National Library of Scotland

Collections

Explore over 61 million items. Search catalogues, browse eResources and read stories about or inspired by our collections.

Search our collections

Main catalogue

Printed, moving image, digital, and archive and manuscript collections, plus eResources and databases.
A woman standing between two long runs of book shelves stares at the old leather bound books in awe.

Map images

Over 400,000 historic maps of the UK and Ireland and beyond, in zoomable high resolution, with tools to find, compare and annotate.
Close-up photo of a map.

Archives and manuscript catalogue

Unpublished materials, from personal and writer archives to business records.
Close-up of an intricately illustrated manuscript with rich colours.

Moving Image Archive

Moving images from home movies to documentaries and from industry to entertainment.
Black and white still of a man holding a super-8 camera up to his face.

Browse digitised items and resources

Digital gallery

View a selection of digitised items from our world-class collections, including books, maps, films and more.
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eResources

Access online resources to help you in work, research or leisure, wherever you live in Scotland. Find books, journals, newspapers, and much more.
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Data Foundry

Access datasets ready for analysis, reuse and creative exploration across text, metadata, maps and more.
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Need help getting started?

Find out all about our collections, our catalogues, and how to use them.
Browse our guides

Stories

Explore our collections through articles, reflections and insights

Dear Libraries, this is why you matter

A reflection on what libraries make possible inspired by hundreds of letters shared by visitors to our 'Dear Library' exhibition.
A baby sitting on an adult's lap while they read them a story.

From crime to collection: Burke and Hare at the Library

Learn about the Westport Murders by Burke and Hare that reverberated through Edinburgh in 1828 and how our collections explore them.
A collection of anatomical images from Encylopaedia Britannica published in 1823.

Life, letters and low tide in Shetland: Valda and MacDiarmid

Letters between Valda Trevlyn Grieve and her husband, poet Hugh MacDiarmid, shine a light on a story of hardship, creativity, and devotion.
Christopher and Valda Grieve standing facing each other in a field on Shetland.

Bearing and begetting

Inspired by a Gaelic poem in our collections, author Mairi Kidd has written her own fictional account of the origins of the poem.
A painting of a person riding a horse towards a group of people.

Discover endless stories and resources.

Join the Library to get access to our reading rooms, visit us to get a library card, preorder books online and access our digital resources wherever you are and at anytime you need them.
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