Databases for contemporary history

The Datenbank-Infosystem (DBIS), a cooperative service for the use of scientific databases, lists free and licensed scientific databases from all subject areas, which are described here in terms of form and content. DFG-funded national licences licensed at the ZZF via DBIS.

The database Historische Bibliographie Online (Historical Bibliography Online) contains bibliographic entries of published titles of historical specialised literature from 1990 to 2013: monographs, articles from journals and anthologies. It is supplemented by the Jahrbuch der historischen Forschung (Yearbook of Historical Research).

The database OLC Zeitgeschichte (Online Contents Contemporary History) is a subject-related section of the Swets Online Contents database, which is continuously supplemented by several libraries with selected journals.

Clio-online - Fachportal für die Geschichtswissenschaften offers a central point of access to the internet for the historical sciences in German-speaking countries. A structured indexing and preparation of content combines specialised historical information with the possibility of interaction. Existing services from universities, libraries and research institutions are utilised and new services are developed through close cooperation between the participating institutions.

H-Soz-Kult is a specialised forum and moderated information and communication platform for historians and publishes academic news and publications on the Internet.

COMINTERN Electronic Archives catalogues the holdings of the Comintern archives as well as a selected full-text archive. The focus is on the commissions, secretariats and departments that worked under the Executive Committee of the Communist International, on country secretariats and regional offices, party delegations to the Comintern and on units of special interest such as the Lenin Schools and International Labour Aid.

The U.S. Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) is a collection of essential primary documents on U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945, including policy documents such as presidential directives, memos, diplomatic dispatches, meeting notes, independent reports, briefings, White House communications, emails, confidential letters, and other classified documents.

Integrum World Wide is the largest full-text database in Russia and the CIS countries. The texts are taken from the Russian and English press (regional and national newspapers and magazines, television and radio monitoring services, press agencies), statistics (Goskomstat), legal texts, government publications, patent specifications (Rospatent), fiction books, bibliographic databases of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION), internet sources, address and telephone directories, yellow pages, etc.

The World Biographical Information System Online (WBIS Online) comprises several million short biographies from numerous reference works published from the 16th century to the mid-20th century. The biographical archives included take into account different linguistic and cultural regions.
 

The research project Urban Authenticity examines how, from the Second World War to the present day, certain parts of the built heritage have been valorised and "authenticated" in European urban societies through public debates, media presentations and urban planning practices. 

The project „Stumme Zeugnisse 1939“ ("Silent Testimonies 1939) aims to contribute to raising public awareness of the German invasion of Poland and the crimes committed there by Germans. The testimonies on display make it clear how strongly the German soldiers were ideologically influenced

The Netzwerk Zeitgeschichte ("Contemporary History Network") connects memorial sites, research and civil society. It presents research projects and courses that deal with the history of National Socialism in Brandenburg as well as questions of reception and the culture of remembrance.

The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) is a catalogue of freely accessible monographs. It aims to improve the visibility and reputation of quality-checked open access monographs. At the same time, it is also a directory of publishers with an affinity for open access. The DOAB is operated by the OAPEN Foundation (Netherlands), which emerged from an EU-funded project involving several university publishers.

Die ZZF's digital services, which include numerous databases, websites and online journals, prepare specialised knowledge for the historically interested public, the media and historical-political education. They provide materials for university teaching, contribute to criticism and self-reflection in contemporary historical research and offer digital resources for researchers in the field of contemporary history. 

The Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam offers access to numerous licensed databases on the institute's premises. In addition, the ZZF develops its own thematic websites and databases, which are generally freely accessible and referenced via DBIS.