ACQUISITIONS - Monographs and Periodicals

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What does the German National Library collect?
What doesn't the German National Library collect?
Who is responsible for you and where should you send your deposit copies to?
Does the German National Library collect foreign literature?
What special rules apply to the collection of printed music and sound recordings?

What does the German National Library collect?

The Law regarding the German National Library and the Legal Deposit Regulation contain clear definitions of the material to be collected. All media publications are to be collected which are made available to the public, regardless of whether they are distributed in physical or non-physical form.
This includes all text-based and audio-visual representations which are distributed in physical form on paper, electronic and other data carriers, or in non-physical form via public networks. It is irrelevant whether the media work has an ISBN or whether notification has been sent to the VLB.

The German National Library  collects

• books, maps, standards, periodicals, periodical-like series (almanacs and yearbooks), dissertations and doctoral theses, unbound works,
• printed music, sound recordings,
• series of slides and slide shows
• microforms
• media publications on electronic data carriers (e.g. CD-ROMs, disks), online publications.

What doesn't the German National Library collect?

Various types of media publications are excluded from collection by the Law regarding the German National Library and the Legal Deposit Regulation.

Examples include

• Media publications of up to four printed pages. This restriction does not apply: if they are labelled as belonging to a larger set of works, for cartographic works, illustrative charts, printed music, dissertations and doctoral theses
• Media publications with a circulation of fewer than 25 copies unless these are dissertations or doctoral theses or they are published "on demand"
• Works of fine art and original art portfolios with no title sheet and those with a title sheet and up to four pages of text
• Occasional publications issued purely for commercial, business or intracompany purposes, for traffic purposes or private, domestic or social purposes
• Games in which the gaming character and purpose is prominent
• Media publications published by local districts, communities and associations featuring exclusively official content
• Films in which music does not constitute the main focus
• Media publications used primarily as tools such as operating systems and non-specific processing programs
• unchanged new editions (revised, corrected and similar issues are considered changed)

Who is responsible for you?

The German National Library is located in two cities: Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main. Processing of the submitted publications is shared. Publishers deliver two deposit copies of each new publication to the centre responsible for their region.

The Leipzig branch deals with all publications from the states of

• Berlin
• Brandenburg
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• North Rhine-Westphalia
• Saxony
• Saxony-Anhalt
• Thuringia

Please send two deposit copies of your publications to Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Deutscher Platz 1, 04103 Leipzig.
Please send a delivery note or other note clearly stating the sender's details along with the package. In the case of journals, a completed bibliographic note should be submitted along with the first issue.

The Frankfurt am Main branch deals with all publications from the states of

• Baden-Württemberg
• Bavaria
• Bremen
• Hamburg
• Hesse
• Lower Saxony
• Rhineland-Palatinate
• Saarland
• Schleswig-Holstein

Please send two deposit copies of your publications to Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Adickesallee 1, 60322 Frankfurt am Main.
Please send a delivery note or other note clearly stating the sender's details along with the package. In the case of journals, a completed bibliographic note should be submitted along with the first issue.

At each office, all publications are given a formal classification and their subject matter is classified to a large extent. After processing, the second copy is sent ready for storage to the other relevant location for archiving and use.

Publishers of printed music and music recordings in all states submit two deposit copies of each new publication to the Deutsches Musikarchiv in Leipzig. After processing, the second copy is sent ready for storage to Frankfurt.

In addition, all translations of German works published abroad but licensed by a German publisher (based in Germany) as the owner of the original distribution rights are to submitted from all German states and from Berlin to Leipzig (DNBG Art. 14 para 2). Only a single copy need be submitted.

Does the German National Library collect foreign literature?

Collection of the following publications also falls within the collection mandate of the German National Library

• works published abroad in German 
• foreign publications of German works translated into other languages
• foreign-language media publications about Germany and personalities in the German-speaking world published abroad, known as "Germanica"

One copy of these publications is collected by the German National Library Leipzig, classified bibliographically, archived and held in store for use.

What special rules apply to the collection of printed music and sound recordings?

The Deutsches Musikarchiv, a department of the German National Library, is responsible for acquisition and bibliographical cataloguing, which is why publishers of printed music and music recordings from all German states send their two legal deposit copies to the Deutsches Musikarchiv in Leipzig.

In order to ensure complete and appropriate collection, archiving and national bibliography indexing of printed music and sound recording, the two legal deposit copies should be complete and contain all pertinent enclosures and parts (e. g. voices).

Printed music

• Reissues containing no changes are not collected. 
• Materials for loan are not subject to the mandatory deposit regulation. One copy of the score of all price-bound performance materials (rental or loan materials) is collected.  The mandatory deposit obligation only applies for materials for loan which were released as new issues by the music publishers after the Law regarding the German National Library came into force in 2006. 

Sound recordings

• Sound recordings include films in which the main focus is on the music.  These, like other sound recordings, are subject to the mandatory deposit obligation.  They include: concert recordings, video clips, films based on music theatre productions, adaptations of operas, operettas, musicals, ballets etc. However, the mandatory deposit regulation only applies for films which were released as new issues by the sound recording companies after the Law regarding the German National Library came into force in 2006.
• Producers of sound recordings are requested to submit both voice and music recordings to the Deutsches Musikarchiv of the German National Library in Leipzig.