  The eruption of a (classical) nova is widely accepted to be a recurrent event
in the lifetime of a cataclysmic binary star. In-between eruptions the system
should therefore behave as a "normal" cataclysmic variable (CV), i.e. according
to its characteristic properties like the mass-transfer rate or the strength of
the magnetic field of the white dwarf. How important are these characteristics
for the nova eruption itself, i.e. which type of systems preferably undergo a
nova eruption? This question could in principle be addressed by comparing the
post-nova systems with the general CV population. However, information on
post-novae is scarce, even to the extent that the identification of the
post-nova is ambiguous in most cases. In this paper we inform on the progress
of a project that has been undertaken to significantly improve the number of
confirmed post-novae, thus ultimately providing the means for a better
understanding of these objects.
