Basic principles

A national bibliography is an index of publications within a defined area, be that a state or language area. National bibliographies strive to be comprehensive and encompass all topics. They are often created by national libraries on the basis of a right to claim deposit copies.

The Deutsche Nationalbibliografie (German National Bibliography) can be accessed free of charge via the catalogue of the German National Library at https://dnb.dnb.de. The catalogue serves as an initial bibliographic index and contains the entire library holdings. We thereby meet our legal mandate to perform seamless bibliographic indexing of all texts, images and sound recordings published in Germany or in the German language, translated from German or relating to Germany that have been issued since 1913:

• media works published in Germany,
• German-language media works published abroad,
• foreign translations of German-language media works published abroad,
• so-called Germanica, i.e. foreign-language media works published abroad that relate to Germany,
• printed works compiled or published between 1933 and 1945 by German-speaking emigrants.

The continuity of the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie is safeguarded by means of our data protection policy and our work in the field of long-term availability.

An overview of all available metadata as well as the different options of obtaining data is given here.

Structure of the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie

The various series of the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie and the New Release Service are arranged according to subject categories based on the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC).

The Deutsche Nationalbibliografie encompasses the following series:

Series A

Monographs and periodicals from the publishers’ book trade. Books, magazines, non-music recordings, other AV media, microforms and electronic publications. Since Bibliography year 2004, it also contains the translations and Germanica previously indexed in Series G. Series A hasd been published weekly.
Detailed information on the bibliographic description of publications in series A is available here.

Series B

Monographs and periodicals from outside the publishers’ book trade. Books, magazines, non-music recordings, other AV media, microforms and electronic publications. Series B has been published weekly.
Detailed information on the bibliographic description of publications in series B is available here.

Series C

Maps. Series C has been published quarterly.
Detailed information on the bibliographic description of publications in series C is available here.

Series H

University publications. Dissertations and postdoctoral theses from German universities and German-language dissertations and postdoctoral theses from abroad. Series H has been published monthly.
Detailed information on the bibliographic description of publications in series H is available here.

Series M

Printed music and music publications. Series M has been published monthly.
Detailed information on the bibliographic description of publications in series M is available here.

Series O

Online publications. Series O has been published monthly.
Detailed information on the publications in series O is available here.

Series T

Recorded Music. Series T has been published monthly.
Detailed information on the bibliographic description of publications in series T is available here.

New Release Service (ND)

The New Release Service (ND) offered by the German National Library provides information on advance announcements and new publications.
Detailed information on the New Release Service (ND) is available here.

Access options

We offer various ways of free access our national bibliographical offering:

• Interface SRU
• Ongoing update of metadata
• Regular provision of full copies

• Catalogue

  • In the data shop you will find the bibliographic data of all series of the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie (A, B, C, H, M, O, T). Furthermore, numerous selection criteria can be individually set, such as:

    • Filter for the individual series of the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie and search function for individual deliveries
    • Limiting of search results according to, for example, material types or catalogues and collections
    • Saving of search profiles
    • Exporting of result lists as an individual bibliography in PDF format (only available in German)
  • The online newsletters (PDF) of the individual series of the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie (excluding Series O) as well as the New Release Service can be accessed via the start page of the catalogue of German National Library (hyperlink in the right column). Individual editions of a series are available through each series’ catalogue index (A, B, C, H, M, T) via the hyperlink “Relevant publications/issues” („Zugehörige Ausgaben/Hefte“).

Terms of use and provision

Detailed information on terms of use and provision is given here.

Historical background

On 3 October 1912, the contract for the formation of the German Library – the precursor to the National Library – was agreed between the Kingdom of Saxony, the City of Leipzig and the German Book Traders’ Association of Leipzig. The main task of this new library was to be the collecting, archiving and indexing of publications issued within the German Reich, Austria and Switzerland from 1 January 1913 onwards.

In April 1921, the German Library assumed responsibility for editing the book trade indexes “Tägliches Verzeichnis der erschienenen Neuigkeiten des Buchhandels” (“Daily index of new publications from the publishers’ book trade”) and “Wöchentliches Verzeichnis der erschienenen und der vorbereiteten Neuigkeiten des Buchhandels” (“Weekly index of new and prepared publications from the publishers’ book trade.

1931 marked the first publication in Leipzig of the “Deutsche Nationalbibliographie und Bibliographie des im Ausland erschienenen deutschsprachigen Schrifttums” (“German National Bibliography and the bibliography of German-language writings published abroad”), subdivided into Series A for new publications from the publishers’ book trade and Series B for new publications from outside the publishers’ book trade.

As a result of German partition, the German Library in Frankfurt am Main was founded in 1947. This meant that two German national bibliography indexes were published until 1990, whose content was largely identical but which over time came to feature series for subdivision. In Frankfurt am Main, this was called the “Bibliographie der Deutschen Bibliothek” (“Bibliography of the German Library”) from 1947 onward. From 1954, the title changed to “Deutsche Bibliographie” (“German Bibliography”). In Leipzig, the “Deutsche Nationalbibliographie und Bibliographie des im Ausland erschienenen deutschsprachigen Schrifttums” (“German National Bibliography and the bibliography of German-language writings published abroad”) was published from 1931 to 1990.

Since 1991, the “Deutsche Nationalbibliografie und Bibliografie des im Ausland erschienen deutschsprachigen Schrifttums” (“German National Bibliography and the bibliography of German-language writings published abroad”) and its various series have been jointly published on a continuous basis.

We can only provide a brief overview here; more detailed information about the creation of the series and their historic precursors as well as visual impressions can be found in the articles listed below. Information on the history of the German National Library can be found at: About us/History.

Contact

metadatendienste@dnb.de