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database: Verfasser-Datenbank
database: Verfasser-Datenbank

Verfasser-Datenbank

Autorinnen und Autoren der deutschsprachigen Literatur und des deutschsprachigen Raums: Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart

Database of Authors: Writers of German-Language Literature and the German-Speaking World – From the Beginning to the Present Day
Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Overview

About this database

From 2012 on, the Verfasser-Datenbank (Database of Authors) enables, for the first time, the renowned standard reference works Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters, Deutscher Humanismus 14801520, Frühe Neuzeit in Deutschland 15201620, Frühe Neuzeit in Deutschland 16201720, and the Killy-Literaturlexikon to be used systematically in electronic form. Over 20,000 lexicon articles on authors of German literature, ranging from the very beginnings to the present, were cross-linked in this Online Reference Work and their content can be accessed in a targeted manner using differentiated search criteria. In ongoing updates, the part of Online Reference relating to the Middle Ages is revised in terms of content and supplemented by many current literature references which are linked to the library collections. An advisory board of established experts guarantees the high academic quality of the content revision. For help and more information on our Online Reference Products, please click here.

The articles in the VDBO have been linked to external sources, such as the Catalog of the German National Library (GND), the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF), the German Biography (ADB/NDB), the "Handschriftencensus" (HSC), and the digital edition "Lyrik des deutschen Mittelalters" (LDM).

Your Benefits

  • Based on over 20,000 articles, this online reference work provides comprehensive and reliable information about literary authors in the German-speaking world from the Middle Ages to the present
  • Targeted research by names, titles of works, epochs, manuscripts, places of printing, literature references etc.
  • Ongoing content revision of the 'dictionary of authors' Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters (German Literature of the Middle Ages)
  • Updated references to all articles at publication and a further 3,500 new references per year
  • Ongoing updates
  • Linking to the library collections

Supplementary Materials

Editorial

Editorial

Entries from Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters (German Literature of the Middle Ages) are being revised and we are working on adding new entries continually. The editors in charge are:

Prof. Dr. Racha Kirakosian, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

Prof. Dr. Norbert Kössinger, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg

Prof. Dr. Florian Kragl, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Prof. Dr. Astrid Lembke, Universität Mannheim

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stephan Müller, Universität Wien

Prof. Dr. Julia Weitbrecht, Universität zu Köln

Lemmas A-Z

Persons A-Z

Places A-Z

Updates

Updates

Last updated on 07.02.2024

Update Frequency

Ongoing Updates

Search Help

Search Help

Here you will find instructions for searching in the Verfasser-Datenbank and explanations of the individual search functions.

Search

You have two different options for searching.

Search form

The search form allows you to search using various search criteria. To do so, select the appropriate criterion in the search field and enter your search term(s) in the search field. The following search criteria are available:

  1. Full Text: Searches in all entries for the entered terms. Finds all entries that contain all searched terms and therefore returns the most results. For a more specific search, the other search criteria are more suitable.

    The following operators can be used in the search field:
    • *: Added to a string. Searches for entries including all terms that match the searched string with any addition.
    • AND: Searches for entries including all the terms connected by this operator (default search function).
    • OR: Searches for entries including at least one of the terms connected by this operator.
    • NOT: Searches for entries including the first, but not the second of the terms connected by this operator.

    These operators can be combined with each other.

