Presentation of the Heritage Library Documents Register

2019/11/05

On October 31, 2019, the renewed Heritage Library Documents Register (Hungarian abbreviation: MKDNy) was presented at a full-house professional event in NSZL. As part of the National Library Platform (Hungarian abbreviation: OKP), it will be capable of uniting the heritage documents of Hungary in a single online space. Currently, the system contains over 243,000 records and it will continue to expand.

“One of the main duties of National Széchényi Library is not only to be the major location where the Hungarian national book heritage is collected and preserved, but also to play a key role in support, to provide effective professional help to the operation of Hungarian libraries within and outside the borders of Hungary. For the Hungarian society and for our smaller professional and scientific audiences, it is the accessible heritage that matters, that will be utilized and which will really survive”– said Judit Hammerstein, Director-General of National Széchényi Library.

The new MKDNy system is the first group of modules to be realized in OKP (National Library Platform), which is still under development. The creation of OKP was initiated in 2016 by Government Decree 1605/2016 (XI.8.)

At the event, Miklós Lendvay, IT Director of National Széchényi Library pointed out that paradigm shift was inevitable in the operation of library systems; the online services of various library institutions, currently operating completely independently of one another, should be placed on a common platform.

The National Library Platform is a common space that takes cooperation between libraries, readers and researchers to a new level and also meets new challenges of the 21st century. The new modular developments providing the background of the platform were presented by representatives of HerMész-Szoft Ltd. The structure of OKP has been designed so that every Hungarian library could join and access its services anywhere in the country.

As part of the organization of NSZL, a separate MKDNy Office was set up, the tasks of which were presented by head of the office Farkas Gábor Farkas. He said that they were working on mapping where heritage books, manuscripts, maps, sheet music and other documents are to be found in Hungary, how many of them are kept in institutions, what condition they are in, and how much they are worth. In addition, it is of the utmost importance that these treasures could be shown and made accessible to all via the new system.

“It is essential for National Széchényi Library and for the entire library community to serve as a source of new cultural inspiration, in addition to preserving our heritage in the 21st century. OKP will be a distinguished tool to that end” – emphasized the Director-General.

The renewed system can be accessed at the following internet address: http://mkdny.oszk.hu/.