1. Cultural events
   1. Exhibitions
   2. Virtual exhibitions
2. Collections and services
   1. Digital Libraries - Gallica
      1. Access to Gallica digital library
      2. Gallica Experiment: Offering Digital Documents
      3. Europeana
   2. Catalogs
      1. Access to the catalogue général de la BnF
      2. Access to the Union Catalog of France (CCFr)
      3. Access to BnF archives et manuscrits
      4. Access to Mandragore
      5. Access to the catalogue de La Joie par les Livres
      6. Information concerning online catalogs
   3. Collections and departments
      1. Arts
      2. Law, economics, politics
      3. Languages and literatures
      4. Book, press and media
      5. Science and technology
      6. Humanities, philosophy and religion
      7. Social sciences
      8. The departments
   4. Information retrieval aids
      1. Ask a librarian (SINDBAD)
      2. Guide de recherche en bibliothèque
      3. Bibliographies
   5. Reproduction services
      1. Reproduction Products and Fees
      2. How to order reproductions?
      3. Picture Collection
      4. Commercial use of documents
      5. For image professionals
      6. Contact and useful links
   6. Reader registration for the Research Library
3. The BnF
   1. Practical information
      1. How to find us ?
      2. Reading rooms opening hours
      3. Admission to the reading rooms and reader’s cards rates
      4. Reserving seats and documents
      5. Research library document release times
      6. Exhibition opening hours
      7. Exhibition fees
      8. Shops and Refreshment areas
   2. About the Library
      1. BnF archives
      2. BnF Presentation Space
      3. BnF in images
      4. Internet archive: forecast study
   3. Renovation work at Richelieu Library
      1. What's new?
      2. Consulting documents at Richelieu Library
      3. Why renovating Richelieu Library?
      4. Major phases of Richelieu renovation project
      5. The protagonists of Richelieu renovation project
4. Professionals
   1. Digital legal deposit
      1. International cooperation
      2. Four questions about Web Archiving
   2. ISSN, ISBN, other identifiers
      1. Other international identifiers
   3. Cataloging and indexing
      1. Description and access
      2. Formats and encoding
      3. Data exchange protocols
      4. Modelling and Ontologies
      5. Authorities
   4. BnF data services
      1. BnF data sets
      2. Tools for downloading BnF data sets
   5. National cooperation
      1. Creating a national network
      2. CCFr and collection referencing
      3. Regional cooperation
      4. Gallica, shared digitization
      5. Cultural cooperation
   6. International activities
      1. International news
      2. “Profession Culture”
      3. International residencies and internships
      4. International bodies
      5. Partnerships
   7. Digitization
      1. Select : digitization policy and programs
      2. Digitization process
      3. Preservation: the SPAR project
      4. Online availability: access to digital resources
   8. Preservation
      1. Preservation at BnF
      2. Emergency plan
      3. Preservation and expertise
      4. Practical information sheets
      5. Training
      6. International PAC/IFLA program
5. Resources
   1. Host an event and filming
   2. Visitors with disabilities

• Digital Libraries - Gallica
• Catalogs
• Collections and departments
  • Arts
    • Architecture and city planning
    • Art and art history
    • Performing arts
    • Cinema and video
    • Prints, photographs, and posters
    • Music
  • Law, economics, politics
  • Languages and literatures
  • Book, press and media
  • Science and technology
  • Humanities, philosophy and religion
  • Social sciences
  • The departments
• Information retrieval aids
• Reproduction services
• Reader registration for the Research Library

Digital resources

• Les Signets de la BnF - Architecture
• Les Signets de la BnF - Urbanisme
• Bibliothèque numérique Gallica - Dessins de l’architecte du XVIII^e siècle, E.-L. Boullée
• Exposition virtuelle Etienne-Louis Boullée

Catalogs

• Catalogue général de la BnF
• Catalogues imprimés

Where to consult the documents ?

• Maps and Plans Department
• Prints and Photographs Department
• “Topography” section of the prints collection, mainly relating to Paris, at the Arsenal Library

Ask a librarian

SINDBAD is a free virtual reference service providing document references and factual information. Ask a librarian (SINDBAD)

Architecture and city planning

• Artistic and historical aspects
• Political and legal aspects
• City plans
• Construction techniques

City plans

Navy Hydrographic Office, Plan of La Rochelle (undated)

© BnF

A very comprehensive collection of city plans may be consulted in the Maps and Plans Department at the Richelieu Library (Site Richelieu). This collection ranges from city portraits and bird’s eye or isometric views characteristic of the earliest representations of cities to today’s geometrical plans.
Readers can study the beginnings of European urban culture via the Civitates Orbis Terrarum, a late 17th century collection of printed plates, or the specific features of coastal cities around the world via hand-drawn plans from the Hydrographic Office (16th-17th century).

Contemporary cities are also represented in these collections: medium-scale topographical maps, large-scale maps from the French Ministry for Territorial Reconstruction following the Second World War, plans for urban displays throughout the world belonging to the Decaux company, etc.

The Prints and Photographs Department holds very extensive collections of printed and hand-drawn city plans ranging from the 16th century to modern times: general plans, bird’s eye views, partial plans of urban development projects, etc.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011