North Rhine-Westphalian Bibliography
The North Rhine-Westphalian Bibliography is the regional bibliography of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Comprising more than 400,000 records, it is one of the most comprehensive bibliographies in Germany. Since 1983, the bibliography has been compiled by the university and state libraries in Düsseldorf and Münster in cooperation with the university and state library in Bonn and the North Rhine-Westphalian Library Service Centre (Hochschulbibliothekszentrum NRW, hbz). Since 1998, the bibliography has exclusively been maintained as an online database.
Content
The North Rhine-Westphalian Bibliography lists literature on the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, its areas, towns and cities as well as people who are originally from the state or have worked there for a long time. It encompasses all areas of life and all subjects, both past and present.
What is listed?
In addition to the independent publications, a large number of contributions from journals and collective works are listed. The share of these titles published independently is about two thirds. Some 550 periodicals, including numerous regional almanacs and local journals, are evaluated on an ongoing basis. Audiovisual and electronic media have also been listed since 1994, as have a number of online publications for several years now, too.
The bibliography strives to be as complete as possible; only school textbooks, course catalogues, church bulletins and publications only of daily value such as articles from daily and weekly newspapers are not listed. The bibliography pays special attention to so-called "grey literature", i.e. publications outside the book trade. The editorial offices in Düsseldorf and Münster are always grateful for information on literature that has not yet been listed.
How can the bibliography be used?
All resources listed in the North Rhine-Westphalian Bibliography are also listed in the union catalogue of the North Rhine-Westphalia Library Service Centre (hbz Union Catalogue) and can be searched there. The content is indexed using a classification system and verbally according to the German rules for cataloguing by keyword (RSWK). In addition to the search field on the homepage, users are able to perform advanced searches by title, author or keyword as well as by region or subject.