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The History of the IMB: 1967-2017

In 1966, Peter Sawyer, Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Leeds, was invited to teach at the University of Minnesota by Stuart Hoyt, Professor of Medieval History. Sawyer and Hoyt discussed the need for an international bibliography of Medieval Studies, to catalogue the ‘growing flood’ of articles on medieval topics in academic periodicals. Sawyer and Hoyt secured funding from the University of Minnesota and the McKnight Foundation of Minnesota (backed by 3M) to launch the International Medieval Bibliography and fund it for three years.

Report of an international conference held at Devonshire Hall in 1968 to discuss bibliographical co-operation and identify ways forward for the IMB.

Report of an international conference held at Devonshire Hall in 1968 to discuss bibliographical co-operation and identify ways forward for the IMB.

The first IMB was printed in 1967 as a card catalogue, using an innovative scheme of three reference points (general subject, geographical area, century range). When Sawyer returned to Leeds in 1967, the IMB moved with him.

Its first centre of operations was the top floor of his house in Headingley, a suburb of Leeds. In 1968, using a generous grant from the American Council of Learned Societies, the IMB held a conference in Leeds with a reception and dinner at Temple Newsam on 12 August.

In 1995, the IMB was digitised and published on CD, in collaboration with the publisher BREPOLS, which continues to be publishing partner of the IMB. The newest and most important format is IMB-Online, which offers a wide range of advanced searches, controlled vocabulary and metrics, with four updates every year.

The IMB in Index Card, Softcover, and Hardcover Formats.

The IMB in Index Card, Softcover, and Hardcover Formats.

The IMB and BREPOLS have now formed a relationship with the Bibliographie de civilisation médiévale (BCM) at the University of Poitiers, to allow both databases to be accessed through a joint interface. The IMB’s holdings of articles and collected volumes complement the BCM’s listings of monographs.

As of 2017, the IMB includes over 500,000 records and uses over 120,000 index terms, relating to countries, places, persons, and texts, manuscripts and subjects.