Estonian National Bibliography

Estonian National Library

The Estonian National Bibliography metadata provides a comprehensive overview of the history of Estonian print culture

The Estonian National Bibliography (ENB) is a rich metadata collection containing information about Estonian publications. These include books, periodicals, visual materials, maps, and other publications that have been published in Estonia, are in the Estonian language, are created by an Estonian author, or deal with Estonia and Estonians.

Curated, data-processing-ready versions of the ENB books and persons datasets have been created; more about their development can be read in Sirp. The ENB books dataset contains information on more than 300,000 books, including author(s), title, publisher, year of publication, place of publication, language, keywords, physical dimensions, electronic location, and various other attributes. It is likely the most comprehensive overview of the history of Estonian written culture. The ENB persons dataset includes information on more than 100,000 individuals associated with ENB publications.

Based on the ENB, the following data stories have been created: How Large Are Estonian Books?, National Library Datasets on Maps, How Many Books Have Been Published in Estonian?, Who Was at the Center of the National Awakening?, The Digital Galaxy of Estonian Translation History Reveals the Fabric of Culture and Society, and Where Is Fertile Ground for Becoming a Poet?
Spanning more than a century, the dataset offers numerous yet unexplored research possibilities. For example, it enables in-depth comparisons between different historical periods or, by combining the books and persons datasets, the construction of a profile of the “average Estonian writer” through analysis of authors’ gender, age, places of publication, and other variables.