Library
Back to Library Overview

Image adapted from sketch by Montserrat de Pablo.

Head of Library

Esther Chen

library@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de

Library Services

The library's collections and services are open to researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, and are closely tailored to the needs of the researchers working at the Institute and their very diverse research topics. Our aim is to give you the best possible support for your research, delivering whatever you need to your workplace as quickly as possible. We have a large collection of print and digital sources and secondary literature, and offer you round-the-clock access to our extensive print and digital collections and to study desks. We provide a range of services, including a special interlibrary loan (ILL) service to bring you print and digital sources straight from other collections worldwide; digitization of sources for your research and publications; help with optical character recognition and image processing; copyright research and help with obtaining permission to reproduce materials for your publications; and assistance with bibliography management, including software such as Zotero or EndNote.

List of Services

  • Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

    Complementing our own collections the Library is networked to the holdings of other libraries. This Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service enables the rapid delivery of documents and provides books and articles (and DVDs, CDs, musical scores, microfiches, microfilms, etc.) from a wide network of research libraries within days of a request. This network includes special usage conditions, e.g., lending privileges for older books that otherwise would not be for loan.

    Please check the Library Catalogue, then use the Interlibrary Loan Form if the item you need is not in the catalogue or is unavailable. If your request is urgent, you may mention this in the form.

    Please remember that neither the Institute’s books nor Interlibrary Loan books may be taken out of the Institute. We kindly ask you not to use sticky notes in the books we have borrowed for you.

    For further information about Interlibrary Loans, please see the Interlibrary Loans page.

     

  • Request a New Acquisition by the Library

    You can suggest an item for our library's collections by completing the Recommendation for Acquisitions Form. For related enquiries please email the library.

  • Add a Publication to the Institute's Bibliography (PuRe)

    The Institute’s Bibliography (PuRe) lists all publications authored or edited by our researchers and guests in connection with their research at the Institute (except preprints).

    As well as being necessary for the Institute's biannual Research Reports, you will need to have your publications entered into PuRe in order for them to appear on your scholar profile on the website. To add your publications to PuRe, contact the Editorial Assistant in your Department/Research Group:

     

    For general enquiries about the Institutes Bibliography please email the PuRe Bibliography team.

  • Assistance with Image Copyright & Permissions Requests

    The library offers a copyright clearance service—we will search for those with the rights to the image you want to use, and request clearance for its use in your publications and online. For further information please contact Urte Brauckmann.

  • Advice on Publishing & Open Access

    The Max Planck Society fosters Open Access and strives to bring research results openly on the Internet. Here you can find information on open access publishing, copyright issues, and on the transfer of rights to publishers. The library offers advice on Open Access and publishing contracts,  and provides copyright clearance service for the publications of our scholars. Find out more on the Open Access information page, which also includes an Open Access FAQs list.

  • Assistance with Digitization

    The library offers digitization of sources for your research and publication projects, helping with image processing if required. Please contact Ralf Hinrichsen for further information and assistance.

    The library also supports the digitization of audio and video documents. For this please contact Hartmut Kern.

  • Assistance with Bibliographies

    The library offers advice on managing your bibliography as well as support for transferring existing bibliographies into new bibliographic management systems, such as Zotero, EndNote, etc. Please see the Bibliography Management page for further information on what we offer.