We serve as intermediaries for you with libraries or other information providers. You order from us that which you require for your research and we will acquire the books for you as well as taking care of all the administrative work related to borrowing materials and their due dates. Our library service has had long years of cooperative work with libraries at the national and international level. We use document delivery services or we place digital full texts at your disposal so as to meet your particular information needs as quickly as possible.
Orders
For the ordering of books and journals, login to the order form and fill it out with the requested bibliographic information (as far as you know it) and then send us your order by clicking on “submit request.” You can order all types of media from us – not only books and journals but musical scores and audio CDs. You can see your orders in your order account.
Processing Your Order
When we receive your order, we will research the quickest and simplest way to get the book or article to you. As soon as we have begun processing your order, the status of your order changes from “requested” to “in process”. As a rule, your requests are processed within one to three days. Should it take any longer then we will be sure to inform you of the fact.
Receiving Your Order
If we have been able to fill your order, you will receive an e-mail telling you that your ordered material can be picked up in the special shelf in the library that is reserved for such orders. All material that is ready to be picked up is assigned the status “arrived” in your order account. You can pick up your books at any time, the library remaining open to you round the clock. Digital full texts are delivered to you electronically.
Lending Period
As a rule, you can retain each book for at least four weeks. Should you require it longer, we will extend the lending period automatically. In many cases we can arrange for you to retain the book for the entire year.
Overdue Notices
Should someone else desire your book then we will notify you of the fact by e-mail and the status of your order will be changed to “recalled”. In such a case we would ask that you return the book within 3 days. If needed, we will arrange for the book to be replaced. If during the year of your stay in Berlin you will be away from the city for any length of time, we would ask that you inform us of this fact so that we may discuss arrangements for possible return of your materials during that period.
Return of Borrowed Material
Should you wish to return a borrowed book, place it on the library’s return shelf, which is right next to the pick-up shelf. In your account the book will then have the status “returned”.
Scanning
In the basement of the White Villa you will find a book scanner that you can use at any time. The scanned pages can be saved on USB flash drives. Scanning jobs can also be performed by our Scanning Service; due to copyright restrictions we are not allowed to scan whole books for you. If you should care to use our service, fill out the scanning form and place it together with the book you would like to have scanned on the designated library shelf.