In the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library), millions of objects from museums, libraries, archives and other cultural and science institutions can be researched, downloaded and shared. How to search and how to quickly research interesting objects and collections, is shown below in more detail.
Graphic search scenarios for beginners, science, education and placement users, as well as family research were prepared for you: Through videos, GIFs and texts, exact searches can be retraced, as well as performed. However, general information regarding search functions, user account and object pages can be found below.
3. Save search/create user account
7. Find and contact cultural institutions
(1) Click on the search field. A new search window with a grey background is opening.
(2) Enter your search term into the search box.
(3) Click the magnifying glass icon or press Enter.
The list of results shows all entries of the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, corresponding to your search term. By checking the box "Only digitised objects", only objects with a digitised image will be displayed. Objects without digitalisat (finding aids, etc.) will not be displayed in the results list. Removing the check mark will search and display all objects – with or without digitalisat.
Number of search terms
You can enter multiple search terms into the search box, such as a person's first and last name and the place where he or she lived. The search results contain only entries in which all search terms occur. The more search terms you enter, the fewer results you get.
Tip: Start with one to three search terms and refine search results by using filters.
Placeholder
When searching, can you use placeholders, question mark ? and asterisks * for specific characters. The question mark ? matches any single character. The asterisk * stands for any number of characters. Characters consist of letters and numbers.
Placeholders are typically used when a term has multiple spellings or occurs as part of a word.
Examples:
Inputting Schmi* will display names Schmidt and Schmitt.
Inputting Schiller*museum, will display Schiller Museum, Schiller National Museum, Schiller Museum, etc.
Placeholders can be at the end and anywhere within the search term.
Note: Placeholders cannot be placed at the beginning of the word.
View Total Inventory
To view the total holdings of the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, type * in the search box, and then press Enter. Alternatively, you can leave the search box blank and press Enter.
The search results are displayed in a random order. You can browse through the search results and narrow them down using the filters.
Spelling
If you do not know the correct spelling, you will be shown an alternative suggestion when viewing the results (“Did you mean…?”).
Boolean Operators
You can refine the search by entering Boolean operators. If you want to search for all results in which the term "Schillermuseum" can be found, but the term "Weimar" does not occur, then this query is possible by entering "SCHILLERMUSEUM NOT Weimar". If you are looking for results that contain either "Schillermuseum" or "Weimar", enter "Schillermuseum OR Weimar". The operators must be entered in English and in capital letters. The search with Boolean operators is currently possible in the search slot of the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, but not in the newspaper portal.
Phrase search
A phrase search allows you to search for words in the immediate vicinity. Individual words are combined into a phrase by quotation marks. While, for example, a search for Schillermuseum Weimar returns all those issues as results in which the words Schillermuseum and Weimar occur in any positions (e.g. ... the Schillermuseum in Weimar ... City of Weimar and the Schiller Museum ...), a phrase search for "Schiller Museum Weimar" restricts the result to issues in which the words Schiller Museum and Weimar occur in exact succession. A combination of phrase search and wildcard search is supported, one gets in the search for "Schillermuseum Weimar" Goethe? you will get hits that contain both the phrase you are looking for and the term you are searching for using wildcards. The use of wildcards within a phrase search is not supported.
Extensive search results can be further narrowed down by using filters. The following filters are displayed above the search results:
Object type: Displays only results of the selected object type, such as illustrations or monographs.
Person/Organisation: Displays only results for selected persons or organisations. This can be the author or publisher of a work, an author, painter, photographer, etc.
Usability: Displays results by usability. You can choose between three options: “Unrestricted” (objects can be reused without legal restrictions, CC0 and public domain), “With Restrictions” (objects can be reused under certain conditions, Creative Commons licenses) and “On Demand” (under what conditions the objects can be used, must be clarified with the cultural and science facility that provides the object)
Media type: Displays only results of the selected media types, such as videos and audios.
By clicking "Show more filter options", the following filters will be available:
Location: Displays only results that are associated with the selected locations. This can be the location of a monument, the place of birth or work of an artist, the place where a document is kept, etc.
Keyword: Displays only results that are associated with the selected keywords.
File format: Displays only results that have one of the specified file formats. These are, for example, images (jpeg), audios (audio), videos (mp4) or pdf files.
Language: Displays only results where the original or the information is available in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek selected languages.
Legal status: Filters results by the legal status of the object. You can choose between 19 different licenses. These include the various Creative Commons licenses, public domain and copyrighted objects.
Division: Displays only results of the selected divisions, for example only results from archives, museums or libraries.
Data partners: Displays only results provided by cultural or science institutions to be selected in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek.
Period from – Period to: Displays only results of dates within the entered time period. Depending on the search query, it is the time of creation of a work, the year of publication, the duration, etc. Years before Christ are entered with a "-", for example "-1000" for 1000 BC. The limitation has the following effect:
With "Advanced", objects are displayed whose dating falls wholly or partially into the searched period. For example, when searching for "1870-1871", objects with the time indication 1869/1870, 1870s or 19. Century.
"Exact" will only displays objects with dates within the exact time period selected. Searching for "1870-1871", will only display results within these exact years. Objects with the time indication 1869/1870, 1870s or 19. Century are not displayed in this case.
To set filters:
(1) Click on the desired category, for example Location.
You now have filters to choose from, which will appear in your search results.
(2) Click on the filter terms of interest, for example Munich. Search results will only display results matching the filter.
(3) By clicking on Add filter you can narrow your search with the selected filter terms.
As a rule, the list of filter terms displays the first 10 terms. The filter terms are sorted by frequency. For example, the Data partner filter first displays the ten institutions with the most objects in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek.
To reduce the list of filter terms:
You can reduce extensive lists of filter terms by typing part of the searched term into the input field. You then only have filter terms to choose from in which your input occurs.
