Basic search allows straightforward searching using one or two fields, selectable through drop-down lists. It is also possible to limit results to a given range of years; if you wish to select just one year, enter it in the 'From' field and leave 'To' blank. Searching is based on thesauri for all fields other than title; to select a search term click on the thesaurus icon. Where two fields are used they are linked by AND (for instance results might be limited to just the works of a specified composer published in a specified place); if you do not want your searching to be limited in this way, use Advanced search instead. When typing in a title, note that searching is neither case nor accent sensitive: this means for example that 'marsche' will find 'Märsche'.

Clicking on 'Search' will generate a list of individual bibliographic items; where there are more than ten, use the 'Next' button to see more results, or choose a specific range. (Be careful of choosing 'All' if there is likely to be a very large number of results.) From any individual item there are links to the Monatsbericht page in which it is found, in the form of either transcription or facsimile; these will open in a new window. If you wish to amend your search rather than start a new one, select 'Back to search' on the results page.