We are pleased to announce a new update to Clavis Clavium, the open-access reference database maintained by Corpus Christianorum. This release brings the Open Access platform fully in line with the most recent data updates and introduces substantial additions and refinements across the Latin and Greek sections, enhancing reliability and discoverability for patristic research.
The update also improves the links with the Library of Latin Texts, ensuring closer alignment with its nomenclature and reference structure, and facilitating smoother navigation between both resources.
The MARC records for our Latin full-text databases – the Library of Latin Texts (LLT), the Archive of Celtic Latin Literature (ACLL), the Aristoteles Latinus Database (ALD), and the Electronic Monumenta Germaniae Historica (eMGH) – are now available for download directly from the databases.
As a result, the old Marc Records application will soon be removed from the BREPOLiS website.
As we have recently completed the data restructure of all four of these databases (see our previous blog post for more info), new sets of MARC records have been created to replace all previous ones. Institutional subscribers should update the links in their library catalogue accordingly if they haven’t done so already.
The new MARC records are available for download directly from the databases under the menu item “MORE” > “MARC”.
The Marc records for the online database Sources Chrétiennes Online (SCO) had already been available for download in the database itself under the menu item “More” > “Marc records”. A new set of Marc records for SCO will become available for download as soon as the SCO has received a new interface and data structure (scheduled for this spring).
On 13 March, the Society of Classical Studies will host a dedicated webinar on L’Année philologique (APh).
This session is designed to introduce participants to the effective use of L’Année philologique, the authoritative and comprehensive bibliographic database for Classical Studies. The webinar will focus in particular on its application to undergraduate research, while remaining relevant to faculty and librarians supporting students in the field.
You can find more information and register on the website of the Society of Classical Studies:
Over the past year, we have been implementing major enhancements across our bibliographic and full-text databases—improvements designed to make the use of our databases more accessible, intuitive, and efficient. In 2026, you will experience the full impact of these developments: redesigned interfaces and improved data models are now available for all bibliographies and will become available for all full-text databases. The citation plugin will establish itself as an essential benefit for users of our bibliographies, while the number of citations will increase significantly in the course of 2026. These upgrades, combined with further updates planned for selected Latin databases this year, ensure that our platform sets the standard for innovation and user experience.
Stay tuned—this newsletter will provide detailed insights into what’s new and how you can make the most of these enhancements. Download the Newsletter here.
Our goal is simple: make research on Latin literature in all its aspects faster, easier, and more intuitive. By restructuring the databases, we have:
simplified navigation across these large corpora of texts;
enhanced search functionality with new filters and perspectives;
added direct links to authoritative (online) resources for deeper exploration.
For a detailed look at the philosophy behind these changes, see our series of blog posts “Enriching the LLT”.
What’s New in Each Database
Most structural changes and additions to metadata have already been explained in these previous blog posts on the LLT. However, some database-specific features were added to the ACLL, ALD, and eMGH to better suit the needs of their specialist users.
Archive of Celtic-Latin Literature (ACLL)
We have integrated Lapidge & Sharpe numbers from the Bibliography of Celtic-Latin Literature (Dublin, 1985) as a dedicated reference work.
More detailed geographical filters based on Lapidge & Sharpe’s divisions help researchers focus on specific regions during their research.
Aristoteles Latinus Database (ALD)
In an enhanced form, we have maintained the navigation by Bekker columns, allowing direct access to translations or commentaries on specific Aristotelian passages.
Using the source language filter, users can quickly identify the original language behind each Latin translation.
Electronic Monumenta Germaniae Historica (eMGH)
Since texts in the MGH are often cited by their sub-series and volume (e.g. LL nat. Germ. 4,1), we have integrated the collection’s structure under “Reference Works”.
The redesigned interface works seamlessly on desktop and mobile, offering an intuitive search experience. This interface will also allow us to meet WCAG 2.1AA standards, ensuring accessibility for all users.
Looking Ahead
We are not stopping here: our CTLO team will continue to refine these databases and expand their corpora, while introducing new features as our platforms will continue to evolve. Our mission: enrich your research experience and broaden the panorama of (Latin) texts you can find in our databases.
The Library of Latin Texts (LLT) has been updated. After the database’s major overhaul earlier this year, a second content update has been completed. The addition of 42 new works brings the total number of words in the database to over 170 million.
For a detailed list of the texts added to the database, click here (PDF file).
The Database of Latin Dictionaries (DLD) was updated. This year’s update includes the Lexicon etymologicum by Giovanni Alessio (Napoli, 1976), a supplement to existing Latin and Romance etymological dictionaries, including the REW (Meyer-Lübke) already available in the database.
Starting December 2025, Brepolis Bibliographies include citation information through a new citation plugin. This tool is available in the hitlist and on the record page, providing the total number of citations along with the bibliographical details of the citing publications.
Although the number of citations included in this initial release is still limited, this is expected to increase significantly in the coming months. For now, most citations will be drawn from journals and books published between 2020 and 2024. Newly registered citations will be added monthly.
For a short presentation of the plugin:
The citation data are sourced from Perspecti, Brepols’ upcoming database on research in the Humanities. For more information on Perspecti, see Perspecti plugin – Perspecti
Since the launch of the citation plugin in December 2025, the number of citations included in Brepolis bibliographies has increased by 114%.
The Patrologia Orientalis Database(POD) has been updated. This year’s update includes the Syriac Anaphora of St Basil (ed. Erich Renhart; PO 256) and homilies IX-XII from the Geʽez translation of the Kitāb al-Īḍāḥ (ed. Tedros Abraha; PO 257).
The POD is the online version of the famous collection of patristic texts from the Christian East, including works, recorded in non-Latin languages, that come from geographical, cultural, or religious contexts somehow linked to Rome or the Eastern Roman Empire.
In his recent article, Charles Guérin, “L’Année philologique, une source pour l’histoire de la philologie ? — L’exemple de Sénèque le Père,” the author demonstrates how a bibliography can be used in innovative and unexpected ways. The article is available here: https://books.openedition.org/irht/1287.
We are pleased to highlight this study, which offers a compelling example of how bibliographic resources can serve not only as discovery tools but also as sources for analytical and historical research. Thanks to the bibliometric features developed by Brepols, L’Année Philologique can be approached in a different light. Rather than simply locating publications on a given topic, the database can be read “in reverse”: mined as a dataset that reveals long-term shifts in classical scholarship and, more broadly, the evolving history of philology.
The bibliometric module is accessible directly from the search interface of the BREPOLiS bibliographies (L’Année Philologique, International Medieval Bibliography, Bibliographie de Civilisation Médiévale, International Bibliography of Humanism and the Renaissance, Bibliography of British and Irish History and Index Religiosus) via the dedicated “Bibliometrics” tab.
view of the interface of L’Année Philologique featuring the Bibliometric Module
You have also access to the Bibliometric information from the record view:
view of a bibliographic record of L’Année Philologique
