Cicero is...
Cicero is the name of the search engine that powers the Universal Short Title Catalogue.
It is so named because the prototype search engine only indexed the collected works of Marcus Tullius Cicero.
The prototype search engine was designed by the USTC project's technical manager, Dr Philip John in 2008.
As the database developed, so did that of the architecture of the search engine. Indeed, very little of the original coding that created the 2008 prototype exists in the finished product.
But the name survived...
The version of the USTC you are currently accessing uses version 4.05 of Cicero.
Unlike many catalogue search engines, Cicero was specifically written for the USTC which means users receive the best and fastest results they possible can.
However, we are always striving to do better...