Research and Innovation

The Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg provides innovative spaces for digital research in the humanities and social sciences.

Gateway to Digital Heritage

One of the library’s departments works specifically on digital objects and tools. The BNU coordinates the NUMISTRAL portal: the digital heritage library of the Alsatian university site and its partners, opened in 2013. It is the gateway to the digitised collections of Alsace’s higher education and research establishments (Bnu, libraries of the universities of Haute Alsace and Strasbourg), the Mulhouse municipal library and their partners.

NUMISTRAL is a collective tool designed to enhance the value of an exceptional documentary heritage, some of which dates back to the earliest times of antiquity. It is also a gateway to the scientific programmes being carried out on the Alsace site that make use of this heritage. In 2025, the NUMISTRAL portal provides access to 233,243 digitised documents.

Visit the NUMISTRAL portal here.

 

New Modular Space for Digital Humanities Research

The Bnu has also opened a Lab, a new modular space for people working with digital data in the human and social sciences. Designed as an extension to the library’s more traditional spaces, it enables researchers to work differently on collective, professional or personal projects.As an illustration of the institution’s commitment to innovation, the space is modular and designed to accommodate a range of data mediation activities.This is a major challenge for those who see digital data as the major source of information for today and for the archives of tomorrow!
Visit the Bnu Lab here and find out more about its history, services and access arrangements.

 

Visual: Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg, photo by Jean Pierre Rosenkranz.

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