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National Bibliographies of the Czech Republic & Slovakia

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The history of Czech publishing and libraries and even the origins of Czech bibliography extend back far beyond the 18th century, but Czech bibliography in the modern sense essentially began in the late 1700’s with scholars initiating the work by writing about Czech publishing and attempting to compile retrospective bibliographies. Some significant works were compiled such as Ungar’s Allgemeine bohmische Bibliothek (1786) and Jungmann’s later Historie literatury ceske (1825). By the middle of the 19th century bibliography was dominated by book dealers and publishers rather than by scholars. But the first real attempts at compiling a national bibliography for Czech had to wait until the early 20th century with Ceska bibliografie za rok…. Although this title was short-lived, other titles soon emerged and a true national bibliography was established under the aegis of the National Library in Prague. With the national bibliography and many subsequent retrospective bibliographies, the twentieth century monographic publishing output in Czech is now well-covered. Earlier centuries receive some coverage via retrospective bibliographies as well, but also please note that library catalogs, both online and printed, for libraries in the Czech Republic and in Austria, are very essential sources for materials from all time periods. When trying to find Czech materials published before the 20th century, keep in mind that the Czechs were part of the Austrian Empire and thus bibliographies and catalogs covering Austrian materials are potentially very relevant.

Slovak bibliography does not have the same history as Czech bibliography. It is neither quite as long nor is it as closely associated with the Austrians. Rather, the Slovaks were dominated by the Hungarians, thus many of the retrospective bibliographies for Slovak often have Hungarian components. The origins of Slovak bibliography in the modern sense stem from the national movement in the early 19th century. Bibliographies and surveys of current literature were produced, but the first true effort that can claim to be national bibliography is L’udovit Rizner’s essential Bibliografia pisomnictva slovenskeho od najstarsich cias do konce r. 1900, which began to appear in 1917. For the periods of the 20th century when the Czechs and Slovaks were joined politically, their national bibliographies overlap in many ways. But the Slovaks have for many years now been compiling comprehensive retrospective bibliographies of the 20th century Slovak publishing output which greatly simplify research if the topic you are researching has been covered by them. The Slovaks have for over fifty years maintained their own national bibliography separate from the Czechs under the aegis of Slovak National Library in Martin.

What follows below are annotations of the national bibliographies and library catalogs for both Czech and Slovak. A few items that are not truly national bibliographies are included when there is no national bibliographic source available for the time period. An example of this is Jungmann’s famous bibliography Historie literatury ceske. However, certain categories of materials for Czech and Slovak appear in different sections of this guide. For example, monographic bibliographies warrant their own page. For bibliographies of bibliographies see the page entitled Czech and Slovak Bibliographies of Bibliographies. For bibliographies of Czech and Slovak periodicals and indexes to the contents of those periodicals, see the page entitled Czech and Slovak Newspaper and Periodical Sources. There is also a page devoted to Czech/Slovak subject guides.

If you would like more details on the history of Czech and Slovak bibliography and the development of their libraries, see Books in Czechoslovakia: Past and present by Eliska Ryznar and Murlin Croucher, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1989 [U of I Library Call Number: Library & Information Science 070.509437 R996b]. Part 3 covers Czech bibliography and part 6 covers Slovak bibliography. Other bibliographies for Czech and Slovak that are not annotated here are listed in Murlin Croucher’s Slavic Studies: A Guide to Bibliographies, Encyclopedias and Handbooks, volume 1, or on the page devoted to Czech/Slovak Monographic Resources.

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CZECH


Entry for a work by Tom. Placalius

Historie literatury ceske.

