CERL

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• CERL
• Consortium of
• European Research
• Libraries

Dr David J. Shaw, Secretary National Library of
Scotland 3 September 2003
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CERL

• The Consortium was formed in 1992 on the
  initiative of research libraries in many European
  countries.
• We currently have 44 full members, 31 other
  members, and 83 associated libraries.
• Our primary objective is to record the European
  printed heritage all books printed in Europe
  during the hand-press period, i.e. before c.1830,
  in our Hand Press Book database.
• Web address http//www.cerl.org/

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CERL members in the UK

• British Library, London
• National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
• National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
• University of London Libraries
• (ULL and UCL)
• University of Oxford Libraries

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Hand Press Book databaseHPB

• 1,287,469 records for books printed in Europe
  from mid-15th to mid-19th centuries
• 18 contributing libraries, with more records
  added each year
• Full list of contributors on http//www.cerl.org/H
  PB/hpb.htm

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The HPB is searchable by

• Author
• Title
• Imprint town
• Printer or publisher
• Date range
• Language
• Holding institution

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Advanced search

• Searches can be modified and combined
• Records can be output in a variety of formats
• MARC output is available for derived cataloguing

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CERL Thesaurus

• Contains variant forms of names of
• places
• imprint names
• personal names
• CERL hopes to add
• provenance information
• printers devices
• Can combine place and imprint names to show all
  printers who were active in a certain place
• Is freely available ! http//www.cerl.org/Thesauru
  s/thesaurus.htm

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Variant imprint places
en Parisiois, Lutecia, Lutecia Parisiorum,
Lutetia, Lutetia Parisiorum, Lutetiae, Lutetiae
Parisiorum, Lutetiae-Parisiorum, Parhisii,
Parhisiis, Parige, Pariggi, Parigi, Parishe,
Parisi, Parisiae, Parisii, Parisiis, Parisioi,
Parisius, Parisk, Parisorum, Parissi, Parisu,
Pariz, Parrhisiae, Parrhisii, Parrhisiis,
Parrhisium, Parrhisius, Parrhysiis, Parsii,
Parys, W Paryzu

• How do you find all the books printed in Paris?
• The Thesaurus lists 48 different forms
• All can be searched for in one operation

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Variants for Edinburgh
Alata Castra Alatus Burgus Aneda Burgus Alatus
Castra Alata Castra Puellarum Dun Eudain
Eden-Bourgh Edenborough Edenbourgh Edenburg
Edenburgh Edenburgum Edibourg
Edimbourg Edimbourgh Edimburg Edimburga Edimburgh
Edimburghum Edimburgm Edimburgum Edin-Bruaich
Edinborough Edinbourg Edinbourgh Edinburg
Edinburga Edinburge
Edinburgi Edinburgiensum Edinburgium Edinburgk
Edinburgum Edinburum Edingborough Edingburg
Edingburgh Edingurgh Edinum Edninburgh Edynburg
Edynburgh Endinburgh
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Printers and publishers
Adams, William Anderson, Andrew (1680) Balfour,
John Baskett, John Bell, John Brown, William
Bryson, James (1639) Bryson, James Bryson,
Robert (1640) Cairns, John (1678) Calderwood,
John (1685) Charteris, Henry

• For each imprint place, a list of imprint names
  can be obtained
• Each name can be selected for more detailed
  biographical information

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Assisted Searching

• The CERL Thesaurus is used to support Assisted
  Searching on the HPB database
• Available for imprint places and imprint names
• Assisted searching on personal names is under
  development
• This is how it works...

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CERL activities

• developing the Hand Press Book database
• developing the CERL Thesaurus
• organising or participating in seminars and
  workshops on the history of the book and
  computer-based catalogues of printing before 1830
• publishing papers arising from the annual CERL
  Seminar
• investigating technological issues relating to
  cross-searching of web-based catalogues of
  printed books and manuscripts

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CERLContact information

• For Membership details
• D.J.Shaw_at_cerl.org
• For information about the HPB / CERL Thesaurus
  MarianLefferts_at_cerl.org