What will I find if I choose Discovery?

Current note: As a result of the merger of the catalogues of the GBV (Common Library Network) and SWB (Southwest German Library Network), the data in the Discovery Service has not been updated since 16 March 2019.

Until further notice, we recommend that you use our classic Regional Catalogue Rostock, which correctly shows our current holdings. We hope you will understand that the merger of the catalogues within the context of this large-scale national project requires extensive work that will require further time.

The Discovery service is a modern alternative to our classic online catalogue, providing a new way to find literature based on search engine technology. It makes new subject areas more easily accessible and is linked to your library user account.

The default search covers the holdings of the following regional libraries:

Additionally, you can search our holdings as well as those of around 400 libraries in northern and middle Germany using K10plus-Zentral. You can switch the language to English on the right. Then adjust the settings on the left of the search bar to enable "Advanced search in all libraries". This search covers over 57 million printed items and more than 34 million electronic resources. Physical items not in our own holdings can be borrowed via interlibrary loan.

Link zu Discovery

Search tips
Search terms	Type one or more terms into the search field. The "Auto Complete" function helps you to select the search terms.
Wildcard *	The * character can be placed anywhere in the search term or the end of the search term. It replaces any number of characters. Example: - Publiation* will be find publikation and publication - sanier* will be find Sanierung, sanieren, Sanierungspreis etc.
Wildcard ?	The ? character can be placed anywhere in the search term or the end of the search term. It replaces exactly one character. Example: - Publi?ation will be find Publikation and publication - W??mar will be find Weimar, Wismar etc.
Person search	If you are searching for a specific person, preferably type the name in quotation marks. Example: "Gerd Röpke"
Search with original character sets	If titles are described in the original character set, you can search for them as well. Example: История текста и биография А. П. Платонова
Phonetic search	With the phonetic search similar terms can be found. This is useful when the correct spelling of a name or term is unknown. Example: Tollsdeu will be find Tolstoi, Tolstoj, Tolstoy etc.
Presets for a search	By using different presets you can restrict your search. For example, if you are looking for a work from a certain author, but you do not know the title, you can enter the author with the presets. In this way, the search is performed exclusively in the works of this author. Your presets can be stored and loaded for later searches.
Restrict search results	Period, Type, Format By use of slider control or by manually entering the desired years, the result can be restricted to a selected period.
Search queries and search results	Confirm search queries by clicking the search button. The entered terms are searched simultaneously in all fields of the title description (person, title keyword, subject, etc.). The search result is sorted by relevance ranking, the highest possible match between the your search query and the available data.
Access to licensed electronic resources (e-books, e-journals, e-articles)	For a large number of electronic resources, the university library provides access to the electronic full text. For access from outside the university campus it is necessary to connect to the Rostock university network via VPN or use a university application server.