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Scientific Library Services and Information Systems (LIS)
Funding Area: Nationwide Library Services and National Licenses
The Nationwide Library Services Programme
Through this programme, the DFG aims to facilitate the provision of a comprehensive range of highly specialised literature collections and digital sources of information for use in scientific research in Germany. The goal is to satisfy the demand for access to specialised scientific information by creating a system that goes beyond those provided by individual university libraries. The programme is supported by a number of universal scientific libraries that manage DFG special subject collections. Although not funded by the DFG, the three German specialist national libraries (for Applied Natural Sciences and Technology, Economics and Medicine) form a third pillar of this system by covering the applied subject areas. The literature and information collections are available to all scientists and academics in Germany without restriction. Internet-based services for bibliographical research, interlibrary loans, document delivery and direct online access to those collections available in digital form, are being set up by the participating libraries as part of their virtual subject libraries.
Lines of Action
As part of the Digital Information Initiative, the DFG offers supplementary funding opportunities in the following lines of action:
Line 1: Licensing of Digital Content / DFG National Licenses
The acquisition of national licenses for digital publications is an additional component of providing nationwide access to literature. National licenses are available to all members of universities and research institutions located in Germany and are accessible free-of-charge from the campus networks and the catalogues of German state and university libraries. If you are not a member of an authorised university or research institution, you may still register for free individual use of many databases and text collections at www.nationallizenzen.de. In future, current publications will also be licensed with the support of the DFG. Furthermore, in an international context, the DFG is developing joint international license models in cooperation with the DEF (Denmark), SURF (Netherlands), and the JISC (United Kingdom).
Line 4: Digitisation of Special Subject Collections
Since 1997, DFG projects have been promoting the retrospective digitisation of printed works, with funding initially being focused on the digitisation of individually selected collections and on the technical testing of various different methods. In 2006, funding was expanded to include more comprehensive digitisation projects (mass digitisation), and the digitisation of universally accessible special subject collections has been supported since 2008. To support the creation of a unified display interface (viewer) with a unified design and functionality to facilitate nationwide access, the DFG recommends the provision of a defined metadata set in the METS/MODS format. DFG funding for this line of action is limited to projects in which high-quality metadata is already available for the printed works in question.
