Language:
שפה נוכחית
The National Library of Israel preserves over five million items, the majority being printed works or manuscripts. In order to enable as many people as possible in Israel and around the word to view and access these items, the NLI is constantly in the process of scanning the items and uploading them to our website in digital form. The Library also collaborates with other archives and institutions and displays much of their collections on the NLI website as well.
Over two million items are already available in digital form, including books, newspapers, photos, archives, maps, recordings and manuscripts.
Some of these items can be viewed online from anywhere in the world, and some are only accessible online from within the NLI building in Jerusalem.
The NLI does not own the copyright of the items in its collections. Some of the items found in the Library are restricted by copyright in terms of how they can be used, and some collections and items were donated to the Library with specific instructions concerning their terms of use.
These copyright restrictions and terms of use dictate what kind of public access is granted to each item: whether the item is digitized at all, and whether digital access is granted from anywhere or only from within the NLI building.
It depends. On each item's information page you will find a section labeled "Possible uses". In many cases, the information that appears in this section will make clear if your intended use of the item is indeed possible or not, and if so – who needs to be credited.
If there is any doubt, and certainly if the text specifically mentions the need to obtain permission from the copyright owner, you can make use of the Library's copyright query service in order to understand what is permitted and who needs to be contacted. In order to use the service, fill out this form.
A. Using the search bar on the NLI website, search for whatever you're looking for in our catalog.
B. To the right of the search results you'll see several options for filtering and narrowing down your results. Under "Availability" select "online".
C. The search results will now only display items that can be viewed online remotely.
💡If the "online" option doesn't appear, this means that the search results only include items that can be viewed in the NLI building (either physically or digitally).
💡In some cases, you will see a download option to the right of the item. If you do not see this option, this means that the item's terms of use do not allow for download.
A. Search the catalog for the title of the article, the author or subject.
B. At the top of the page of search results you will see a toolbar with various categories of materials. Select "Articles Search" and you will be transferred to a separate interface dedicated to articles.
C. On the right you will see several filtering options. Under "Availability", select "Online".
D. The results now only include articles which can be viewed remotely. You can read the article by clicking on "Full text available".
💡Once you have opened the article. Look for an option to download it in PDF form. Most articles include such an option, though the location of the download button may vary.
💡If the "Online" option does not appear, this may mean that the article you have searched for is only available in printed form, or that it is only available digitally from within the NLI building. You can either read it at the Library or purchase a digital scan of the article, here.
JSTOR is an online database offering digital access to academic journals, books, and primary sources. Access is limited to individuals or academic institutions that have purchased a subscription.
Thanks to a unique agreement between JSTOR and the NLI, anyone in Israel can benefit from free access to dozens of journals and periodicals in Hebrew covering a broad selection of topics in the social sciences and the humanities.
A. Register, free of charge, on the NLI website (here).
B. Enter the JSTOR database using this link.
C. Selected the desired journal (from within the list or via the search bar).
💡Looking for a particular edition? Once you select the journal, you will be presented with a list of all editions and volumes, arranged by year.
💡Looking for a particular subject?
To search within the journal you've selected – type the subject in the search bar under the title of the journal.
To search all available journals – type the subject at the top of the page, near the JSTOR logo.
We've also prepared a video explanation (use the auto-generated Youtube subtitles for English)
The NLI website offers free access to international online databases: Some are dedicated to a particular subject (like music or Judaism) and some are more general.
A. Register, free of charge, on the NLI website.
B. Already signed up? Log in with your username and password.
C. Using this link you can view the list of available websites and select the database you are interested in.
We've also prepared a video explanation (use the auto-generated Youtube subtitles for English)
The NLI preserves newspapers published in Israel in all languages as well as Jewish newspapers from around the world and different newspapers from across the Middle East. Most of these are preserved in their original newspaper from or on microfilm. To view these physical editions, one must come and visit the NLI building. However, nearly 800 of these newspapers have had all or a large part of their historical back issues uploaded to our Historical Jewish Press website. This digital collection now includes many thousands of newspaper editions.
A large part of the newspaper editions which are online can be fully accessed from your home. However, in some cases the publishers and copyright owners have limited the use of certain editions so that they can only be viewed from within the NLI building.
In most cases, newspapers that were published in the 21st century can only be viewed from within the NLI building, while papers from the first half of the 20th century can be viewed remotely. Please note that there are exceptions in both of these cases. The website displays information relating to every individual newspaper, which of its editions can be accessed online and from where.
All of the newspapers on the website are listed here.
You can search for a certain paper or filter by language, year or place of publication.
Clicking on the name of the newspaper will lead to a page displaying information about it and the editions which we have available on the website.
Using this link, you can select the desired date and see what papers are available from that day.
Here you can search through the full text of all available newspaper editions.
💡Haven't found what you're looking for? Try to think of different name spellings or wordings. Some phrases we use today were not as common in the press in the past.
💡You can now search through our Historical Jewish Press collection from the NLI catalog. Type in your keywords and select the tab: "Search in the Newspaper Collection".
The NLI preserves 95% of the world's Hebrew manuscripts! Some are preserved in their original form and some are saved as photographic copies or digital scans.
If your research focuses particularly on Jewish manuscripts, we recommend your conduct your searches on the Ktiv website, which offers useful search options and tools. You can also find kettubot, book bindings and genizah fragments on the Ktiv website.
If you are searching for manuscripts as well as other types of material, you can also find all of the manuscripts in our online collection using our regular catalog search tool (the search bar on the NLI homepage).
Most of the manuscripts are digitized and can be viewed remotely. A small portion have not yet been digitized or have had their viewing rights restricted by their owners.
A. Enter the Ktiv website here
B. In the search bar, switch "All items" to "Available outside NLI"
C. Found a manuscript you're interested in? Click "View manuscript" or click on the image.
When viewing a manuscript, to the left of the manuscript you will see a circle with three dots inside of it. Clicking on the circle will present the options you have available (for example: Share, Download or Embed). If the download option does not appear, this means the item is restricted by copyright or terms of use.
The catalog information page of every manuscript includes the item's terms of use.
To the left of the manuscript there is a copyright © symbol. Clicking on it will display information on what can and can't be done with the manuscript.
If you have a loan membership, you can order a book delivered to your address (assuming a loan copy is available).
Delivery is available for a fee and does not include the book's return, which is your own responsibility.