Consortium of European Research Libraries

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The Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL) is an association of more than 60 mainly European research libraries with the aim of jointly developing technical solutions such as the “The Heritage of the Printed Book in Europe Database” (HPB), the “CERL Thesaurus” or the “ CERL Manuscripts Portal ”to make it easier for historians interested in book history to access scientific material. In addition, CERL arranges book science workshops and has been publishing a book and library science periodical, the so-called CERL Papers, since 1998.

The organization was founded in 1992 on the initiative of European research libraries and has been registered under English company law since 1994 as a "company limited by guarantee" based in London . The members of CERL serve on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee . The annual general meeting usually takes place in November each year. The long-term chairman of the CERL was the German professor emeritus for book and library studies at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Elmar Mittler . He was succeeded in November 2011 by Professor Ulf Göranson , who was head of Uppsala University Library until summer 2012.

The Heritage of the Printed Book in Europe Database

The "Heritage of the Printed Book in Europe Database" (HPB; until 2008: "Hand Press Book Database") currently contains almost 3 million entries for prints from the beginnings of the art of printing up to the middle of the 19th century. A search in the HPB includes all data that has been submitted to the database by 24 institutions in 15 countries. It offers scholars from all historical and humanities disciplines safe and fast access to Europe's cultural heritage in print. The detailed description of individual titles also makes it possible to compare different copies or variants of the same print. Old books can thus be found in the main European libraries in a single search.

The HPB is constantly being expanded. New admissions are primarily submitted by libraries that are members of the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL). CERL is continuously expanding the HPB with new data that increase the informative value and bibliographical range of the database and increase its usefulness for academic work. Most of the data recorded in the HPB were collected from the book itself. Only a small number of titles were retro-converted.

From September 2007 to 2013, the HPB database was hosted at OCLC and used OCLC's FirstSearch and Connexion software. Access was also possible via Z39.50 . It has been hosted by GBV since September 2013 . The database is accessible to member organizations of CERL.

CERL thesaurus

The CERL Thesaurus is managed by the Data Conversion Group in Göttingen . It contains place, printer, publisher and author names for the period from approx. 1450 to 1830. The CERL Thesaurus is an important tool for research because it, in addition to the Common Authority File (GND), provides an overview and provides an understanding of the name variants that appear in prints and catalogs.

The expressiveness of the CERL THESAURUS for the user is enhanced by digital content such as B. digitized images from printer brands from McKerrow and Renouard increased. It also provides a link to provenance information offered by various CERL members.

CERL portal

The CERL Portal is developed by the Electronic Publishing Center of Uppsala University Library . It enables combined searches in manuscript databases, the HPB and other relevant old stock databases and thus offers a comprehensive overview of the handwritten and printed cultural heritage. The differentiation between prints and manuscripts that has grown historically in libraries is overcome here.

Access to the book history offer from CERL

The CERL Thesaurus, the CERL Portal and the HPB can be accessed free of charge on the Internet.

Full members

(As of August 2008)

See also

literature

Selection in German

  • Monika Estermann, 'On the way to a complete European catalog: To the conference of the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL) in Munich', in: Buchhandelsgeschichte 1997/4, ed. from the Historical Commission of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, 1997, 197-9.
  • Claudia Fabian, 'Cataloging old holdings as a joint European task: Report on the International Conference on Retrospective Cataloging in Europe, 15th to 19th century materials, from November 28 to 30, 1990 in Munich', in: Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie 38 (1991), 227-235.
  • Claudia Fabian, 'The founding of the Euro database for cataloging old holdings in Europe: Report on the second International Conference on Retrospective Cataloging in Europe, 15th to 19th century printed materials, from January 29th to 30th, 1992 in Munich', in: Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliography 39: 207-216 (1992).
  • Claudia Fabian, 'The Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL) and the establishment of a database for early European prints (1450-1830)', in: Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie 41 (1994), 11-17.
  • Claudia Fabian, 'The Hand Press Book Database' of the Consortium of European Research Libraries'. in: From Gutenberg to the Internet: 7th German Library Congress, 87th German Librarians' Day in Dortmund 1997, Frankfurt am Main, Klostermann, 1997, 61–69.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ HPB Database