Research
Can the library help me with research on a specific subject?
For us there is nothing too strange or outlandish. Who really invented coffee drinking? Have there been peacocks in 12th century Ethiopia? Who were the unhappiest lovers of the Victorian Age? Who made the statement: "Art is not a mirror held up to society but a hammer with which to shape it"? Are there bird watching excursion in Berlin? These are just a few of the questions from Fellows that we have pursued the answers to over the years, and we welcome any challenge to our professional investigative skill!
How do I access electronic resources on the Wissenschaftskolleg’s campus and to what resources do I have access?
Here on the Wissenschaftskolleg’s campus you have access to a number of electronic resources, e.g. JStor or Web of Science. You can get an overview of the possibilities via EZB or DBIS. If you have any further questions, please contact the library team.
For my research I need archival materials – how can the library be of assistance?
We help you in choosing the appropriate archive in Berlin or in Germany at large, and we help prepare your visit by setting you up with the proper contact person or by making sure that the archival material is ready for the date of your visit. We can also accompany you on your initial visit to the archive so as to assist you with any registration formalities.
Is there a catalog for the publications in the Fellow Library?
All publications of the Fellow Library are registered in our online catalog. Information as to the book’s location can be found in the lower part of the detailed view of each entry in the catalog.
Ordering
How do I order books?
You can order books and journal articles from the library via Wikoscope or by filling out the order forms. First login and then choose the form for books or for journals. Fill out those parts of it with all the information that you know, but at very least the source’s author and title. Then click on “submit request” to send your order to us.
How long does it take for the ordered materials to be made available to me?
As a rule, we will have your book available for you from within one to three days. If it will be taking somewhat longer, we will be sure to inform you of the fact.
How long can I keep the borrowed materials?
As a rule, you can retain a book for at least four weeks. If you have not yet returned it, we will automatically renew it for you if at all possible. In this way you can sometimes retain the book for the entire academic year.
How do I know if borrowed materials must be returned?
You will receive a notice by e-mail from us whenever a book that you have in your possession has been recalled by the library that loaned it to you. We ask that you respond as quickly as possible to such notifications.
Can special materials like CDs or musical scores be ordered?
Yes. And for any and all materials please use the order form.
Is it possible to borrow very old materials from Berlin’s libraries?
As a rule, we can acquire for you materials published after 1800. For all volumes published earlier or which are part of a certain library’s non-lending collection, we can arrange for the book to be made available to you at a date of your choosing in the reading room of the library concerned.
On campus
May I make use of books from the Wissenschaftskolleg’s holdings in my office or apartment?
You can take books from the reference library and the Fellow Library to your workstation. Just fill out the card in the back of the book with your name and the date and then place it in the library’s mail box.
When can I pick up my ordered materials in the library?
As soon as an ordered book has been acquired for you and is ready to be picked up, we will notify you of the fact by e-mail and you can come fetch it any time from the special shelf in the library reserved for such.
To which newspapers and journals does the Wissenschaftskolleg subscribe?
You can find a selection of journals in the bay window area of the White Villa – e.g. New York Review of Books, London Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte. You can read the older issues at your workstation by filling out the available card and then placing it in the library’s mail box. Daily newspapers such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Tagesspiegel and Le Monde can be found in the clubroom of the Main Building.
Reproducing & Publishing
Is there a copying machine or scanner in the library?
There is a book scanner in the ground floor, where you can save parts of books with a USB device. You may also contact us to do scans for you. Due to copyright rules we aren't allowed to scans whole books for you. You can also find a copying machine on the second floor.
How does the scan service work?
Fill out this form and put it into the shelf for scans on the first floor with the respective book.
What rules must I follow when making copies and scans?
For scholarly purposes you are generally permitted to save, copy and scan works (in part) from the library’s collection.
What this means is that individual articles from professional journals, works of smaller magnitude (no more than approximately 25 pages) and out-of-print works may be copied in their entirety.
As for books, up to 10 percent of the total work may be reproduced per copying session. Over multiple sessions, you are allowed up to 75 percent of a work for your own research purposes. Libraries are allowed to transmit no more than 10 percent of a certain work to those who request it, so if you need more than this then you will have to undertake the work yourself.
Newspapers are generally the exception to these regulations, which means that we cannot provide you with articles from newspapers of which we have no print copies in stock. We are only allowed to make the library’s holdings accessible to you on-site, but the definition of “on-site” includes your office and apartment on the Wissenschaftskolleg campus.
I need to clear the rights for certain images that I would like to use for my book/article/lecture. How can the library assist me in this regard?
If you are unsure as to whether and how you may use an image for your lecture or publication, please feel free to contact us. We will also be happy to produce high-resolution scans from scholarly publications for you.
Basically, the following rules apply:
Even if images can be found online free of charge and at first glance appear to be without any licensing, they are nevertheless protected by copyright in the vast majority of cases.
For a scholarly work, one may only use images if they serve to explicate the work’s content and are therefore considered a citation. They may not be used purely for the purpose of illustration or entertainment value. As with other sources, you must give credit to the entity that owns the copyright as well as citing the material’s origin. If impermissible within the parameters of a Creative Commons license, for example, then the image may not be modified.
If you are looking for suitable images that are clearly licensed, we recommend that you start your search with Creative Commons.
I would like to publish Open Access. Can the library help me to do this?
Yes, we can certainly lend you assistance. There are a wide variety of ways to publish via open-access and we are happy to discuss them with you. Many articles that have already appeared in journals can subsequently be published via open-access.