Jungmann, Josef. 2nd ed. W Praze: W Kommissi knehkupectwi F. Riwnace, 1849. 526 p. (Nakladem Ceskeho Musea ; c. 32).
U of I Library Call Number: Main Stacks Reference 015.4371 J95h1849

This source, compiled by a famous Czech historian and philologist, is the classic work of Czech bibliography, covering monographs and periodicals published in the Czech language from the beginning of Czech history to approximately 1846. Jungmann begins each section with a short essay on the history of the era and of the topic in the Czech Lands. Be prepared to read Czech in the old orthography with some obsolete vocabulary. This work is not comprehensive in its coverage, but it is a good starting point for the time periods it covers. The section on Czech authors is not only an index, but also a source of biographical information. The entries are arranged chronologically by publication date within 6 date sections beginning with 451-1310 and ending with 1775-1846. These sections are further subdivided into broad subject sections. In addition, there is a section for foreign authors that have been translated into Czech and a section for Czech authors. These two sections are arranged alphabetically by the author’s surname and really serve as detailed indexes for the two topics since they refer the user to the main entry in the body of the work. There is an alphabetical index of titles. See the entry on the left for a work by Tom. Placalius. Also note the supplement which is annotated immediately below.

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Knihopisny slovnik cesko-slovensky aneb seznam kneh, drobnych spisuv, map a hudebnych veci.

Doucha, Frantisek. V Praze: Nakladem knehkupectvi I.L. Kober, 1865. 320 p.
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference 016.89186 D74k; also available at Oak Street Facility

This work is a supplement to Jungmann’s Historie literatury ceske and covers the dates 1774-1865. Although this work is not comprehensive, using both volumes one can get a fairly good idea of the publishing history in the Czech Lands for the time period. It includes monographs, periodicals, maps and music in Czech and Slovak, with some German and French titles as well. The entries are arranged alphabetically by main entry, which means by author and if there is no author, then by title. However, when the titles are listed, they are listed by the first important noun. Thus a work beginning with “Kratke cviceni” is listed under “Cviceni, kratke.” There are no indexes. See the entry below for a version of the legend of Jan Nepomuk.

Entry for a version of the legend of Jan Nepomuk

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Entry for a work by Maximilian

Knihopis ceskoslovenskych tisku od doby nejstarsi az do konce XVIII stoleti. +

Knihopis ceskych a slovenskych tisku 1501-1800.

Tobolka, Zdenek. Praha, 1925-1967. 2 vols in 10
Prispevky ke knihopisu: Rejstriky.
Voit, Petr. Praha, 1985. 3 vols.
U of I Library Call Number:

International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference Q.015.437 C99k v.2:1

Rare Book & Manuscript Library Q. 015.437 C99K v.1:2

Main Stacks Q.015.437 C99k v.1-2 Index, no.1-10

This bibliography which includes Czech and Slovak monographs from the beginning of printing to 1800 is an important source not only for its comprehensive list of titles, but also for the detailed annotations and the union listing of libraries that hold the titles. The first volume covers incunabula up to 1500, but only in Czech and Slovak. Latin and German texts from the Czech and Slovak regions are not listed. The other physical volumes, all of which comprise volume 2, cover monographs from 1501 to 1800. Many of the titles of the entries are printed in Fraktur, so the indexes, published in 1985 and in the modern Czech orthography and typeface, are particularly helpful. Cross references to citations in Jungmann’s and Rizner’s bibliographies are also included.

The entries are arranged alphabetically by the author or by title if there is no definitive author. However, the title is placed according to the first important noun, not necessarily the first word, of the title. Volume 1 contains indexes for title, author, and subject as well as a chronological list of titles. It also includes a list of printers arranged in tabular form by publication place that outlines details about the incunabula such as the number of copies printed, the color of the print, etc. Volume 2, parts 1 and 2, contain their own chronological listings and indexes for titles, names and subjects. The remaining volumes did not have an index until 1985 when Petr Voit published a three-volume index to the set. His indexes cover authors, translators, editors, titles, and anonymous headings. The anonymous headings index functions as a keyword index. See the entry on the right for a work by Maximilian and note the brief biographical information that is provided before the actual bibliographic citation. This kind of information is given regularly in this set.

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Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek. Katalog der Druckschriften 1501-1929.

