International Medieval Bibliography (IMB)
via the Web
- Introduction
- Access to IMB
- Navigation and On-screen Help
- Searching
- Indexes
- Combining Search Terms
- Truncation
- Retrieving and Viewing References
- Selecting/Marking References
- Downloading/Printing/Emailing References
- Exiting from IMB
- Academic Liaison Librarian: Clare White
Introduction
IMB online is the electronic version of the interdisciplinary bibliography of the Middle Ages, covering Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the period c.400-1500. The bibliography includes references to over 300,000 articles from approximately 4,500 periodicals and about 5,000 miscellanies (eg: conference proceedings, essay collections and exhibition catalogues). All the references have been fully indexed. The publication years covered by this bibliography are from 1967 onwards. New material is added quarterly.
Access to IMB
All databases are accessible via MetaLib
- Find MetaLib from the University homepage:
follow either Student home | Library | MetaLib gateway (under Quick Links)
or Staff home | Library | MetaLib gateway (under Quick Links)
- Go directly to MetaLib at http://metalib.york.ac.uk
When you get into MetaLib, choose the Find Database tab. Locate International Medieval Bibliography Online from the alphabetical list of databases and click on the title link*. A new window will display the Brepolis front page.
* Information about how to gain access to IMB from off-campus is available by clicking on the 'How to Connect' link, displayed at the top of the alphabetical list of resources.
From the Brepolis front page, click on the Enter Databases button and then click on the Go button next to the title of the bibliography.
Navigation and On-screen Help
You can move between the screens of this database by using the Back and Forward buttons of your web browser and using the static buttons on the left side of the screen.
Click on the 
icon at any time for help.
Searching
Three search options are available:
Free Search
Enter search terms into the Free Search box. Brackets and Boolean operators can be included. The maximum number of characters (including spaces) that can be entered is 80.
For example, 'plague or black death' will retrieve all references which contain either the word plague or the phrase black death or both.
A free search can be combined with a search for bibliographical and/or classification details.
Bibliographical Details Search
These search options allow you to refine your search to specific authors, publications, publication dates, titles, ISBN/ISSNs and works in particular languages.
Classification Details Search
This search option guides you towards the preferred search terms used by the indexes of IMB. To the right of each search option there are a number of blue buttons. Each of these buttons leads to an alphanumerical list of all the indexed terms that can be searched for in each field.
Wordlist is an index of the single words which can be searched for in that field.
In the Subject Index, the General list comprises of broad topics, eg: "Ecclesiastical history" and the Specific list is of narrower search terms, such as the "Cistercian order".
In the Repositories Index, the Manuscripts list contains the words used in the Codices/Artefacts field of a reference.
Indexes
There are also three hierarchical indexes - subject, place and date. To access these indexes, click on the Indexes button on the left side of each screen. These indexes provide access to references within IMB, ranking them according to their level in the hierarchical category. For example: Index by Subject > Social and Economic History > Social Groups > Families > In France Click on Records to view the references |
 |
Combining Search Terms
Search terms, entered in any of the search fields, can be combined by using the Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT.
| AND | Limits records to those containing both words (Heresy AND France ) |
| OR | Either word may appear in the record (Benedictine OR Cistercian) |
You can also limit your search results to only references published in English by entering English in the Language of Work field.
Truncation
Use the symbol ? to replace any single letter in a search term, eg: wom?n will search for women and woman.
Use the symbol * to replace any group of letters or absent letters, eg: symb* will search for symbol, symbolism, symbolic, symbolique, etc
NB: To clear the search screen to start a new search, click on the clear fields button.
Retrieving and Viewing References
To activate a search and to view the references, click on Search and Show Hitlist.
Use the count hits option to see how many references (or hits) there are for each individual search term. If any of the search terms produce '0 hits' you can then try another search term before re-running the search.
To see the full reference, click on the IMB icon beside the desired record.
Clicking on the SFX button 
above the full reference will open a new window from which it is possible to search Library resources for the book or journal. If it is provided electronically, the option will be offered to retrieve the full text online by clicking the Go button next to the Full Text entry.
Selecting/Marking References
The default setting is for all the references to be marked for downloading/printing purposes. To deselect a particular title, click on the 'ticked' box by the author's name. You can move through the list of references by clicking on Next 25 and Last.
Once you have deselected the titles that you don't want, you can view the titles you do want by clicking on the words Keep Selection at the bottom of the screen. Then click on the highlighted word here at the top of the list of references. This will generate a new window which contains a list of all the titles that you have selected. The new window is labelled 'Exported Documents'.
Downloading/Printing/Emailing References
To download the Exported Documents List to a file, click on the export button on the left hand side of the annotated Hitlist screen. Exporting as HTML is the preferred option. Choose the download to local computer option and an appropriate file name and drive to save to.
To print from the Exported Documents List, click on the print button of your web browser.
To email the Exported Documents List to yourself, click on the export button on the left hand side of the annotated Hitlist screen, choose the email option in the pop-up window that appears and enter your preferred address in the email box underneath the option.
NB: A maximum of 250 references can be exported at one time.
Exiting from IMB
From any screen, click on the exit button on the left side of the screen.
