Special Collections: FAQs
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What is to be done if I want to consult manuscripts, incunabula or other valuable materials?
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Valuable special materials are kept in special storerooms and are subject to specific conditions for use. To avoid unpleasant delays, to speed the admission process and to become acquainted with the special conditions of use which have to be observed if access to restricted material is required, potential readers are encouraged to contact us in advance to be advised further:
Department of Manuscripts and Early Printed Collections
Phone:
+49 931 31 85963
Fax:
+49 931 31 85970
E-Mail:
We will be pleased to inform you how to order the medium required and about the conditions for consulting it. Please note that due to current problems connected with the air-conditioning system the access to climate-sensitive media may be restricted.
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How to prepare best my visit to the Special Collections Reading Room?
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If you already have the necessary data for the medium required (e.g. author, title, shelf mark), please let us know your request by phone or e-mail in advance. This will save you longer waits or even a fruitless visit to the Reading Room.
In many cases, a specific application is necessary for using our holdings. When you come to see us, you will have to present it completely filled in together with a personal identity document. The head of the department will have to approve of it.
If you do not yet know exactly what you need or if you need help for your investigation, please address our staff. Please note that only part of our special stocks is referenced in the online catalogue of Wuerzburg University Library. For many of our holdings an on-the-spot investigation in card catalogues or unpublished indexes will be required.
Please bear in mind that before entering the Special Collections Reading Room you will have to lock up in the cloakroom area in the basement all coats, jackets and bags (also laptop bags).
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How can I best order copies, pictures, scans?
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Most media which are made available for you in the Special Collections Reading Room must not be photocopied. For those media, however, you can place a reproduction order which our skilled staff will be pleased to carry out. Please note that for reasons of conservation and preservations not all forms of reproduction are possible. Some media might not be fit for reproduction at all. For your reproduction orders please use our order form which is available at the Reading Room Desk or can be downloaded from our homepage.
In the event of interlibrary loans, the lending library will determine if, and how, copies can be made. Wuerzburg University Library has no bearing on these provisions. If you nevertheless wish to obtain reproductions from a work which has been declared unfit for reproduction by the lending library, you’ve got to get into direct contact with this library.
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I would like to use in a publication some pictures from items of your holdings. Which points will have to be taken into consideration?
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The General Regulations for the Use of the Bavarian State Libraries (sections 9 and 25) provide: Before publication you’ve got to procure the written approval from the library if you want to reproduce images of special collection items. The materials used will have to be published with proof of origin and correct shelf mark. One specimen copy will have to be left free of charge to the library.
As a rule, according to the Bavarian State List of Costs, the reproduction approval is liable to a reproduction fee (graduated according to kind and quantity of reproduction, minimum fee EUR 12,50).
In the event of publication by publishing houses and commercial projects, a contract of rights has to be concluded to lay down copyrights, quotation conventions and licensing fees to be made to the library.
Concerning your publication plans, please contact us in advance:
Department of Manuscripts and Early Printed CollectionsPhone:
+49 931 31 85963
Fax:
+49 931 31 85970
E-Mai:
Department of Franconian History and Culture
Phone:
+49 931 31 85914
Fax:
+49 931 31 85970
E-Mai:
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I own several older books. I would like to learn more about them. Whom can I address?
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Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about historical books. However, please take into consideration that such services are not within our field of activities in the narrower sense and might therefore sometimes be restricted to some information which will guide you or to suggesting reference works which might help you on. Absolutely necessary is an application by phone (++49 931 31 85963) or by e-mail (handschriften@bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de). On this condition only will it be possible to really deal with your request.
As a matter of principle we do not make out estimates of price and value (e.g. for insurance companies, in case of intended sales to a third person etc.). But we can refer you to adequate information resources where to carry out your own investigations. In the same way, we do not issue any written expert reports on books.
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Am I allowed to copy from books which are made available for me in the Special Collections Reading Room?
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As a rule, all books made available in the Special Collections Reading Room are subject to photocopy prohibition. For a number of these media, however, it is possible to place a reproduction order which our skilled staff will be pleased to carry out, e.g. with special contactless scanners. Please use our order form for reproductions.
But please note that for reasons of conservation not all forms of reproduction are possible; as the case may be, single media cannot be reproduced at all.
When in doubt about the reproduction possibilities, please do not hesitate to report to the reading room desk or to contact us via e-mail: handschriften@bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de. -
I frequently need special collection items for my studies. Which are the relevant standard catalogues and information resources?
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Some of the most comprehensive information resources for manuscripts, early printed books and other special collection items are grouped under the category “Altes Buch, Nachlässe und Sonderbestände” in our data base information system DBIS.
The holdings of an individual library are listed in the catalogues of the same institution.
To conduct a bibliographic search irrespective of a concrete library collection, there are several online bibliographies at hand:
16th-century Central European prints (German language area): VD 16
17th-century Central European prints (German language area): VD 17
16th-century Italian prints: EDIT 16
English prints 1483-1800: ESTC
Incunabula (prints to 1500): GW, INKA, BSB-Ink
Manuscripts (German language area): Manuscripta MediaevaliaFor a nation wide search in archives please use Kalliope or the Zentrale Datenbank Nachlässe.
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Can I use my laptop in the Special Collections Reading Room?
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Yes you can; there are 16 desks with sockets for portable computers available in the Special Collections Reading Room. But please be sure to leave your laptop bags in the lockers in the library’s basement.
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Is it possible to visit the Special Collections with the participants of a seminar/with a group?
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Our personal resources permitting we are pleased to welcome you in the Special Collections with your seminar or your visiting group. However, please take into consideration that as a rule visits to the Special Collections Reading Room are only possible outside our normal opening hours and that your visit should not be motivated by touristic motives only. For an appointment please contact: Department of Manuscripts and Early Printed Collections or Department of Franconian History and Culture.
Within our program “The Library for everyone” you may join every second Friday at 4:30 pm a guided tour of Wuerzburg University Library with varying focus. You may find the presentations given by the Department of Manuscripts and Early Printed Collections and by the Department of Franconian History and Culture on our homepage: Events at the University Library.
