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Author:
Angela Cannon, Reference Specialist, European Division
Note: This guide is adapted from an earlier version, which first appeared on the European Reading Room website in 2004.
Created: January 11, 2020
Last Updated: February 16, 2022
Most of the foreign telephone directories held by the Library of Congress are uncataloged. We have therefore compiled this list of directories from the country of Bosnia & Herzegovina as a finding aid for our staff and researchers. These directories cover Bosnia & Herzegovina between the years 1936-1998. See also the finding aid for directories from former Yugoslavia which may contain information for towns from Bosnia & Herzegovina. In addition to the uncataloged directories listed below, the Library also holds a handful that are cataloged and may be requested using the online catalog. To locate these directories, search the Library of Congress Online Catalog using subject keywords such as "Yugoslavia" and "directories," or "Bosnia" and "directories," or the name of a city plus "directories." In addition to telephone directories, this kind of search also yields business/address directories from Bosnia & Herzegovina. Additionally, the Library of Congress holds two microfilm sets of telephone directories the contents of which are included in the list.
The finding aid, which represents Library of Congress holdings as of January 2020, is arranged by country/republic, then by city, and then by the year prominently displayed on the cover of the piece, which may or may not be the actual date of publication (i.e., a directory will often have one year in large print on the cover, and a different, usually earlier, year of publication elsewhere). Directories that cover all of Bosnia & Herzegovina appear first in the list. The type of directory is indicated by the words "residential," "organizational," or "both" for directories that include both business and private numbers.
Many of the directories from Bosnia & Herzegovina include both organizational and residential listings mixed together. Until the early 1970s, very few directories provided a separate "yellow pages" section, although many had a section of additional advertisements at the end.
All directories are in the Latin alphabet unless otherwise noted. In addition to an alphabetical arrangement by surname, business name, occupation or trade, many directories provide a numerical listing of entries arranged by phone number to determine who held a particular number for a given year. This feature is indicated in the notes field with the words "numerical index." Often the notes field will have a statement beginning with words such as "Prema stanju" or "Stanje," followed by a date. This statement is taken either from the title page or title page verso and can be translated loosely as "the situation as of a given date." It merely offers more precise dating for the contents of the directory.
Besides using printed telephone directories, a reader may find it helpful to use online directories available for free on the Internet. The telephone portal site Infobel External provides a database of business entries for each European country, including Bosnia & Herzegovina. There are no listings for private individuals at this site.