Hildesheim; New York: Olms Microform, 1982. 808 microfiches.
U of I Library Call Number: Main Reference Mfiche 018.1 Os7h

This catalog is one of the few large compilations of 19th century Czech publications available at the University of Illinois library. Its coverage is of monographs published in the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1501 through 1929. Besides material in German, there are many items in Slavic languages like Czech. Many of the entries have language indications such as boh. for Czech, germ. for German, ruth. for Ruthenian, etc. The over 1,000,000 entries are arranged alphabetically by author or by title if there is no author, with all languages mixed together. See the entry below for books by two different Capeks, Karel and Jan-Ladislav. Please note that the hacek on Capek is ignored for alphabetizing purposes.

Entry for books by two different Capeks, Karel and Jan-Ladislav

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Slovansky katalog bibliograficky za rok… 1877-81.

V Praze: Nakladem spolku …, 1877-1881.
U of I Library Call Number: Oak Street Facility 016.8918 Sl58 V.1-3 [UIUC lacks 1880-1881]

Although this annual publication only appeared from 1877-81, it lists many Czech and Slovak monographic and serial titles. The section entitled “Bibliografie ceska za rok …” contains both Czech and Slovak titles. Other sections of interest include Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Sorbian, Polish, and Ukrainian. Within these language groups, the entries are arranged alphabetically by author, or title if there is no author. There is an index of subjects at the beginning of some sections which covers topics such as encyclopedias, periodicals, mathematics, theater, etc. See the entries below which appeared in the 1879 volume.

Entries which appeared in the 1879 volume

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Prirucny seznam ceske literatury.

Schmitt, Jan. V Praze: Nakladem spolku ceskych knihkupcu a nakladatelu, 1916. 2 vols.
U of I Library Call Number: Main Stacks Reference 015.437 Sch5p pt.1-2
HathiTrust full-text link: http://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101067492353

Covering the years 1880-1915, this bibliography was meant as a practical handbook for Czech booksellers. It is not comprehensive in its coverage, but it does provide thousands of entries for Czech books and serials from this time period. Citations are grouped by subject categories such as literature, linguistics, natural sciences, etc. Within each subject the entries are arranged alphabetically by author or by title if there is no author. The first volume has a list of abbreviations and a list of all the publishers whose publications appear in the set. See the entries below which appear in the section on anthropology and zoology.

Entries which appear in the section on anthropology and zoology

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Cesky katalog bibliograficky za rok 1889-1903.

Foit, Bohuslav. V Praze: Nakladem spolku ceskoslovenskych knihkupeckych ucetnich, 1890-1906.
U of I Library Call Number: Oak Street Facility 016.89186 C3372 v.1-15

This annual bibliography covers Czech publications for the years 1889-1903 and is divided into four sections. The first is a subject index to the second which organizes books, pamphlets, and art by author. If there is no author, it arranges them by the first significant noun in the title. The third section contains periodicals and the final section lists musical works. There are only some Slovak and American-Czech publications included. See the entries below which appeared in the 1889 volume in the music section.

Entries which appeared in the 1889 volume

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Entry for the title Maly Prazsky Kalendar

Ceska bibliografie za rok 1902-1911.

Tobolka, Zdenek. V Praze : Nakl. Ceske akademie cisare Frantiska Josefa pro vedy, slovesnost a umeni, 1903-1914.
U of I Library Call Number: Oak Street Facility 016.89186 C337 1903-1910 [U of I lacks 1902, 1911]

This bibliography lists Czech periodicals and books that were published between 1902 and 1911. The volumes are divided into three sections: 1) the main part of the bibliography which gives citations for books and periodicals. They are arranged by surname of the author, or by first significant noun of the title if there is no author; 2) a subject index; 3) personal name index. The entries often provide the original price of a book or of a periodical subscription. Each issue has several thousand citations. See the entry on the left for the title Maly Prazsky Kalendar which appears in the 1908 issue.

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Sample entries for Soupis ceskoslovenske literatury za leta 1901-1925

Soupis ceskoslovenske literatury za leta 1901-1925.

