User:Steegje/Centraal Bestand Kinderboeken

The CBK, Central Database of Children's Books (in Dutch Centraal Bestand Kinderboeken) is the joint onlinecatalogue for children's books in the collections of seventeen Dutch and Flemish public institutions. The CBK is managed by the KB, National Library of the Netherlands, with technical support from OCLC. As of 2016, the CBK contains the data of 286,000 children's books from the sixteenth century to the present, including data about children’s magazines and catchpenny prints. Furthermore, the database provides more than 55,000 entries with professional literature in Dutch and other languages.

The database is supplemented daily with new titles and title descriptions by cataloguers of libraries and institutions participating in the Dutch Central Catalogue (NCC). Existing information is continuously updated in order to increase discoverability of the publications. The database also supports access to the ever increasing number of digitized versions of publications.

Purpose of the CBK
The CBK intends to further (academic) research into children’s literature in the Dutch language by providing a a comprehensive overview of the preserved children’s literature in the Dutch language. The CBK enables researchers to search all public collections in one query. Preselected content and dedicated search options ensure optimal search results.

The CBK is intended for professional researchers into children's literature, but it is also a valuable resource for other interested parties. Informed by CBK data, patrons can consult the physical publications on site, or, if available, consult digital versions at home.

History of the database
In 1991, several custodians of collections of children's books met to discuss how they might improve the conservation of the literary heritage of children’s books in The Netherlands and to enhance the value of these collections for researchers and other stakeholders. The initiative was supported in various ways by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). Soon, the idea of a joint online catalogue arose, prompted by technical developments in the early 1990s. Also, since 1996 ever more Dutch libraries registered their holdings in the online catalogue NCC (Dutch Central Catalogue). Since then, more public collections of children’s books have joined the CBK, most recently two Flemish collections in 2016. In order to improve search results, cataloguing rules were agreed upon, such as a list of uniform titles (enabling, for example, all versions of Belle and the Beast to be found in one search query, including titles that do not specifically refer to Belle and the Beast), a set list of keywords and a genre thesaurus containing 475 terms. Following the donation to the National Library of the Netherlands of 1200 catchpenny prints by Mr. and Mrs. Borms-Koop in 2016, records pertaining to this type of prints were added to the CBK, because these prints are mostly aimed at children.

Participating organisations

 * 1) National Library of the Netherlands
 * 2) Central Library of Rotterdam
 * 3) Public Library Amsterdam
 * 4) Public Library The Hague
 * 5) City Archive and Athenaeumlibrary (AB)
 * 6) Haarlem Public Library
 * 7) Public Library Arnhem
 * 8) KinderBoekenHuis (per Juni 2016 no longer available via the CBK)
 * 9) Public Library Groningen (Groninger Forum)
 * 10) Tresoar - Frisian History and Literature Center
 * 11) Zeeland Library
 * 12) Foundation 't Oude Kinderboek
 * 13) Amsterdam University Library
 * 14) KITLV / Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (from 2014 part of the collection of the Leiden University Library)
 * 15) Leiden University Library
 * 16) Catholic Documentation Centre
 * 17) Tilburg University
 * 18) Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library
 * 19) Iedereen Leest