Revolutionising access to knowledge: NSK transitions to advanced Alma library services platform and Primo VE discovery service
Opening a new chapter in the digital transformation of the Croatian library system, on 12 November 2025 the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) transitioned to the Alma library services platform and the Primo VE discovery service.
NSK made this historic transition within the e-Universities project, funded as part of Croatia’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026. Significantly improving the search-and-discovery experience, this latest digital library services platform now offers unified access to print, electronic and digital resources, available both in open access and through subscription.
A cloud-based system for Croatian academic libraries, named Bukinet, functionally brings together into a seamlessly integrated network NSK and 82 Croatian academic libraries which have recognised the project as an ideal opportunity for effectively responding to the requirements of today’s library users.
Millions of records, hundreds of collections – access like nothing else before
The network thus makes available over 4,1 million bibliographic records for physical items and offers direct full-text access to more than 400 digital collections as well as to over 500,000 e-journal articles. It also provides direct access to digital resources and to RapidILL, an interlibrary loan-based system for a fast and cost-effective delivery of article and book chapter scans.
The Alma/Primo VE digital library platform offers its users generative AI tools, as functionalities facilitating research, and enables the easy management of reservation, loan, interlibrary loan and digitisation requests. It may also be used for booking study pods for individual and group work offering up-to-date digital learning facilities and has many other advanced features.
Setting new standards in making knowledge accessible
The introduction of the new digital technology for library management as part the ‘e-Universities’ project and the 2021-2026 Croatia’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan is a result of the decades of efforts which the Croatian library community has put into a functional integration of Croatian libraries, says the NSK Director General Dr Ivanka Stričević, pointing out that the new digital platform’s introduction represents a turning point for both the Library and the entire Croatian national library system. This has now become a reality for university, academic and special libraries, which have come together in a unified cloud-based system in order to provide their users with high-quality, reliable, up-to-date and relevant information and thus offer them support with learning and research. Also, the system enables all the participating libraries to merge their operations and cooperate in the same way with the world’s major libraries. The ‘e-Universities’ project has enabled the setting up of the digital infrastructure necessary for the networking and linking of other libraries in Croatia, be it through the development of subordinate systems for other types of libraries or through further networking and data exchange, adds Dr Stričević.
NSK’s Assistant Director General for University Library Affairs Dr Dijana Machala, heading the NSK segment of the e-Universities project, emphasises the significance of implementing the most advanced digital technologies for improving the safety of the Croatian academic libraries system, strengthening its resilience to various cyber threats and for further developing shared library services on a global level. Also, Dr Machala brings attention to the new system’s contribution to the visibility of NSK’s data, the records of libraries making part of the Croatian legal deposit system and those relating to CROATICA, Croatia’s national library collection, within European and global shared information systems in science and education.
By implementing the Alma/Primo VE platform and the Bukinet collaborative network, the National and University Library in Zagreb has set new standards with regard to digital connectedness and providing access to knowledge. Representing one of the most important developments for the Croatian library system in the digital age, it offers its users a faster, more intelligent and simpler way to access research resources and cultural heritage.