Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB, Bavarian State Library) is the largest academic universal library in Germany and one of the most important memory institutions on a worldwide scale. It is the central state and archive library of the Free State of Bavaria. Its total holdings amount to around 36.8 million media units.
The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek is a pioneer in the field of digitization. Since 1997, holdings have been digitized at the in-house Munich Digitization Center (MDZ). The MDZ is the central innovation and also production unit of the BSB for developing, testing and implementing new products and processes related to the digital library. Since 2007, the BSB has been conducting mass digiti-zation for its copyright-free collections in partnership with Google. Since 2022, the extensive stern photo archive has been systematically digitized. With over 3 million digitized works, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek holds the largest digital data stock of all German libraries.

Competencies and priorities in the area of digital preservation

The Bavarian State Library has also taken on a pioneering role in the field of digital preservation: As early as 1999, the BSB carried out its first digital preservation project with DFG funding ("Long-term Archiving of Digital Media"). In the national context, the BSB has been involved in nestor since its beginnings: From 2003-2009 it belonged to the initiative group in two project phases, since 2009 finally to the network of expertise in long-term storage of digital resources in Germany.

The Bavarian State Library, represented by the MDZ, has been cooperating with the Leibniz Supercomputing Center (LRZ) in the area of digital preservation since 2004. Today, the Head Office of the Bavarian Library Network operates, together with the LRZ, the central technical infrastructure for digital preservation for Bavaria. This infrastructure is available as a service not only to the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek but also to the university libraries in Bavaria. For the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, the Munich Digitization Center handles all tasks related to digital preservation.

As a state and archive library, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek assumes responsibility for the digital preservation of the following groups of holdings:
- the retro-digitized material created in-house or by service providers
- digital publications that fall within the mandate of the library due to legal obligations (in particular the electronic publications of the authorities of the Free State of Bavaria)
- the scholarly digital resources and websites acquired within the scope of its subject portals (Bavarica, music, history, antiquity, Eastern Europe)
- electronic publications produced in-house

Further information on digital preservation at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek can be found at https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/digital-preservation-and-data-curation.

Contact

Dr. Martin Hermann
Head of Division
Digital Library; Munich Digitization Center; Digital Preservation
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
80328 München
martin.hermann@bsb-muenchen.de
Tel: +49 89 28638-2333

Dr. Astrid Schoger
Digital preservation staff
Digital Library; Munich Digitization Center; Digital Preservation
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
80328 München
astrid.schoger@bsb-muenchen.de
Tel: +49 89 28638-2600