What is a blurb?

A blurb is the digital twin of the classic cover text that can be found on the back of a book. It gives a short description of the media work in question. Just as a table of contents and the display of a cover image, it can help in assessing the relevance of a publication.

How does the German National Library provide blurbs?

The blurb is transmitted along with the relevant metadata when a publisher announces a publication to VLB – German Books in Print. The German National Library makes use of these texts for the purpose of catalogue enrichment. If a blurb is available for a publication in the VLB, it is provided as a hyperlink in the bibliographic record in the catalogue of DNB as well as in the metadata of the media work in question.

Is a blurb available for every media work?

There are currently over 1.5 mio bibliographic data records in DNB holdings that feature a hyperlink to a blurb. Whether a blurb can be provided depends on the availability of the relevant information in the metadata of the VLB, the latter focusing on publications of the German publishing market currently available or newly announced.

Contact

metadatendienste@dnb.de

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