Online Resources
The online databases listed below are not catalogues of the National Library of Scotland (although the Library will have many of the publications which appear in them). With the exception of the Millgate Union Catalogue of Walter Scott Correspondence, they are bibliographic databases containing details of material relating to Scotland or held in Scottish Libraries.
Scottish Bibliographies Online
ISSN 1743-9485
This database contains three separate components: to find out how to access them separately, see our search information page.
- Bibliography of Scotland (BOS): Scotland's national bibliography brings together over 90,000 records of books, periodicals and major articles of Scottish interest published all over the world. In principle it covers the period from 1976 to the present, but most of the records currently available online date from 1987 to the present. BOS includes information on literary writing in Scots. For more information, see our detailed description of Bibliography of Scotland.
- Bibliography of Scottish Gaelic (BOSG): When completed, the Bibliography of Scottish Gaelic is intended to list books and periodicals published in Gaelic, or containing substantial Gaelic text, from the beginning of Gaelic publishing. At present it lists much, but by no means all, of the Gaelic material held in the National Library of Scotland, plus some recent periodical articles.
- Bibliography of the Scottish Book Trade (BSBT): The Bibliography of the Scottish Book Trade (BSBT) is a flexible research tool for the study of an important aspect of intellectual and cultural life in Scotland. It records secondary materials, including monographs, essays in composite works and journal articles, in the fields of publishing, printing, bookselling, journalism, broadcasting, binding, illustration, graphic design, libraries and library history and the transmission of Scottish culture overseas. Read a detailed description of BSBT. See below for information on the Scottish Book Trade Index (SBTI).
Bibliography of Scottish Literature in Translation (BOSLIT)
The Bibliography of Scottish Literature in Translation lists over 20,000 foreign translations of literary works by a wide range of Scottish authors, including individual poems and stories as well as complete books. It covers translations into all languages of authors of every period published since 1500. Read more about BOSLIT. An example of research based on the BOSLIT database can be found in Paul Barnaby's article 'Three into one: twentieth-century Scottish verse in translation anthologies' ('Translation and literature', vol. 9, part 2, 2000, published by Edinburgh University Press).
Millgate Union Catalogue of Walter Scott Correspondence
A unique listing of the locations worldwide of almost 14,000 letters from and to Sir Walter Scott is available in a union catalogue.
US and Canadian Newspaper Holdings in Scottish Libraries
A directory of North American newspapers and news magazines in Scottish libraries. See our detailed description of its coverage and history.
Scottish Book Trade Index (SBTI)
An index of printers, publishers, booksellers, bookbinders, printmakers, stationers and papermakers based in Scotland, from the beginnings of Scottish printing to circa 1850. More detailed description of SBTI.
Scottish Books 1505-1660 (Aldis updated)
A checklist of books printed in Scotland, or outside Scotland for the Scottish market, before 1641. Read our introduction or view a guide to location symbols and other abbreviations.
Union Catalogue of Art Books in Libraries in Scotland (UCABLIS)
UCABLIS provides records of art books in major Scottish libraries up to 2001. This service has now been replaced by CAIRNS, which provides up-to-date simultaneous searching of the catalogues of member libraries of the Scottish Visual Arts Group (SVAG).