Nosovsky, Karel. V Praze: Nakladem Svazu knihkupcuv a nakladatelu Ces. Republiky, 1938.
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference Q.015.437 So8 v.1-2; Also available in the Main Stacks

Compiled at the impetus of publishers and booksellers in Prague who felt the need for a systematic bibliography, this work represents material published in Czechoslovakia between 1901-1925. The compiler was a noted librarian and bookman. The bibliography contains over 75,000 entries for Czech and Slovak works published in Czechoslovakia covering all subject areas. Information about what serial issues were released during this time period is also included, but newspapers are not represented. The compilers relied heavily upon questionnaires to publishers and authors, hence the coverage is not comprehensive since not all parties responded.

The set is organized into two volumes which were published in three physical volumes. The first volume has the citations arranged alphabetically by author or title for works with no explicit author. Volume 2 (the third physical volume) is a subject index arranged according to the Dewey classification. The citations, which consist of full bibliographic information and prices, are at first somewhat difficult to discern due to the many abbreviations, and only in the alphabetical index are complete bibliographic citations provided. Sporadic cross-referencing exists only in Volume 2 and only between related classification sections, not between individual entries. See the image on the left for some representative entries.

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Bibliograficky katalog. 1922-1928.

Praha: 1922-1928.
U of I Library Call Number: Oak Street Facility 015.437 B471 1922-1928

Bibliograficky katalog Ceskoslovenske Respubliky. 1929-1950.

Praha: 1929-1950.
U of I Library Call Number: Main Stacks 015.437 B4712 1929-1950

The Bibliograficky katalog was the first attempt by the Czechoslovaks at a national bibliography, covering monographs, maps, music, and sometimes periodicals. Its content reflects what was received on legal deposit from publishers, but since the depository law was not fully functional during most of the period represented, the coverage may not be comprehensive for some years. Both it and its successor, Bibliograficky katalog Ceskoslovenske Respubliky, however, are invaluable sources for discovering what was published in both Republics during the time period in any language spoken on the territory. Like for most national bibliographies, the entries in both catalogs are just citations; no annotations are provided. Of particular interest to some scholars is that for almost the entire run of these two titles Carpatho-Rusyn publications issued in Czechoslovakia can be found either in the “Slavic Language Entries which appeared in the 1937:11 issuePublications” section or the “Other Foreign Language Publications” section. The Transcarpathian region was part of Czechoslovakia from 1919-1945. Upper Sorbian titles also regularly appear.

Please note that at certain times in the course of this publication the organization of entries and the availability of the different indexes varies. What follows are the more significant changes. For 1922-28 the entries are arranged alphabetically by the author’s surname in three broad categories, Czech and Slovak books, Czech and Slovak music, and foreign language books. In some issues of the early title there is also a section on periodicals that provides the name of the publisher, editor, place of publication, frequency and which issues came out that year. There is an annual index for author and subject. For 1929-46 the entries are arranged by broad subject categories with annual indexes for author, pseudonym, and subject. After 1939 the Slovak publications appear in the foreign language section. For 1947-50 the organization of the citations changes to reflect three sections called A. Knihy ceske, B. Knihy slovenske, C. Hudebniny. All of these sections arrange citations in a numeric subject classification. See the entries above which appeared in the 1937:11 issue.
Note: After 1950 the national bibliography is entitled Bibliograficky katalog CSR with special sub-series to cover non-monographic works. See the annotation directly below for details on the monographic publication entitled Ceska kniha.

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Beginning in 1951 the Czechoslovak national bibliography split into two main series, one for Czech items and the other for Slovak. Directly below is discussed the various Czech series. See the entry below in the Slovak section for the Slovak books series and other parts of the Slovak national bibliography. 1951 is also the beginning of the Soviet-style national bibliography arrangement with sub-series for different types of publications such as books, music, graphics, articles, etc. Special issues [zvlastni sesity] published each year comprise the sub-series and/or special topics. The sub-series are all discussed elsewhere in this course, but basic information and links to those annotations are provided below in the annotation to the CD-ROM version of the Czech National Bibliography.

Bibliograficky katalog CSR. Ceska kniha. 1951-1999.

