The Estonian retrospective national bibliography registeres:

• all publications in the Estonian language
• all publications issued in Estonia
• publications about Estonia and Estonians and foreign-language publications by Estonian authors, issued abroad.

The Academic Library of Tallinn University is the centre of the Estonian retrospective national bibliography.

The National Library of Estonia is responsible for the compilation of the following items of retrospective national bibliography:

• books in the Estonian language from 1918 to 1944;
• books published in Estonia since 1945;
• periodicals published in Estonia since 1941;
• Estonian sheet music since 1918;
• Estonian cartographic publications since 1918;
• Estonian sound recordings.

The citations of the retrospective national bibliography are available in the online catalogue of the national bibliography ERB and the e-catalogue ESTER.

The following publications (in Estonian) of retrospective national bibliography have been issued as printed indexes (may be ordered here):

• Estonian books 1525-1850. Tallinn : Estonian Academy Publishers, 2000.
• Estonian books 1851-1900. Volume 1. A-Q. Tallinn : Library of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, 1995.
• Estonian books 1851-1900. Volume 2. R-Y. Tallinn : Library of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, 1995.
• Estonian books 1901-1917. Volume 1. A-P. Tallinn : Estonian Academy of Sciences, 1993.
• Estonian books 1901-1917. Volume 2. R-Y. Tallinn : Estonian Academy of Sciences, 1993.
• Estonian books 1941-1944: September 1941 to September 1944. Tallinn : The National Library of Estonia, 1997.
• Estonian press 1766-1940. Volume I, A-N. Tallinn : Estonian Academy Publishers, 2002.
• Estonian press 1766-1940. Volume II, O-Ü. Tallinn : Estonian Academy Publishers, 2002.
• German, Russian and other foreign language periodicals issued in Estonia 1675-1940. Tallinn : Estonian Academy of Sciences, 1993.
• Estonian sheet music 1918-1944. I, Bibliography. Tallinn: The National Library of Estonia, 2001.
• Estonian sheet music 1918-1944. II, Indexes. Tallinn: The National Library of Estonia, 2003.
• Estonian maps 1918-1944. Tallinn: The National Library of Estonia, 1996

Currently being compiled:

• Estonian-language books 1918-1945. (NLE)
• Estonian periodicals 1941-1944. (NLE)
• Foreign language books related to Estonia issued in Estonia and elsewhere to 1940. (TUAL)