To get all filter terms back, delete your input.
How to delete filters:
To cancel a single filter, click the cancel icon "x" next to the filter term.
To remove all filters, click Reset all filters.
When combining several filters, please note:
Filter terms from different categories can further narrow the search results. Filter terms of the same category expand the search results.
Example: With the selection Division > Museum you narrow the search results to museum objects. If you also choose the 20th century in the Time category, you can narrow down the results even further: only museum objects from the 20th century are displayed. If you add the 21st century, you expand the search results to include museum objects from the 20th and 21st Century.
You can save your searches as well as individual objects. To do this, click on the icon next to "save search" in the filter field at the top right. This symbol can also be found in your search result lists next to the individual hits. However, in order to save your searches and objects, you must first create a user account where these results will be stored.
The request to log in or create an account is made after clicking on "save search".
Clicking on an object in the search results will take you to the object page. Directly below the image you will find the regulation: This indicates whether the object is protected by copyright and under what conditions you may continue to use it. Images can be enlarged or reduced by clicking on the image or by the magnifying glass icons to the right of the object.
The four arrows icon opens the image in full screen mode. Clicking on 1:1 restores the image to its original size. Clicking on the downward pointing arrow downloads the object. In addition, you can view the object at the respective data partner by clicking on the arrow to the upper right. Here is further information and institution contact details. This is especially helpful if the image rights have to be first clarified for further use.
Below the image on the left, you will find further information about the object, the so-called metadata. Clicking on the plus sign, expands the individual menu items. On the right below the image, it shows which data partner the object originated from. Clicking on "show original data record" leads to the object at the respective data partner.
The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek distinguishes between the following media and object types in its holdings:
Media types
Texts: books, letters, archive material, dissertations, poems, newspaper articles, facsimiles, manuscripts, musical notes, etc.
Images: pictures, paintings, prints, photos, images of museum objects, maps, graphics, plans, posters
Videos: Movies, TV recordings
Audios: Music and spoken word from phonograph cylinders, sound tapes, records and radio broadcasts
Object types
The object types are sorted by frequency and include monographs, essays, photos, booklets, contact sheets, illustrations, print graphics and many more. You can use the filter facet on the left side to display and select different object types in your search or search for object types by entering text.
Connected objects
Specifically, but not only, archived objects will show on the object page whether they are “connected”. The displayed hierarchy corresponds to the institution system. Connected objects can be, for example:
(1) Parent institution or collection.
(2) Items that are superordinate to the object: expandable or unfolded.
(3) Object, currently displayed in the detail view.
(4) Number of child elements. Click the plus icon to see more elements of the same level.
(5) Other objects of the same level. Click the object name or the object icon to display the detail view.
With advanced search, search queries can be formulated more specifically. The advanced search can be found next to the default search. The use of "and/or" as well as the plus and minus characters, determines whether a search term, an exact word sequence or all search terms should appear in the results. You can also choose, which fields you want to search.
Browse
Browsing is a feature, which shows thematic searches and provides a direct result page through a topic click. The browsing entry points are created editorially, to point out a wide variety of topics in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek. You can listen to animal voices or historical shellac plates, discover the world of botany or travel the world digitally: from Bolivia to the North Pole, from Venice to the ports of the world.
To find the holdings and collections of a specific cultural or science institution, use the search slot and enter the name of the institution. Just above the search slot, click on "organisations" to display only facilities during the search. In the following search results, click on the institution you are looking for.
How to find the organisational page of the facility. If there is a linked number below the name of the institution, this means that the institution has provided data to the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek and that these are online. Clicking the number will show all facility objects.
To contact the facility about a specific object, click on the desired object listed and proceed to the object page. The red button "show original record" is located here on the right below the object. Clicking on "show original record", will direct you to the institution page where the searched object is located and where you can find additional contact information.
Discover the diverse objects within the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek through curated galleries, exciting contributions or entertaining games. Cultural and science institutions present their collections and objects in virtual exhibitions through the exhibition tool DDBstudio. We have compiled selected texts, galleries, games and virtual exhibitions by topics. With our search, you can not only research and browse through the objects in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, but also discover these curated editorial contents.
To do this, click on the Topics tab directly above the search slot on the right and then enter the search term. An empty search or a search with * shows all topics, games, articles and virtual exhibitions in chronological order.
Filter search results
Extensive search results can be further narrowed down by using filters. The following filters are available:
Content type: Choose between articles, virtual exhibitions, galleries, games and themes.
Keyword: Clicking the filter "keyword" will display the ten most common keywords. To narrow down the keywords, type part of the searched term into the input field. You will then only have filter terms to choose from in which your input appears.
Filters on overview pages
Filters can also be found on the following overview pages:
Topics: filter by subject area: art & culture, everyday life & society, nature & technology, travel & leisure, politics & history
Virtual exhibitions: here you can filter by keywords (“search virtual exhibitions”) as well as by topic areas, type of institution that curated the virtual exhibition (e.g. archives, museums, libraries) and by individual institutions
Games: filter by topic areas and game types. There are four different game types: memory & co (e.g., memories and games, naming images correctly), quiz, slider, and timeline
The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek has various sub portals - called Deutsche Zeitungportal (German newspaper portal), the Archivportal-D (archive portal-D) and the colonial collection items portal, in which historical newspapers, further archival information or digitised collection material from colonial contexts can be searched for. The respective help pages can be accessed through the following links:
Collections from colonial contexts: questions & answers
For cultural and science institutions that would like to know more about a cooperation with the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, there is DDBpro - The portal for data partners.
Do you have any further questions about searching the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek portal? Do not hesitate to geschaeftsstelle [at] deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de (contact) us!