Praha: Statni knihovna, 1951-1999.
U of I Library Call Number: Czech/Slovak Reference 015.437 B47141a 1994-1999
U of I Library Call Number: Main Stacks 015.437 B47141 1993
U of I Library Call Number: Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1951-1992

Ceska kniha can be used to find books published in Czech on Czech territory. It includes monographic items published in the Czech Republic that were received at the National Library on legal deposit. The entries are just citations; no annotations are provided. Entries are arranged in numeric subject classification with annual indexes for names, titles, translations, and subjects. The Czech national bibliography has undergone several title changes since 1951. Listed here are the continuing titles for the Books section. Bibliograficky katalog CSR. Ceske knihy. 1955-1960. Bibliograficky katalog CSSR. Ceske knihy. 1960-89. Bibliograficky katalog CSFR. Ceske knihy. 1990-92. Narodni bibliografie Ceske republiky. Knihy. 1993. Ceska narodni bibliografie. Knihy. 1994-99. The paper format of Ceska kniha ceased with the 1999 issues. After 1999 see the Czech National Bibliography internet version available at the web site of the Czech National Library. See the entry below for a book that appeared in the 1999:10 issue in the section for children’s literature.

Entry for a book that appeared in the 1990:10 issue

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Ceska narodni bibliografie.

Praha:, 1993- .

The Czechs have ceased publishing paper copies of all sections of their national bibliography and instead have made the databases available on the Internet for free. With the electronic versions the researcher can take advantage of the many access points and limiting features that database searching provides.

Narodni knihovna Ceske republiky. Online catalog.

URL: http://www.nkp.cz/

Online library catalogs can be very helpful, for they help the researcher find publications of all types such as monographs, periodicals, recorded music, etc., as well as providing basic descriptions of those items. The link shown above takes you to the Catalogs and Databases page of the website for the National Library in Prague. Here are located the access points to several library catalogs of materials held at the National Library such as their main online catalog which has newer publications as well as some older materials and the Naskenovane katalogy (KATIF) which are comprised of scanned card catalog cards of older items. There are also links to other library catalogs in the Czech Republic, some of which are souborny (union) catalogs. (A union catalog is one that gives locations of libraries that own a particular title). These online catalogs include a variety of different types of materials. However, if you are looking for recent publications, this is an excellent starting point. Accurate searching will require the use of Czech fonts. The various catalogs can have different searching interfaces, but what is described below are the types of catalogs and the interfaces for the web version of the online catalog and the KATIF catalogs, the two databases that a researcher might use the most. Since these catalogs represent the various collections in the National Library, the materials included may be in any language in addition to Czech.

Online catalogs:

The books section of the online catalog contains roughly one-sixth of the holdings of the National Library. It has all books acquired since 1995 as well as retrospective records for much of the Czech book production for the 20th century. The database of articles from Czech newspapers and periodicals provides coverage beginning in 1991. The electronic catalog of the Slavonic Library does not contain all of their holdings but it does have much retrospective material plus new acquisitions since 1997. Books and music announced to the national ISBN and ISMN agencies in the Czech Republic but not yet published have their own database, as do old maps (1501-1800) and early printed materials (1501-1800).

What is described here are possibilities that may be encountered in the online catalogs. The search screen allows the user to search with a Czech or an English interface using a keyword search, or a search by author, title, or subject. Boolean operators “and”, “or” and “not” can be used for more accurate searching. In some of the catalogs the expert search mode allows limiting by date and language of publication. After retrieving a set of results, further limiting or arranging of the results is possible. Browsing the alphabetical index is also an option. In some catalogs the question mark can be used for truncation of search terms. The searches do require Czech fonts. Below is an image of the beginning of the search results for author Vladislav Vancura.

Beginning of the search results for author Vladislav Vancura

Katif catalogs:

KATIF is a group of scanned card catalogs. Each one has its own description of content, but they are mostly for searching older materials. For example, the first General Catalog spans items published from 1501 through 1950. The cards are in .tif format. These catalogs do not require fonts because there is no search capability. Access is by zooming down through alphabetical headings. These catalogs are main entry catalogs, meaning that they are arranged by the author or if there is no author, by title. If an item is listed under the author, it will not be listed under the title as well. In some catalogs titles are listed under the first significant noun. In addition to the general catalogs, there are also catalogs of music, of literature on librarianship, a catalog for the Slavonic Library, and a catalog of the Rusky zahranicni historicky archivy.

