The Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek (ULB – University and North Rhine-Westphalian State Library) Düsseldorf. Knowing where knowledge is.

As a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University, the ULB Düsseldorf offers personalized access to information and knowledge. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The ULB Düsseldorf offers its users an extensive range of media and a diverse array of services. The focus of attention lies in the flexibility and availability of information and material - this also includes evening hours and weekends.

Tradition and Modernity

From 1965 to 1969, the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek gradually developed out of the Medical Academy in Düsseldorf. There is no real founding year of the ULB, but the foundation stone for an integrated library system was laid when the former State and City Library of Düsseldorf was taken over by the university in 1970 and merged with the Central Library of the former Medical Academy.

The roots of the ULB go even further back. Predecessors of the institution are the Electoral Library, founded in 1770, and the library of the Academy for Practical Medicine, which came into being in 1907. The name "Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf" (University and North Rhine-Westphalian State Library Düsseldorf) was created with the fulfilment of the deposit copy law in 1993.

The purpose of a modern library is to assemble different forms of media into a homogeneous whole. Linking them intelligently will be one of the main tasks in the coming years. Adding new media not only requires new concepts of storage and archiving but also a new understanding of service.

The "get it yourself" library is increasingly changing into a "we bring it to you" library that personalizes the service and makes it accessible at any time and any place in the world via an information network. Only transparent and quickened information progress makes precise and efficient access to academic material possible, so that the learning and teaching process can be organized in the best possible way. Providing this is a challenge but is also of great value for a modern library.

Structure and Holdings

The ULB Düsseldorf consists of one central library and four decentralized locations. Management and media processing are organized centrally. Catalogues, databases, e-books and e-journals are accessible throughout the whole university as well as at home via the library network.

The central library is situated in the middle of the campus. About half of the 2.4 million media units that the complete holdings contain can be found here. Approximately 700,000 volumes of recent and often used academic literature of all subjects apart from law can be freely accessed by the visitors on three floors full of books arranged in a systematic order. The textbook collection as well as an information centre with catalogues and bibliographical reference books can be found on the ground floor. An additional 700,000 volumes are stored in two closed underground stacks.

The four decentralized libraries are located in the buildings for research and teaching, where literature concerning specialized fields of research is set up. The law library is organized differently: The entire freely accessible holdings of this subject can be found in a new building, which was erected in 2005.

Services

The worlds of electronic and conventional media are linked with the help of modern technologies. The ULB Düsseldorf has developed structured and flexible search instruments. A comprehensive online catalogue offers simple and direct access to the literature in the ULB Düsseldorf. Furthermore, we have licensed numerous important databases for your search for literature and we offer intelligent solutions for the combination of online research, the usage of full texts and inter-library loans.

The subject of information literacy is supported by a great selection of learning material. Knowing your way around the information network is getting to be more and more important as a key skill for lifelong learning.

Making information and materials available is at the centre of our attention. Our wide-ranging offer of media is accessible for you almost around the clock. We make the lending process faster and easier for you by using machines to lend out and accept returns as well as self-use automatic cash registers. Inter-library loans and modern document delivery solutions round off our service. Many of the useful services can now be accessed in a personalized form via the internet under the title "My ULB".

Our individually adjusted and well-equipped rooms offer just the atmosphere for effective learning and working. Numerous areas for reading, around 150 computer workspaces, rooms for working alone or in a group and a copy shop can be accessed in the main building in a central location. Our decentralized libraries are also equipped with areas for reading, computer workspaces and rooms for group work. All in all, the ULB Düsseldorf offers 2000 workspaces for its students.

Collections

Every library has its own distinct characteristics - something that distinguishes it from other libraries, a special function or a very valuable collection. These are the characteristics of the ULB:

Thomas Mann Collection Dr. Hans-Otto Mayer
The ULB houses one of the largest collections of works by and about Thomas Mann. It was established by the Germanist and bookseller Hans-Otto Mayer and not only comprises editions of complete works, rare first publications, manuscripts and translations into more than 40 languages but also secondary literature including an extensive archive of excerpts. Special catalogues have been written for detailed research in these large holdings. The collection is extended constantly.

Manuscripts
The scripts that are kept in the ULB reach back to the 8th century. They largely come from holdings of Rhenish or Westphalian convents and preserve mainly liturgical and theological texts. Thus, one can find sources of inestimable value for numerous academic disciplines.

Incunabula
Nearly 1000 incunabula can be found in the holdings of the ULB. These valuable specimens, among them unica and fragments of seldomly preserved "consume literature", show the beginnings of the art of printing. They originate predominantly from workshops of Rhenish or Dutch printers and offer a rich panorama of the regional book production at the beginning of the modern era.

Special Collections
In other collections, the ULB unites rare, valuable and unique parts of holdings that are installed as an ensemble. Deposita, unpublished works, donations, acquisition of rare books etc. were and are an important source for the constant growth of the library. These treasures and specialties - beyond their academic value - also contribute substantially to the profile of the ULB.

North Rhine-Westphalian State Library

The ULB Düsseldorf, together with the libraries of Bonn and Münster, fulfils the classic obligations of State Libraries.

State Libraries collect and find regional literature, meaning the entire literature published in and about North Rhine-Westphalia. Furthermore, they are responsible for archiving, preserving and providing this literature. The basis for the three North Rhine-Westphalian State Libraries to collect this literature is the deposit copy law, which obliges all publishing houses, institutions and authors who publish books on their own expense in North Rhine-Westphalia to hand in their publications as specimen and file copy. Important tasks of the ULB as a North Rhine-Westphalian State Library are the writing and publication of the bibliography for North-Rhine Westphalia - in cooperation with the ULB Münster and the Hochschulbibliothekszentrum (Centre for University Libraries) of the state - as well as measures for the preservation of the holdings in order to safeguard the written cultural heritage. The in-house restoration workshop of the ULB is responsible in this area.

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