library of Korea permits admission to individuals aged sixteen or older
and operates from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (6 to 10 p.m. for the nighttime library). The Library is
closed on the second and fourth Mondays of every month as well as on national
holidays. Resource rooms are divided into two types: the Main Circulation Desk,
operating on a closed-stack basis, and topical resource rooms operating chiefly on an
open-stack basis. Through the Main Circulation Desk, users are able to borrow
materials published before 2005 after applying through PCs; they must access these
materials within the Library. Within the topical resource rooms, the Information
Service Room serves as a comprehensive information center with a main purpose of
providing reference counseling. This room also maintains a nighttime library open until
10 p.m. for those unable to access library services in the daytime by providing book
reservation services via the Internet.
The NLK established and organically linked itself to a digital library (Dibrary, the brand
name of the digital library) so as to better meet the need for new types of library
services rising from the advent of digital publications, the growth in online information
resources, and the development of the media industry.
The Dibrary was constructed over seven years from 2002 to 2008 and launched with a
proprietary online portal in May 2009. Boasting a total floor area of 38,014m 2 (three
floors above ground level, five floors below), the building was constructed out of glass
walls and grass roof. It not only serves as a physical Information Commons but also
provides virtual integrated search services through its online portal www.dibrary.net.
Moreover, the Dibrary Portal offers over 116 million discrete items of digital content
spanning academic, public, private, and foreign information through links with other
institutions, including the full-text database of 390,000 volumes of the NLK.
Furnishing high-quality knowledge and information services through its portal, the
Dibrary is a novel model of a library which makes for digital information resources
accessible to anyone, anytime. It will play a central role in enhancing the national
ability to access information.
The National Digital Library offers catalogues of resource collections and their full
The National Library of Korea is tasked with preserving its collections as safely and
scientifically as possible since they are a cultural heritage to be passed down to
future generations. The Library collects two copies of all national materials via the
legal deposit system. One is retained for public, while the other is permanently
preserved in the Deposit Building. This building is equipped with facilities for
preservation, such as the Deposit Room for storing deposited materials and the
Conservation Lab for specialized conservation treatments, along with the Microfilm,
Fumigation, and Deacidification Rooms.
Furthermore, in 2008, the IFLA Preservation & Conservation Korea Center was
installed to cooperate in international efforts at preserving resources and educating
the public about the preservation of domestic materials by advancing awareness.
International cooperation
The NLK offers an array of job training courses to reinforce the fundamental skills of
the librarians who will lead a knowledge-based society.
The Library carried out the first librarian training program in 1983. Today, 1,800
librarians receive training every year. The librarian training program is targeted at the
roughly 18,000 librarians working at different types of libraries nationwide.
The educational courses are divided into dual areas: basic courses for library officials
and professional courses centering on work practices. The courses provide education
Number of Users
Library Service Department Year Number of Users
Acquisition & Technical Processing Division 2006 618,268
2009 936,243
2008 122,332
2009 52,655