TIB - Technische Informationsbibliothek

The TIB's Roles and Responsibilities

The German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB) is the German National Library for all areas of engineering as well as architecture, chemistry, information technology, mathematics and physics.
The TIB's task is to comprehensively acquire and archive literature from around the world pertaining to engineering and the natural sciences. The comprehensive Holdings we have acquired are available to our users through our Document Delivery Service. 
The TIB actively participates in a large number of Projects dealing with the development of corresponding specialist technologies, with a key focus on developing a Digital Library.

Holdings

The TIB holds a superb and comprehensive stock of technical literature pertaining to engineering and the natural sciences. The library places a particular emphasis on acquiring the grey literature of its subject areas, which is difficult to acquire and not available in bookshops. 
This unique part of the TIB holdings comprises around 7.8 million volumes of books, microforms and CD-ROMs, as well as around 16,000 subscriptions to general periodicals and specialist journals. The stock includes conference reports, research reports, patent documents, norms and standards, dissertations, and specialist East European and East Asian literature. 
As part of the future-oriented development of the Digital Library, the TIB is continuously expanding its range of electronic publications. Journal articles, research reports and dissertations are all available in this format, along with other technical and scientific documents. 
The TIB represents the perfect basis for providing customers from the business, industry, research and scientific arenas with a significant competitive edge in information terms. 

Document Delivery Service

The services provided by the TIB cater towards the ever more sophisticated information requirements of industry, the business community, and the research and scientific communities. The TIB specialises in the area of national and international full-text document supply. The library’s unique feature is its fast acquisition and delivery of science and technology.

With GetInfo, the portal of sciences and technology, the TIB provides science and industry with innovative offers. It also offers tailor-made solutions for its customers from industry and the scientific community. The portal provides access to leading specialist databases, publishing house offers and library catalogues. With this, GetInfo offers a worldwide unique stock of technical and scientific specialist information with integrated full-text delivery. Depending on demand within 72, 24 or 3 hours or with the Pay-per-View option - instantly to your own workplace

Furthermore, the TIB is a supply library for the subito national document delivery service.
The TIB's holdings are naturally also available through the standard inter-library loan channels. Please see the Instructions on using this method.

Facts and Figures

Since 1977, in its role as a service centre for the research community, the TIB has been jointly funded by the German federal government (30%) and the federal states (70%) through the so-called "Blue List" research funding framework agreement. It also forms part of the Leibniz Association (WGL). 
The 2008 budget for acquisitions for TIB came to around 9,1 million Euro.
The TIB currently has 150 staff positions.

History

The TIB was founded in 1959 on the suggestion, and with the significant involvement, of the German Research Foundation (DFG), based on the treaty (the "Königsteiner Abkommen") signed by the federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany concerning the funding of scientific research institutes. It is a dependent institution of the state of Lower Saxony at Leibniz Universität Hannover. Currently, the TIB is jointly funded by all the federal states and by the federal government (through the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF) in accordance with the research funding framework agreement (Blue List). The DFG is still involved in certain aspects through its project funding programme.