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Zahranicni bohemika a slovacika. +

Zahranicni bohemika.

Praha: Statni knihovna CSSR-Narodni knihovna v Praze, 1956-1972 and 1990-96.
U of I Library Call Numbers: International & Area Studies–Czech/Slovak Reference 016.91437 Z131a 1994-96
International & Area Studies–Czech/Slovak Reference 016.91437 Z131 1990-93, 1967-1972
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1967 Special issue 7- 1966
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1966 Special issue 7- 1965
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1965 Special issue 8- 1964
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1964 Special issue 2- 1963
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1963 Special issue 4- 1962
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1962 Special issue 5- 1961
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1961 Special issue 2- 1960
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1960 Special issue 6- 1959
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1959 Special issue 1- 1958
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1958 Special issue 3- 1957
Main Stacks 015.437 B4714 1957 Special issue 4- 1956

This annual bibliography of foreign works by or about Czechs and Slovaks regardless of language of publication was issued as one of the sub-series of the Czech national bibliography. It is not comprehensive because it includes only what the National Libraries acquired during a certain year. The entries are arranged in a numeric subject classification. There are indexes for names, languages of translations, and languages of original works. Beginning in 1990 the access points increase to include indexes for subjects, translators and illustrators. The title ceased in 1972, but was re-established in 1990 for Czech materials only under the titles Bibliograficky katalog CSFR. Zahranicni bohemika, 1990-92, Narodni bibliografie Ceske republiky. Zahranicni bohemika, 1993, Ceska narodni bibliografie. Zahranicni bohemika, 1994-96. After 1996 the paper format of the title ceased altogether and subsequent years can be found on the online version available at the website of the Czech National Library. See the entry below for what appeared under the heading of linguistics in the 1996 issue.

Entry for what appeared under the heading of linguistics in the 1996 issue

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SLOVAK

One fact to bear in mind when searching for older Slovak materials is that many of the older Czech bibliographies also included Slovak materials. See the annotations of the Czech bibliographies given above to find out whether they included some coverage of Slovak. For years now the Slovaks have been compiling a vast retrospective national bibliography of books, periodicals, articles and special publications. Many of these titles are annotated below and in other pages of this guide that are devoted to Slovak resources. You can identify them by the series Slovenska narodna retrospektivna bibliografia; Seria … An example of one that addresses special publications is Bibliografia divadelnych plagatov 19. storocia z uzemia Slovenska, covering playbills and theater posters from 19th century Slovakia, UIUC Call number Main Stacks 016.792094373 K683b v.1-4 + v.3 index. This title will eventually be annotated on a page devoted to resources for Slovak arts.

Entries by J.E. Bily that appear under the subject of Cyril and Methodius

Bibliografia pisomnictva slovenskeho na sposob slovnika od najstarsich cias do konca r. 1900 and Doplnky a opravy k Riznerovej bibliografii.

Rizner, L’udovit V. Martin: Matica Slovenska, 1929-34 and 1972.
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference 015.43735 R52b v.1-6
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference 015.43735 R52b sup.

This work is a classic in the field of Slovak bibliography. It spans Slovak literary production from the beginning of printing up to 1900 including both books and articles published in Slovak in Slovakia or abroad, translations into Slovak, and some foreign language works published in Slovakia. Rizner’s work, along with the later supplement, are considered comprehensive enough for monographs that the large, retrospective Slovak national bibliography project started its coverage where Rizner left off, with 1901. The entries are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the author or by the title if there is no definitive author. Periodicals also have their own entries and some subject entries also occur. The entries for each author are arranged chronologically. There are no indexes. The supplemental volume follows the same organization. See the image on the left for entries by J. E. Bily that appear under the subject of Cyril and Methodius.

