The new catalogue aims to present the DLA's holdings across all media and uses authority records for persons and works to do so. Manuscripts, books, images, audio, video and digital material can all be found with a simple search, and perhaps some surprising discoveries can be made along the way. Parts of an estate that are recorded differently and stored material-specifically are virtually networked, and provenance features are made visible. The catalogue aims to provide access to the DLA's stacks and digital holdings, both on site and on the go.

The beta version does not yet contain everything, but a lot is already possible. We continue to develop the new catalogue with your feedback and would like to react more flexibly to your ideas and research interests in the future. You can find an overview of the current status in our Info-Wiki.

Six fictional characters accompany the project: a student, a scholarship holder, a picture editor, an exhibition maker, a scientist and a professor. Told in episodic stories from the user’s point of view and language, specific situations are described and used as a guideline for the design of the catalogue.

In the following explanatory videos you can look over the shoulders of three of these fictional characters as they conduct their research.