rdnb is an R wrapper for the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library) API, available at https://www.dnb.de/EN/Home/home_node.html. As the German central archival library, the German National Library is collecting, archiving, bibliographically classifying all German and German-language publications, foreign publications about Germany, translations of German works, and the works of German-speaking emigrants published abroad between 1933 and 1945.
All bibliographic data of the German National Library are provided free of charge and can be freely re-used under “Creative Commons Zero” (CC0 1.0) terms. The metadata and online interfaces are provided with no guarantee of their being continuous, punctual, error-free or complete, or of their not infringing the rights of third parties (e.g. personal rights and copyright).
About the DNB; About the interface
rdnb is available on CRAN and GitHub. Install from CRAN:
install.packages("rdnb")
To install the development version from GitHub the devtools-package is required.
devtools::install_github("chgrl/rdnb")
library(rdnb)
rdnb provides two approaches to expose a search. For common search requests use the simple dnb_search function. More complex requests are possible using the dnb_advanced function.
dnb_searchUse the title parameter to search in titles, including subtitle, short title, volume title, etc.
single.title <- dnb_search(title="katze")
A vector of strings combines search terms. Strings in a vector are “OR”-combined by default. Logical operators can be changed by starting a string with + or -, thus the following code searches for titles containing one of “katze” or “kater”, “maus” but not “hund”.
multi.title <- dnb_search(title=c("katze", "kater", "+maus", "-hund"))
The author parameter offers a search for one or a set of authors. Logical operators can be set as explained above.
single.author.1 <- dnb_search(author="kern")
single.author.2 <- dnb_search(author="kern, ingolf")
single.author.3 <- dnb_search(author="ingolf kern")
author.or.author <- dnb_search(author=c("kern", "locke"))
author.and.author <- dnb_search(author=c("kern", "+locke"))
author.not.author <- dnb_search(author=c("kern", "-locke"))
Use the year parameter to limit the year(s) of publication. Set year to a single integer value to specify a single year. Set the parameter to a sequence to specify start and end. Or set the parameter to a vector of integer values to specify a set of years.
single.year <- dnb_search(title="katze", year=2015)
sequence.of.years <- dnb_search(title="katze", year=2010:2015)
set.of.years <- dnb_search(title="katze", year=c(2010:2013, 2015))
Publisher name and/or location may be limited by the publisher parameter. Logical operators can be set as explained above.
single.publisher <- dnb_search(title="katze", publisher="kiepenheuer")
single.publisher.location <- dnb_search(title="katze", publisher="*verlag leipzig*")
pub.or.pub <- dnb_search(title="katze", publisher=c("kiepenheuer", "piper"))
pub.and.pub <- dnb_search(title="katze", publisher=c("*kinder*", "+*berlin*"))
pub.not.pub <- dnb_search(title="katze", publisher=c("pi*", "-piper"))
Keyword (subjects, persons, locations, organisations, etc.) search is available using the keyword parameter. Logical operators can be set as explained for title search.
single.keyword <- dnb_search(keyword ="katze")
keyword.or.keyword <- dnb_search(keyword=c("katze", "hund"))
keyword.and.keyword <- dnb_search(keyword=c("katze", "+hund"))
keyword.not.keyword <- dnb_search(keyword=c("katze", "-hund"))
The DNB discriminates between several publication types:
The type parameter can be specified as single string value (named above) or a vector of string values, that will be combined by “OR”. Short terms of the available types usually work.
single.type <- dnb_search(title="katze", type="books")
single.type.part <- dnb_search(title="katze", type="bio") # biographicaldoc
set.of.types <- dnb_search(title="katze", type=c("books", "articles", "online"))
The DNB also archives publications in other languages than German, e.g. when they are about Germany or publicated in Germany. The language(s) can be filtered by ISO 639-2/B code, like “ger” (German), “eng” (English), “fre” (French), “spa” (Spanish) or “gsw” (Swiss German). A vector of string values is combined by “OR”.
single.language <- dnb_search(title="cat", language="eng")
set.of.languages <- dnb_search(title=c("cat", "katze"), language=c("eng", "ger"))
Use the limit parameter to set the number and optionally the starting point of the results returned. A single integer value (possible values: 1-100) specifies the number of results only. Use a vector of two integer values to specify the number of results (first value of vector) and the first result (1 or higher). Set limit to “all” for a complete list of results.