  2. Title: Finds all entries whose titles contain all searched terms. This search criterion can be used to search specifically for entries for particular terms. Search with truncation does not work at the moment.
  3. Person: Finds all entries that contain the searched person. Suggests up to 15 matching persons in alphabetical order as you type. This search criterion can be used to search for entries in which specific persons are mentioned.
  4. Author: Finds all entries with authors of the searched name. Suggests up to 15 matching author names in alphabetical order as you type. This search criterion can be used to search for entries by specific authors.
  5. Publication: Select an underlying print publication from the drop-down menu. Finds all entries of this publication.
  6. Type: Select a type from the drop-down menu. In type Person are all entries which are about authors, in type Work are entries which are about works. Finds all entries of this type.
  7. Period: Select a period from the drop-down menu. Finds all entries which are assigned to this epoch: Mittelalter (bis 1500), Frühe Neuzeit 1620-1720, Humanismus und Frühe Neuzeit (1500 bis 1750), Literatur von 1750 bis 1900, Moderne (ab ca. 1900), Gegenwartsliteratur (nach 1950 geborene Autoren).
  8. Publication Year: Select Exact to search for a single year, or Range to search for a range of years. Finds all entries that have been published electronically in this year or range of years.
  9. Place: Finds all entries which contain the searched place. Suggests up to 15 matching places in alphabetical order as you type. This search criterion can be used to search for entries in which specific locations are mentioned.
  10. Work: Finds all entries that contain the searched work. Suggests up to 15 matching works in alphabetical order as you type. This search criterion can be used to search for entries in which specific works are mentioned.
  11. Date: Select Exact to search for a single date (required: year; optional: month and day), or Range to search for a range of years (required: years; optional: month[s] and day[s]). Finds all entries that have this date or range of years.
  12. Occupation: Finds all entries for persons to whom the searched occupation is assigned. Suggests up to 15 matching occupations in alphabetical order as you type. This search criterion can be used to find entries for people who held specific occupations.
  13. Place of Birth: Finds all entries for persons born at the searched place. Suggests up to 15 matching birthplaces in alphabetical order as you type.
  14. Place of Death:: Finds all entries for persons who died at the searched location. Suggests up to 15 matching places of death in alphabetical order as you type.
  15. Date of Birth: Select Exact to search for a single date (required: year; optional: month and day), or Range to search for a range of years (required: years; optional: month[s] and day[s]). Finds all entries for persons born on the searched date or in the searched range of years.
  16. Date of Death: Select Exact to search for a single date (required: year; optional: month and day), or Range to search for a range of years (required: years; optional: month[s] and day[s]). Finds all entries for persons who died on the searched date or in the searched range of years.
  17. Bibliography: Finds all entries whose bibliography contains all searched terms. This search criterion can be used to search for specific sources or their titles, authors, etc.
  18. Entry language: Select a language from the drop-down menu. Finds all entries which are written in this language. Only German language is available for VDBO.

Please note: The search is not case sensitive.

You have the option to apply several search criteria at the same time. To do this, click on "Add row" in the search form. This creates a second search field in which you can set another search criterion (or else the same one). You can create as many additional search fields as you like.
If you use more than one search field, the search will find all entries that match all search criteria ("Search for all of these terms"). Instead, you can also select "Search for any of these terms" above the search fields, which will cause the search to find all entries that match at least one of the searched criteria.
By clicking on "Add NOT" you create a search field to which you can assign a search criterion. Terms entered in this search field will be excluded from the search. You can add this search field as often as you like.
By combining the above functions, you are able to perform very specific searches.

Example

You want to search the Verfasser-Datenbank for all entries that mention the name "Andreas" and the place "München". However, you want to exclude the epoch "Frühe Neuzeit 1620-1720" from the search. To do this, use the search form as follows:

  1. Create a second search field via "Add row".
  2. Select the search for "all of these terms" (default option).
  3. In the first search field, select the search criterion Full Text and enter the search term "Andreas".
  4. In the second search field, select the search criterion Place and enter the search term "München".
  5. Create a third search field via "Add NOT". This is marked with a "NOT".
  6. Select the search criterion Period and select the epoch "Frühe Neuzeit 1620-1720" from the drop-down menu of the search field.
  7. After clicking on "Search" you will see 10 out of 69 hits in the results list.

A-Z

On the start page of the database you can view indices of all contained persons and places from A to Z. By clicking on a term you get to the results list, which shows all entries that contain the place or person. In case of a lemma the results list shows all entries which have the full lemma in their title.

Results list

The results that match your search are listed on one or more pages. The number of search results as well as the search criteria can be found above the results list.

Each search result consists of the title of the entry, author(s) if existent, access information, entry type, online publication date (print publication date in brackets, if applicable), the cover of the database as well as a button to download the PDF ("Download PDF"), if available, and a text preview showing relevant text passages and highlighting the searched term in yellow (only for Full Text search criterion).

You can access a search result by clicking on the title or cover of the database. If you do not have access to the database, please log in first.

The search results are sorted by relevancy (frequency and weighting of the searched terms). You can also sort by date ("New to old" or "Old to new") or by title ("A to Z" or "Z to A").
Furthermore, instead of the default 10 results per page, you can also display 20, 50 or 100 results per page.

The search results can be further restricted under "Filter Results". Various filter options are available for this:

  1. Access: This option filters the search results according to who can access them. By default, "All content" is found. It is possible to filter by "Licensed content", "Open Access", "Publicly available" as well as "All available content".
  2. Person
  3. Publication
  4. Type
  5. Period
  6. Publication Year
  7. Place
  8. Work
  9. Occupation
  10. Place of birth
  11. Place of death
  12. Entry language

All filters can be combined with each other. Filtering by certain filter options excludes further certain filter options if there are no entries which match both options.

Downloaded on 19.3.2024 from https://www.degruyter.com/database/vdbo/html
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