Klassik Online

The bibliographic tradition of the HAAB Weimar began when it was the "Central Library of the German Classics", and in the 1970's numerous bibliographies on the individual authors of the classical period (Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, Herder, Heine etc.) were produced. In addition, analytical bibliographies on magazines from this period were and are still being produced. With a five-volume Nietzsche bibliography and the digitalisation and indexing of magazines such as "Jugend" or "Simplicissimus", the bibliographic reporting time of the HAAB today extends into the 20th century. The beginning of this tradition is marked by the "International Bibliography of German Classicism". Its first ten volumes were published in the magazine "Weimarer Beiträge" (Weimar Articles) from 1960 until 1964. Since 1968, the bibliography has been issued independently and was published by the Munich K.G. Saur Verlag since volume 39.1992 (1994). The last issue (vol. 52 with the yearly report of 2005) was published in 2008. Since 2000, the data has been entered in PICA format, the library system used by the library network Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund, GBV. Up until today it supplies the technical basis for Klassik online. Already since 2003, a continuation of the three-volume Weimar Goethe Bibliography, also produced in Weimar, has been available in the form of a freely accessible Internet data bank ("Weimar Goethe Bibliography online").

In spite of its name, Klassik online not only contains the German or even the Weimar Classics, but also indexes – in accordance with the core collection area of the HAAB Weimar – German literature in its entirety during the period from 1750 to 1850. The spectrum includes the literature of the Enlightenment (except for the early Enlightenment), Sentimentalism, Sturm und Drang, Classicism, Romanticism, Biedermeier, Young Germany and the Vormärz periods. The editions themselves (primary literature) as well as writings on the life, work and influence (secondary literature) of the period's predominant authors of fiction are indexed. It is required that the majority of the author's literary production must have been created during the above mentioned time period and be written in the German language. By far, the most bibliographic documentations on Klassik online refer to printed publications: monographs as well as articles from magazines, ceremonious publications and anthologies. Publications in non-European languages are only included if they have a summary or a title in a European language. In general, the autopsy principle applies, i.e. the documented publications were available to the staff; only in isolated cases are any other titles registered, if they have been distinctly identified, at other libraries of the GBV. In addition to printed matter, electronic media and other non-book materials are included (recordings, micro film and –fiche, CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs), including freely accessible and gratis online dissertations with guaranteed long-term archive storage by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library), the respective university server or similar institutions. The following are not included: graphic art without text, newspaper articles, pure sheet music, films (celluloid, VHS), fairy tale and children's books with the exception of bibliophile editions, as well as diploma, master's or Magister theses, unless they are available on the book market. 800 magazines are continually evaluated and other bibliographic registers and data banks are regularly replicated for Klassik online.

Klassik online's main function is to be a bibliographical data bank with different search options. As with electronic catalogues, an input box is used to search by person, term, catch- or keyword, publisher, year of publication, etc. By using Boolean operators ("and", "or", "and not"), it is possible to search for combinations or shut out individual components. By using "?" in any given position within a word to substitute for one or more letters, key words can be truncated. Capital and small letters, umlauts and other diacritical signs have no effect. The quantity of hits can be narrowed down by the "refined search" function. Every search query used on Klassik online can be stored on the long term and repeated at a later time. This enables the user to keep track of the respective latest literature on a particular subject. This function, realised with the so-called "RSS-Feeds" is like a news ticker and can be used in the following way: Following each search query, the field Subscribe to this Search Query (RSS) appears above the results window. After activating this field, a dynamic bookmark is set in the user's web browser that prompts the same search query during every later use. Depending on the pre-sets, the search results can be listed chronologically downwards according to publication year, i.e. from the newest to the oldest. This makes it easy to determine which titles have been added since the last search.

The data bank of Klassik online consists of two parts: next to Part 1 "Anthologies and general texts", Part 2 consists of "Texts by and about individual authors" (see Classification). The criterion for the inclusion of a publication in Klassik online is the connection to the epoch in general or to one or more authors of the period. Publications in which more than three relevant authors are treated are included in the part "Anthologies and general texts". This is where overall titles on the history of literature, culture and theatre of the time can be found. Interdependency with literature from other countries as well as texts on aesthetics, literature theory and reviews are each given their own classification. Further groups include titles on literary life around 1800, the study of genres or individual genres and forms, respectively, and about "Materials, Themes, Motifs" and "Language, Style, Metrum" of German literature of the classical period. Reviews of the publications listed in the "General part" of the system are in the same position, they are directly included in the total of 13 groups. The second part of the system of Klassik online includes "Texts by and about individual authors". Here, authors are indexed and alphabetically listed if the majority of their literary production took place between 1750 and 1850, was written in German and can be classified as fiction in the broadest sense of the category. Texts by contemporaries that are relevant in terms of content but did not fit into this category are put into the "Anthologies", and publications about more than three Klassik online authors are put into the "General texts" of the first part. As the title of the second part of the system already reveals, it is also divided into texts by (primary literature) and texts about (secondary literature) the individual authors. The classification of primary literature is basically organised the same way: complete, tranche or single editions, letters, translations, and their respective reviews. Secondary literature is handled somewhat differently: The most important authors (Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Wieland, Lessing, Hölderlin, Kleist, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Heine and Büchner) have a differentiated classification into eleven systematic parts. For all other authors there are only three parts. In both cases, the classification for secondary literature is subjected to the same three-part division: General – Life, Work and Influence – Reviews. In the first "general" part of the classification, all groups have entries; in the second part "by and about individual authors" not all of the classifications actually contain data, in the primary as well as the secondary literature. These "empty groups" are usually due the fact that especially lesser–known writers have experienced no or very little echo in the specialist literature due to the lack of interest on the part of researchers.

A service of Klassik online that exceeds the normal offerings of bibliographic data banks is the possibility to order the title found in the data bank directly and from the same screen. In order to qualify for this kind of document delivery, you must be a registered user at one of the libraries of the GBV; only the library card number and password are required. In most cases, the listing of each title includes the button  Order from the GVK network catalogue. After activating this button and entering your personal data, the inter–library loan can be placed. It is possible to either check out the book or order a copy. The normal regulations apply for loans, within the GBV as well as in cooperation with other libraries and library networks within Germany and in foreign countries. The users of Klassik online who are not registered users at any library can also directly contact us.

If you miss a title in our data bank, you can report it by using the electronic form. The "abstract" field offers you the opportunity to furnish a short summary of the contents of the title. You may also add suggestions for key words / classification to your abstract. After checking the relevance (see criteria for inclusion under "Contents and Sources"), this kind of publication would then be purchased by the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, bibliographically indexed and listed in the data bank. Please support us in keeping Klassik online as complete and up-to-date as possible for use as a research instrument on the literature of German Classicism, both now and in the future.