Explore personal archives and private collections from families, associations, and organisations. You can also access the National Library’s special book collections.

Arken collects archives of famous people who have been important for Swedish cultural life and cultural history. Here you will find letters, photographs, notes, manuscripts and sound recordings. In addition, the service contains documents from companies, organisations and associations that are or have been active on the cultural scene.

The service also has a list of the National Library's special book collections. There are collections on different themes and with different provenances, as well as material from bookbinders and printers. Many of the collections contain rarities, ranging from printed matter with unique typography to particularly magnificent book bindings.

How to search

You can search free text by archive description, name, institution, subject, geographical location and document type. It is also possible to browse the archives and collections using the same criteria. All descriptions have an introductory overview that summarises the type of documents they contain.

Digitised material

If you want to study the material, you have to do it on site at the library. However, some of the documents are available in digital form and are free to download directly from Arken. When you are on the service's home page, click on Digital objects under the heading Browse by. This will bring up a hit list of all digital material.

Documents in Umeå

Arken also contains objects from Umeå University Library. These are mainly documents from cultural figures with a connection to northern Sweden, as well as documents from completed research projects at the university. You can access this material on site in Umeå University Library.