first.result <- dnb_search(title="katze", limit=1)
five.results.starting.with.the.21st <- dnb_search(title="katze", limit=c(5, 21))
all.results <- dnb_search(title="katze", year=2016, limit="all")
Per default no results are printed. Set print to TRUE to print the data.frame with the results.
cats <- dnb_search(title="katze", limit=3, print=TRUE)
#> id link
#> 1 1116362198 https://d-nb.info/1116362198
#> 2 1120516579 https://d-nb.info/1120516579
#> 3 1125403497 https://d-nb.info/1125403497
#> author
#> 1 Teckentrup, Britta (ill); Teckentrup, Britta (aut)
#> 2 Frey, Alexander Moritz (aut)
#> 3 Krokowski, Carola (aut)
#> title subtitle
#> 1 Alles Natur - Meine kleine Katze <NA>
#> 2 Birl, die kühne Katze Ein Märchen
#> 3 Blutwerte - Pferd, Hund, Katze Blutwerte verstehen!
#> publisher year language isbn
#> 1 Ars Edition, München 2017 ger 9783845815886
#> 2 Elsinor Verlag, Coesfeld 2017 ger 9783942788373
#> 3 Igelsburg Verlag, Habichtswald 2017 ger 9783941933200
#> price pages
#> 1 Pappe : EUR 7.99 (DE), EUR 8.30 (AT), CHF 11.90 (freier Preis) 16
#> 2 Broschur : circa EUR 12.80 (DE), circa EUR 13.20 (AT) 88
#> 3 : EUR 29.95 (DE), EUR 29.95 (DE), EUR 30.80 (AT), EUR 30.30 (AT) 2
#> format edition keyword toc
#> 1 17.3 cm x 17.3 cm <NA> <NA> <NA>
#> 2 19 cm x 12 cm 1. Auflage, neue Ausgabe <NA> <NA>
#> 3 <NA> 1. Auflage <NA> <NA>
#> description
#> 1 https://deposit.d-nb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?id=992efedfe14a4b06ad7dc4f344cd9e87&prov=M&dok_var=1&dok_ext=htm
#> 2 <NA>
#> 3 <NA>
#> cover
#> 1 https://portal.dnb.de/opac/mvb/cover.htm?isbn=978-3-8458-1588-6
#> 2 https://portal.dnb.de/opac/mvb/cover.htm?isbn=978-3-942788-37-3
#> 3 https://portal.dnb.de/opac/mvb/cover.htm?isbn=978-3-941933-20-0
The following data is stored in the data.frame (if available):
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| id | DNB record ID |
| link | link to record |
| author | author(s) |
| title | main title |
| subtitle | subtitle |
| publisher | publisher |
| year | year of publication |
| language | language (abbreviation) |
| isbn | ISBN (13-digit or 10-digit) |
| price | price (as string, usually prices for DE, AT and CH) |
| pages | pages |
| format | size and weight (partial) |
| edition | edition |
| keyword | keyword(s) |
| toc | link to table of contents |
| description | link to description |
| cover | link to cover image |
dnb_advanceddnb_advanced allows for complex requests using the Contextual Query Language (CQL). See the DNB advanced search help pages for available indices and a list of examples.
The following advanced search returns a list of german or english children's books titled with 'cat', excluding titles containing 'dog', since the year 2001:
cats <- dnb_advanced("( (tit=katze OR tit=kater NOT tit=hund) OR (tit=cat NOT tit=dog) ) AND jhr>2000 AND mat=books AND (spr=ger OR spr=eng) AND sgt=K", limit="all")
Use n_rec to get the total number of records found by a request:
n_rec(cats)
#> [1] 5895
To print the query used for a DNB-search, call print_query:
print_query(cats)
#> [1] "(tit=katze)"
You can use this query (or an edited version) directly with the dnb_advanced function:
cat.q <- print_query(cats)
cat.q <- gsub("jhr>2000", "jhr>=2015", cat.q) # change year
dnb_advanced(cat.q)