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Bibliografia tlaci vydanych na Slovensku do roku 1700.

Caplovic, Jan. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1972-1984. 2 vols. (Slovenska narodna retrospektivna bibliografia ; Seria A ; Knihy ; 1A).
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference 015.4373 C172b v.1, v.2

Covering over 2600 publications produced on Slovak territory up to 1700 regardless of language, these volumes were issued as part of a large retrospective Slovak national bibliography compiled and published by Matica slovenska. Their aim is complete coverage. The first volume contains a long introductory essay on the history of early Slovak printing. Citations are arranged by place of publication with an opening paragraph or two about publishing in each location. Within each section the items are arranged chronologically. In addition to complete bibliographic information, the entries also show which libraries hold a copy of an item. The second volume has illustrations depicting title pages and covers of some of the works as well as indexes for authors, names, anonymous works, places, publishers and printers, subjects, and languages, and a also concordance to show in which other bibliographies works are listed. See the image below for a religious work published in 1680 in Trnava.

A religious work published in 1680 in Trnava

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Bibliografia slovenskych knih 1901-1918 and 1919-1938.

Martin: Matica Slovenska, 1964 and 1979-80. (Slovenska narodna bibliografia. Seria A, Knihy ; zv. I-3); (Slovenska narodna retrospektivna bibliografia.; Seria A, Knihy).
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference 015.43735 Sl58 v.1-3
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference 015.4373 B471 v.1-3:2

These bibliographies continue where Rizner’s bibliography left off, with 1901, and provide coverage of all Slovak monographs published in Austro-Hungary and Slovakia from 1901-1938. The volumes were issued as part of a large retrospective Slovak national bibliography compiled and published by Matica slovenska. Their aim is complete coverage. Both sets have essays on the Slovak book culture of the given period. The earlier work includes citations for book reviews. A valuable feature is the listing of library locations where the cited books can be found. The entries are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the author or by the title if there is no definitive author. There are indexes for subjects and publishers and printers in addition to a classified subject section and a chronological table that contains an overview of publishing by subject. As well as the access points mentioned above, the second set has indexes for illustrators, editors, translators, translations, place of publications, titles, and series. See the entries below for the author Alojz Macek.

Entries for the author Alojz Macek

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Entries which appeared under the subject of religion

Bibliograficky katalog slovenskej kniznej tvorby za roky 1939-41 and 1942-1945.

Dubay, Anton. Bratislava: Bibliograficky ustav, 1948 and 1952.
Bibliografia slovenskej kniznej tvorby za roky 1945-1955.
Martin: Matica slovenska, 1967-70.
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference 015.43735 B4712 1939-45, 1947
U of I Library Call Number: International & Area Studies Slavic–Czech/Slovak Reference 015.43735 Sl58 v.4a-b, pt.1-4

These bibliographies continue where the bibliographies above left off, with 1939, and cover all Slovak and other language monographs published in Slovakia. The first set of bibliographies, from 1939-1945 include only items that were received by the University Library in Bratislava on legal deposit. The second set of volumes covering 1945-1955 were issued as part of a large retrospective Slovak national bibliography whose aim is complete coverage. The first two sets lack the valuable essays on the Slovak book culture of the given period and the union listing of library locations where the cited books can be found that the other volumes in the series contain. Fortunately, the third set covering 1945-1955 has these features.The first two sets are divided into two parts, an alphabetical listing and a systematic subject listing. In the first section the entries are arranged in a section for books in Slovak and a section for books in other languages and then alphabetically by the surname of the author or by the title if there is no definitive author. There are indexes for names, titles of belles-lettres and books for young people, and subject. The second volume has a section for music and indexes for translators and plays. The third set arranges entries alphabetically by the surname of the author or by the title if there is no definitive author. The third volume of the third set comprises a numeric subject classification. The fourth volume contains indexes for authors, subjects, illustrators, editors, translators, translations, and series. See the entries on the left which appeared under the subject of religion in the 1939-41 compilation.

