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Technical fault

Due to a network fault, various services are currently down, including the DNB catalogue, beta version catalogue and ZDB. We are working on a solution and apologise for any inconvenience.

Leipzig: 30.10.to 03.11.2025

Leipzig, 30.10.2025 to 03.11.2025:The multimedia/periodical reading room and the map reading room are closed from 30.10 to 03.11.

Leipzig: 31 October 2025 (Reformation Day )

Friday, 31 October 2025: The German National Library in Leipzig will be closed. The exhibitions of the German Museum of Books and Writing will open from 10:00 to 18:00.

DNB Glossary

Have you ever been asking yourself what “Germanica” is? Or what is meant when we talk about “online publications”? With our glossary, we offer you the possibility to look up these and many other terms commonly used at the German National Library. Please note that the terminology collection is under construction and does not claim to be complete.

Are you missing a term? Then feel free to contact us at webredaktion@dnb.de.

Call number

German: Signatur

A string of characters consisting of numbers and/or letters which is affixed to a physical media work and entered into the catalogue data for that work. Libraries have different ways of assigning call numbers depending on their shelving systems and any other information required to identify and find works specifically at that location.

More about call number on our website

Collection mandate

German: Sammelauftrag

The German National Library’s statutory task of collecting and indexing Germany’s cultural and scientific heritage and preserving it for posterity. The collection mandate is rooted in the Law Regarding the German National Library (DNBG) and encompasses all physical and non-physical texts, images and sound recordings published in Germany or in the German language, translated from German or relating to Germany that have been published since 1913.

More about Collection mandate on our website

Contextual Query Language (CQL)

German: Contextual Query Language
Abbreviation: CQL

A formal language used for search queries in databases, e.g. in the DNB catalogue or through an SRU interface.

More about Contextual Query Language (CQL) on our website

Creative Commons licenses

Abbraviation: CC licenses
German: Creative-Commons-Lizenzen

Various pre-prepared licence contracts from the non-profit organisation Creative Commons that provide the copyright holders with a non-bureaucratic method of assigning third parties the right to share, use or process the work without the third party having to expressly request permission; once granted, these licences cannot be revoked. The German National Library uses and grants such “CC“ licences; for example, it makes available its national bibliographic data and all authority data under Creative Commons Zero (CC0 1.0).

More about Creative Commons licenses on our website

Cross-concordance

See also:

Crosswalk

See also:

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