This site was designed with standards compliant browsers such as Firefox or Mozilla in mind. It can be viewed using Internet Explorer (from Version 6). We recommend the use of a standards compliant browser such as Firefox.
The design is optimised for screen resolutions from 800x600 upwards. The use of stylesheets throughout the site should ensure full functionality and an acceptable presentation on most devices and with most viewing preferences. In browsers such as Firefox and Mozilla you can adjust font sizes using Ctrl +/- or Ctrl and your mouse wheel respectively. A printer friendly layout is automatically produced upon printing with these browsers.
External links are generally opened in a new browser window.
The home page shows a brief overview of the services on offer. Using links within the text and the navigation element at the top, which is always available, you are able to easily reach any part of the Spinoza Bibliography.
You can choose between the German and English version of the site. The language selection can be made via the menu entryEnglish Version / Deutsche Version.
The quick search function is always available at the top right hand side of the site. It permits a quick and easy search for database entries on the basis of a key word (such as a name of a certain term). You can search the entire database effortlessly for instances of the search term used. If you use the search term Goethe for example, the result will display all titles from the author or editor Goethe, all titles featuring the name Goethe in the title or subtitle, all titles featuring the name in the commentary and all titles where Goethe is the subject (even if he does not feature in the title).
The following characters have special relevance in all text boxes:
Wildcards are especially useful in cases of different varieties or inconsistent spelling of a name or term: Goethe and Göthe are treated as different terms, G*the can, however, be used to find both versions.
The character * is automatically appended to all search terms not otherwise marked. Searching for Goe will therefore turn up results for both Goethe as well as Goetschel. This can be useful if you are trying to find not only Goethe but also Goethe's or Goetheian. You can suppress this search behaviour by enclosing your search terms in quotation marks (see below). This results in all term demarcations being respected and avoids, to use the above example, that searching for G*the brings up results for Günther or Gotthelf.
Under normal conditions, a search will only return results that contain all of the search terms, i.e. a normal search will perform an "AND" operation. Should you wish to search in a more differentiated fashion, you can modify the search logic using the following metacharacters:
The order in which the search terms are entered does not normally make a difference; the terms are individually searched for and spaces are ignored or interpreted as separators.
The logic operators outlined above can also be applied to search terms enclosed in quotation marks (e.g. Goethe work -"Goethes works").
Search brings you to a very detailed form which permits highly sophisticated search queries. One advantage here is the possibility of numerous different combinations of terms. All text boxes support the meta characters outlined above under "Quick Search".
You can sort your search results either by author or by year of publication. You can also change the number of search results shown per page.
The default display mode is the concise view as it is more clearly laid out. You have the option to display a more detailed view for each search result in the list of matches. Alternatively, you can select to see a detailed view before sending your search query by selecting Detailed View (complete).
The function Print version shows a complete list of your search results optimised for printing (as opposed to the per-page display of search results on screen) in a new window. Should you wish to print your search result you can click Print version in your search results. You can then choose whether to print all matches in concise or detailed view.
All portions of the site are generated in a "printer friendly" way when sent to a printer (use your browser's print preview function if needed). The separate link Print version is intended to aid the distinction between the print version on one page and the normal screen view, which is browsed on separated pages for ease of use. To limit page length and conserve server resources, the function is no longer available when the search results consist of too many matches (i.e. several hundred).
Detailed view shows a summarised view of all pertinent data of an entry. By clicking on Table view you can look at the full "raw" data.
Cross references within an entry are converted to direct links to the detaild view of the referenced entry. Author and title of the reference are abridged. Browsers such as Firefox show the long title when hovering with the mouse pointer.
As an additional service, the recent entries section shows a list of all titles which have been added to the database, corrected or expanded in the last few months. As this list can be substantial you may experience longer load times.
In order to navigate within the list you can select one of the linked literature types. The list of recent entries is by default shown in concise view mode. You can look at individual titles in detailed view, if desired.
The editorial gives a concise overview of the background to the Spinoza Bibliography and its online version.
If you want to report a bibliographic entry which is not yet in our database you can use this form. Please complete all individual fields with the relevant bibliographic data.
To classify an entry thematically, the following thematic areas are available:
Multiple classification is possible.
If you wish to contribute to the speedy inclusion of your submission in the database, we would ask you to adhere to the conventions for inclusion, provided in the annex.
At the end of the form we ask for further optional information about yourself in order to be able to get in touch with you in case of any questions.
If you discover inaccuracies or incomplete information in our database you can use this form to correct the data. In order to find the data to be corrected you need to provide the information asked for in this form.
At the end of the form we ask for further optional information about yourself in order to be able to get in touch with you in case of any questions.
