Q: Are links available in the database to the full texts of excerpted articles?
Links to the full texts of articles are being added to individual entries on an ongoing basis both manually and automatically. At present links have been added to the full texts of (a) entries from the Literary Internet database, which refer both to the original text location on the web and to a back-up, if any, at webarchiv.cz, and (b) entries from the Literary Samizdat database, though only if the document in question is available online at scriptum.cz or another internet address. Links are also being added to other entries on an ongoing basis. So far the most recent links to be added are those for articles whose originals are available in digital form at the ICL Digital Archive of Journals.
Q: How can I report an error in the database?
You can report an error as a comment within the individual entry itself, or you can report it by e-mail clb@ucl.cas.cz.
Q: Is all CLB data freely accessible or do you need to register to gain access?
All CLB data sources are freely available under open-access conditions. Any usage for publication purposes requires the CLB to be cited as the source (more details on CLB citations here). Registration is only required for access to researchers’ individualized accounts, which cannot be technically dealt with in any other way.
Q: What do I get by registering for the CLB databases?
Registration is optionally possible for the main search interface in the VuFind and the RETROBI systems. Registering enables users to set up individual research accounts in which they can store the results of their previous work (searches, individualized comments, tags and the like).
Q: Why is it necessary to mention usage of the CLB databases in printed publications?
The requirement to mention CLB usage arises both from the need for the regular international assessment of Czech research infrastructures and more recently from the requirement of the Government Council for Research, Development and Innovation to provide an attribution to research infrastructures so that the R&D system in the Czech Republic as a whole can be evaluated. Recommended CLB citation formats can be found here.
Q: How up-to-date is the article database?
The Contemporary Bibliography team processes the current output of Czech and foreign periodicals on Czech studies topics to the greatest possible extent on an ongoing basis as individual titles arrive at the ICL Library. In the case of the periodical press (dailies, magazines and journals with publishing frequency of at least once a month), the usual processing time for each entry is in the order of individual days, while in the case of books and annual anthologies it is weeks from publication. Current data from internet sources are excerpted collectively over a certain period of time, usually one month. It is the ambition of the CLB to be as up-to-date as possible in processing the latest output. We regularly update information on annual anthologies that have already been excerpted in the database of excerpted journals and magazines.
Q: Why is it that in some cases the date of birth or death in the Czech Literary Figures database differs from the information given in some other author databases?
In some cases the information can differ because when we process the entries in the Czech Literary Figures database we verify the personal data for individuals no longer alive in official documents such as those in registries, whereas in the case of living individuals we go straight to the authors themselves. Standard databases take their information from various public sources, where an incorrect reference might have been made or copied and not subsequently verified. Information acquired directly from the person in question or from sources of an official nature is marked in the database with a “verified” tag.
