NIOD Library Collection
Extent and Medium
68,000 books, periodicals, thesis, pamphlets, sheet music and newspaper clippings
Creator(s)
- NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies
Biographical History
Soon after the foundation of the NIOD on 8 May 1945, a NIOD library collection about the Second World War in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) was created. The first items in the library collection were publications that were illegally printed and distributed during the Second World War (like newsletters from the resistance and clandestine literature), and German propaganda material. These items were collected by professor Posthumus during the war. In the first months of its existence the NIOD received a lot of National Socialist publications originating from Dutch and German Nazi institutions. Also Dutch publishers were being called upon to send one copy of each published book about the occupation to the NIOD.
In the course of time publications about the Second World War in other European and Asian countries and on the run-up to and aftermath of the Second World War (1930s-1950s) were added to the libary collection. The scope of the collection was further expanded in 1997 when the NIOD library started to collect publications on the First World War and the interwar period. Following the partnership with the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in 2006 the NIOD library acquires publications about genocide.
Scope and Content
The NIOD library is the only library in the Netherlands specialising in the Second World War. Its acquisition policy focuses on studies of war and conflict in the 20th and 21st century in their political,cultural and social contexts. The heart of the library collection consists of publications on the Netherlands and the former Dutch East Indies at the time of the Second World War. Local and regional studies, together with memoirs, form an important part of this collection. The aim is to make the core collection as comprehensive as possible.
The library also holds publications about the Second World War in other European and Asian countries and on the run-up to and aftermath of the Second World War (from the 1930s to the 21th century).The aim here is not completeness, however; instead, acquisitions are made on the basis of quality criteria. The same applies to publications acquired since 1997 on the interwar period and the First World War, and to publications on genocide acquired after 2006 following the partnership with the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
10% of the NIOD library collection is about the Holocaust.
System of Arrangement
The books in the library are arranged by the NIOD decimal classifcation, which places books by country and within the country by subject. Books about Europe or about more than one country are shelved in a general section. Books about the Holocaust can be found in subsection 9 in all categories.
Exemples of book shelf numbers: 9.71 (a book about Jewish resistance in general); Ned 9.71 (a book about Jewish resistance in the Netherlands); Dui 9.71 (a book about Jewish resistance in Germany)
Finding Aids
Document descriptions are available in electronic form at http://opac-gonext.oclc.org:8180/DB=8/
Dates of Descriptions
Description prepared by Tim Veken in June 2013; revised by Marjo Bakker October 2014
Corporate Bodies
- NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies