Simple search
(1) Enter your search term in the search field.
(2) Click the magnifying glass icon or press Enter.
The results list shows all entries in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek that match your search term.
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Further information
Upper/lower case
The case of the search terms is irrelevant. The entries alter Friedhof and Alter Friedhof produce the same results.
Number of search terms
You can enter multiple search terms in the search field, for example the first and last name of a person and the place where they lived. The results list only includes entries which contain all the search terms. So the more search terms you enter, the fewer results you will get.
Tip: Start off with 1-3 search terms and refine the results using filters, Filtering search results
Wildcards
In your search you can use the wildcards question mark ? and asterisk * for certain characters in search terms. The question mark ? stands for an individual character, while the asterisk * stands for any number of characters. Permitted characters are letters and numbers.
You would typically use wildcards when a term has several spellings or could also occur as part of a word.
Examples:
- With the entry Schmi?t you would find the names Schmidt and Schmitt.
- With the entry *archiv you would find all archives: Staatsarchive, Stadtarchive, Bilderarchive etc.
- The entry Schiller*museum will find Schillermuseum, Schillernationalmuseum, Schiller-Museum etc.
Wildcards can be placed at the beginning, end or anywhere within the search term.
Note: Currently wildcards cannot be placed at the beginning of a word, which means that search terms like *archiv cannot be used at this time.
Displaying all contents
To display the entire contents of the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, enter an asterisk * in the search field and press Enter. Alternatively you can just leave the search field blank and press Enter.
The search results will be displayed in random order. You can page through the results list and narrow it down using the filters, Filtering search results
Spelling
Apart from the upper/lower case, make sure you spell your search terms correctly. The search function does not offer a spellcheck and cannot find search terms with typos.
Umlauts and other diacritical characters
The umlauts ä, ö, and ü are identical to ae, oe and ue in the search. So a search for Bär would also find Baer. And vice versa - a search for Baer would also find Bär.
For the purposes of the search, letters with an accent, tilde or other diacritical mark are identical to the basic form of the letter. So, for example, a search for été (French for "summer") would also find ete and vice versa.
Hyphens
Hyphens are treated by the search function as blanks. So the search terms Schiller-Museum and "Schiller Museum" produce the same results.