Making our collection available for consultation
Broad collection
The Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience has existed for more than 500 years. It is the most prominent archive library for Dutch literature and the cultural history of Flanders. This means that our collection is very vast: ranging from prose to auction and exposition catalogues, comics, magazines and children’s books and scientific studies. Every type of document must be described according to specific rules, which can be challenging.
Detailed descriptions
A heritage library is a scientific library. To make our collection available for consultation through catalogues, we enter precise descriptions for each work. The better the metadata, the clearer the distinction between different editions of one title, for example. Mieke watches over the quality of this process.
Especially the book as an object has our attention. We go beyond the classic title descriptions and even sometimes offer information on the binding of the book or possible damage. Even assignments, bookplates, and donors are included. This information is searchable through the origin marks and collections. This way, you can look at the broad collection from different perspectives. You will get to know the names of people and organisations that often played an important role in the cultural life in Antwerp.
For other institutions
We employ our expertise for the museum libraries of the MAS, Antwerp City of arts, the Red Star Line Museum, the House of Literature, the museum Vleeshuis and the Mayer van den Bergh museum. The Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience arranges their purchases, orders and the description in the catalogue.
Google Books
A part of our collection is digitally available on Google Books. Google selected around 80.000 titles that are at least 125 years old. The digitisation project is the perfect chance to check and adjust the metadata of the selected books
A specialised team
Mieke leads a specialised team of five staff members and a few volunteers, one of them knows Esperanto and helps making some of the large, acquired Esperanto-libraries accessible.
Searching in our collection
Anet
To find pieces in our collection, visitors use the Anet-catalogue. The online application contains more than 2.500.000 descriptions of the whole of Anet: a network of academic (UA, Universities and colleges of Limburg) and heritage institutions (Antwerp museums, city archive, KMSKA…). We work closely with the developers to further update and modernise the software.
Legal Depot
Publishers are obligated to file two copies of each new edition with the Royal Library of Belgium. This way, a national overview is kept of all Belgian publications. We arrange the administration of all publications of municipal institutions and keep raising awareness for this.
Contact the department catalography
The Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience is always at your service. You can always ask Mieke your research questions regarding cataloguing. Her department is happy to help you.
Mieke Lietaer
- Has worked here since 2003
- Specialisation: catalography
- Ask her your questions regarding descriptions of publications, authority codes and collections or make correction propositions
- Studied art history
- Contact: mieke.lietaer@antwerpen.be / 0499 36 66 17
