German Retrospective National Bibliography Online Projects (VD 16, VD 17, VD 18): Presentation of the Databases

Abstract

The retrospective German National Bibliography – Das Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachbereich erschienenen Drucke des 16, 17, 18 Jahrhunderts – consists of three catalogues, which register printed matter from the German speaking territories, i.e. contemporary Germany, Austria, part of Switzerland and Alsace (notwithstanding the language publication language), dating from the period 1501-1800. The project started c. 40 years ago, thanks to the cooperation of a number of libraries, the majority of them German, and is supported by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). The catalogues in question are popularly referred to as VD 16, VD 17, and VD 18. Initially, the fi rst of these, VD 16, was a card catalogue, but with time it was converted into an internet database (records introduced afterwards are distinguish by the symbol “ZV”). The VD 17 is an enhanced database, supplemented by the addition of digitised versions of the described prints, while the VD 18 is still in the testing phase. All three discussed databases are available on the internet, in open access. They offer immediate access to full bibliographic descriptions, or to the digitised versions. Apart from that, they provide the user with various searching techniques, enabling investigation in numerous fi elds of knowledge.