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Beginning in 1951 the Czechoslovak national bibliography split into two main series, one for Czech items and the other for Slovak. Directly below are discussed the various Slovak series. See the entry above in the Czech section for the Czech books series and other parts of the Czech national bibliography. 1951 is also the beginning of the Soviet-style national bibliography arrangement with sub-series for different types of publications such as books, music, graphics, articles, etc. Special issues [zvlastni sesity] published each year comprise the sub-series and/or special topics.

Two entries that appeared in the 2000:11 issue

Bibliograficky katalog CSR. Slovenska kniha.

Martin: Slovenska narodna kniznica, 1950- .
U of I Library Call Number: Main Stacks 015.437 B4715 1951-2002 [U of I lacks 1950]

Slovenska kniha can be used to find books published in Slovak on Slovak territory. It includes monographic items published in Slovakia that were received at the National Library on legal deposit. The entries are just citations; no annotations are provided. Entries are arranged in numeric subject classification with annual indexes for names, titles, translations, and subjects. The Slovak national bibliography has undergone several title changes since 1950. Listed here are the continuing titles for the Books section. Bibliograficky katalog CSR. Slovenske knihy. 1955-60. Bibliograficky katalog CSSR. Slovenske knihy. 1960-69. Bibliograficky katalog CSSR. Slovenska narodna bibliografia. Seria A. Knihy. 1970-89. Bibliograficky katalog CSFR. Slovenska narodna bibliografia. Seria A. Knihy. 1990-92. Slovenska narodna bibliografia. Seria A. Knihy. 1993- . See the image on the left for two entries that appeared in the 2000:11 issue under the heading “French literature.”

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Slovenska narodni bibliografie

Martin: Slovenska narodna kniznica, 1997- .

Slovenska narodna kniznica. Online catalog.

URL: http://www.snk.sk/sk

Online library catalogs can be very helpful, for they help the researcher find publications of all types such as monographs, periodicals, recorded music, etc., as well as providing basic descriptions of those items. The link shown above takes you to the website of the Slovak National Library in Martin. Click on the link for Katalogy to get to the Online Catalogs page. Here are located the access points to their main catalog and their article catalog in their web and telnet versions. There is also a link to the Suborny catalog for the Slovak Republic, which is a union catalog. (A union catalog is one that gives locations of libraries that own a particular title). These online catalogs include a variety of different types of materials. However, if you are looking for recent publications this is an excellent starting point. Accurate searching will require the use of Slovak fonts. Since these catalogs represent the various collections in Slovak libraries, the materials included may be in any language in addition to Slovak.What is described below is the web interface of the National Library’s catalog.

Online catalogs:
The dates that serve as starting points for the different catalogs are not discussed on the web site for the National Library, but there are older materials included. The Union Catalogue of Slovakia or Suborny Katalog Kniznic SR (SKS) is comprised of two databases, one for books and the other for periodicals. The periodicals catalog is further divided into ones for dailies, ones for Slovak periodicals, ones for foreign periodicals, etc.

The catalog allows the user to search with a Slovak or an English interface using a simple find command which performs a keyword search in the author, title or subject field. Boolean operators “and”, “or” and “not” can be used for more accurate searching in the advanced keyword mode. After retrieving a set of results, further limiting or arranging of the results is possible. Browsing the alphabetical index of titles, auhtors, subjects, etc. is also an option. The searches do require Slovak fonts.

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CZECH/SLOVAK DISSERTATIONS

The sections of the Czech national bibliography devoted to disserations are annotated in depth on the page for Czech/Slovak Monographic Sources. The titles are Ceskoslovenske disertace which covers Czech and Slovak doctoral and kandidat dissertation from 1964-1978 ; Ceske disertace + Ceske disertace a autoreferaty which cover Czech dissertations from 1979-1989 ; Slovenska narodna bibliografia. Rocenka serie D, Dizertacne prace which covers Slovak dissertations from 1979- [U of I lacks this title OCLC Accession Number: 28606339]. After 1989 the section of the Czech national bibliography for dissertations ceased publication and became available only online or on CD-ROM.