Česká literární bibliografie Czech Literary Bibliography

Help

The Czech Literary Bibliography databases are accessible via the VuFind central search engine. Currently the system provides for a unified search in all CLB bibliographical databases. We are preparing the gradual integration of other CLB resources (the Czech Literary Figures database, Literary Awards database and the like).

Any comments or remarks are welcome at clb@ucl.cas.cz , and  errors may also be reported directly in the form of comments  for individual records.

Resources accessible in VuFind

Record structure

Each individual record in the Czech Literary Bibliography database is annotated and contains information about the descriptive unit divided into individual fields and subfields. Some fields are mandatory (highlighted orange in the table below), while others are filled in at the discretion of the record processor (usually with what is known as a factual description).

All relevant fields (author and especially the fields for subject / factual description) have been systematically linked to what is known as the set of national authorities since the transition to the MARC21 format, i.e. since 2012, thanks to which it is possible to distinguish, for example, namesakes and homonymous terms. Older records were linked to the set of national authorities during the conversion. If this was not possible, this information is added manually during database editing.

Comparison of historically used database formats in the ISIS system and the current MARC21 database structure
Name of fieldISIS – olderISIS – youngerMARC21Note
System numberXXXAfter conversion new, old in 035.
Type of recordXXXFor “ISIS – older” format, added during conversion.
TitlesXXXIn MARC21 a number of options, in ISIS a note is often used.
AuthorsXXXUnified during conversion in line with MARC21 rules.
Author’s role codeXXXUnified during conversion in line with MARC21 rules.
Info on liability XXUnified during conversion in line with MARC21 rules.
Name of sourceXXXUnified during conversion in line with MARC21 rules.
Bibliographical citationXXXIn ISIS individual parts originally as separate fields. Unified during conversion in line with MARC21 rules..
Designation of publication XX 
Publisher’s detailsXXX 
Physical description XX 
SeriesXXX 
Note XX 
Form/genreXXXA controlled  vocabulary with a lmited number of values in an ISIS database.
Language XXFor ISIS – older format supplemented during conversion on the basis of the source document.
Country of publication  XFor ISIS format supplemented as circumstances permit on the basis of the journal title or the place of publication.
AnnotationsXXX 
Specification of parts XXFor ISIS  – older format, may be in the annotation.
Subject – Linked worksXXXFor ISIS  – older format, the second and subsequent work in the annotation, semi-automatically detached.
Subject – Action XXFor ISIS  – older format, may be in the annotation. semi-automatically detached.
Subject – IndividualsXXX 
Subject – Institutions XXFor ISIS  – older format, may be in the annotation. semi-automatically detached.
Subject  Chronological term  XFor ISIS  – older format,  not monitored, for ISIS younger format supplemented on MDT basis.
Subject  Geographical term  Xor ISIS  – older format, in the annotation, for ISIS  younger format as keywords, detached during conversion as a separate field.
Thematic groupsX  The original factual description system based on what are known as bibliographical annual anthologies, amended during conversion into factual terms expressed in words
KeywordsXXXFor ISIS format a record is made of those factual descripton values which could not be detached elsewhere, in  MARC21 only those values in the actual factual description which are not in the authorities database.
MDT XXFor ISIS older format not used for ISIS   younger format used  either as MDT or a keyword. After conversion to MARC21 used in all cases.
Conspectus group  XOnly for entries in MARC21.
ČNB No.  XOnly for entries in MARC21.
ISBN  XOnly for entries in MARC21. sporadically for ISIS younger format.
ISSN  X 
Content type  XOnly for entries using RDA standards (as of 1.5.2015).
Media type  XOnly for entries using RDA standards (as of 1.5.2015)
Medium type  XOnly for entries using RDA standards (as of 1.5.2015)
URL address  XOnly for entries in MARC21.

Database searches

Database searches may be performed in several different ways:

  1. (unless another option is selected, the system primarily searches all entries; the entire database may be displayed by entering an empty query)
  2. ed navigation in the right-hand column

Export

It is still possible to export a limited number of 200 records in MARCXML and binary MARC21 formats from the system. One interesting alternative is to export the data to PDF format via the “Print” menu. The user can also send the search to e-mail or save it in the user account.

Registration

Registration in the system is not mandatory, but it enables you inter alia to store your own searches within the system, create a set of favourite records, attach comments to individual records and return to older queries.

Setting options

The system allows you to choose from about thirty language alternatives for the interface (in the “Language” menu top right), set the number of individual records per page and sort the records from the youngest / oldest (up to the day level in all cases), according to relevance, article title or author name.

Other functionality

Based on the presence of identifiers such as ISSN, ISBN and Czech National Bibliography numbers, data is presented via the Obálkyknih.cz  service on other related materials, especially  book and magazine covers.

The data currently being processed,  especially for the Literary Internet Bibliography and the Samizdat Bibliography, is systematically supplemented by links to the original location of the given document in the network, or also to  its archive copy at the Webarchiv.cz portal.

Search tips

Wildcards

Use the ? sign to replace exactly one character in a search term.

Example: To find “text” or  “test”: te?t

Use the * sign to replace any number of characters in a search term.

Example: To find everything containing  test, testy, testovat etc.: test*

Wildcards may also be inserted   in the middle of a search term: te*t

Note: Wildcards * and  ? cannot be used at the beginning of a search term.

Approximate searches

Use the ~ sign (tilde) at the end of a single-word expression.

Example: For all words similar to zrno use the following: zrno~

To specify the similarity you may use another parameter. Its value must be between 0 and 1,  and the closer the value comes to  1, the more similar the search terms are.

Example: zrno~0.8

The default value for this advanced parameter is 0.5.

Search by word proximity

Use the ~ sign (tilde) at the end of a multiword expression.

Example: To search for the words divadlo and Topol, at most ten words from each other:  “divadlo Topol”~10

Searches by range

To search within a particular range use  braces { }.

Example: to search for words beginning in A, B or C: {A TO C}

Numerals may be used in the same way.

Example: To search by years: [2000 TO 2003]

Weights of words in queries

To increase the weight (significance) of a word in comparison with others the ^ sign  (caret) may be used.

Example: In the expression: divadlo Topol^5  greater emphasis will be placed on the word “Topol”.

Logical search operators

Boolean operators enable you to combine queries using logic. This catalogue is able to process the following logical operators: AND , +, OR , NOT and –.

Note:  These operators must always be  written in CAPITAL letters

AND

The AND  operator is the default binding operator. This means that if you do not use any operator, the AND operator will always be used. The AND operator returns results that contain all search terms.

Example: To search  for records that contain the words “divadlo” and “Topol”, use the query: divadlo Topol or divadlo AND Topol.

+

The “+” operator means that the subsequent word in the record must always be found.

Example: to search for records  that must contain the word “divadlo” and may contain the word “Topol”, use the query: +divadlo Topol.

OR

The OR  operator means the results will include records containing at least one of the words entered.

Example: To search for records containing the expression “divadlo Topol” or just “Topol”, use the query: “divadlo Topol” OR Topol.

NOT

The NOT operator excludes from the results those records that contain the word designated  after the NOT operator.

Example: To search for all records  containing the word “divadlo”, but not containing the word “Topol” use the query: divadlo NOT Topol

Note: The  NOT operator cannot be used if there is only one expression in the search term. The following query will not bring up any results: NOT divadlo.

The –  operator will exclude from the results those records containing the expression that follows this operator.

Example: To search for all records containing the word “divadlo”, but not “Topol” use the query: divadlo -Topol.

Have you not yet found the information you require, and do you need any advice? You may consult us at clb@ucl.cas.cz.