Frequently asked questions
If you find this page to be missing certain information, please let me know to have it added.
Library Basics
The library uses a book card system, meaning that every book has a specific card on its last page (like the one to the right). To check a book out, take that card, put your last and preferably first name down and leave it on the table next to the librarys entrance. You can take the book with you straight away.
Some cards may look a bit different, but they all work the same. Also, completing your "Laufzettel" is a prerequisite to checking out books since your library account is only created during this process.
There are no predetermined loan periods for anyone with an MPIK-affiliation, so just keep the book as long as you need it. That being said, please bring it back as soon as it is not needed anymore to make sure other people can use it too.
To return a book, just leave it on the same table where you put the book card when checking it out (to the right from the librarys entrance).
Please do not put it back onto the shelves yourself, since it won't be deleted from your library account and registered as available in this way.
When searching the library catalog for a particular book or just browsing in general, every book or article page as well as your search list comes with number of potentially available volumes, which sadly does not necessarily correspond to the number of volumes currently available. It just denotes the number owned by the library.
book / article page:
Search list:
To find out how many of those are truly available at the time, please click on "Number of items" or the Number itself (if you are in the search list). The following page will then show the status of each copy separately.
When searching for a book or article in the library catalog, your search will either result in the display of your books/articles personal page or in the display of a search list; both of which show the approximate location to that book.
book / article page:
Search List:
This information is usually enough to find your book: e.g. category "2", subcategory "F" (supersymmetry et al.), book sign "DRE", copy "25854". If you want to find out which copies of your book are currently available, please click on the number of potentially available copies.
In the physical library itself, each shelf is labeled with its corresponding category (which is also color-coded for a quicker overview). Subcategories as well as their contents are sorted alphabetically, so to find subcategory "F", you will have to look after subcategory "E" and to find the book "DRE" within that subcategory, you have to look after "C...". If there are any problems with finding a book, I am happy to help and will do my best to sort everything out.
The library keeps digital versions of all academic thesis' as well as selected works published by the Max Planck Society. Furthermore, the Max Planck Digital Library (MPDL) provides catalogs for eBooks and eJournals, which are accessible from the MPIK Network or through VPN.
- The procurement of eBooks is not yet supported for the MPIK library, but please contact me nonetheless, and I will talk to the MPDL and see if your request can be incorporated into their catalog.
- eJournals can be subscribed to and the library can take care of the organizational aspects of the subscription. Please contact me to talk about the details.
There are no dedicated opening hours for the library itself - it is always open and accessible. Since your access to the library depends on your access to the building, however, there are factual opening hours which range from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Yes, and you are very welcome to do so. There are 8 workspaces, a quiet work environment and air conditioning.
There is a printer/scanner to either make direct copies or send them through email. You can print via USB-Stick or by connecting the printer to your laptop.
The Journal Archive is located below the library and its contents can be viewed on the library website. If you are in need of an archived Journal, please contact me and I will provide you with the ones you need.
Services
Absolutely. You can email me or use the suggestion for acquisition-page to request books or articles.
- Books: When a book gets requested and is a good fit for the library, I will order it and notify you as soon as it arrives. This can take several weeks, however. If your book is only of special interest for you, there are other means like loaning it from other libraries (interlibrary loan) or directly buying it through your department. I am happy to help in any case.
- Articles: Requested articles will be bought directly from the source or provided by other libraries. This usually does not take longer than a few days.
If you provide me with the citation, I will do my best to find your source. More often than not it works!
Definitely. There are ongoing subscriptions to Bild der Wissenschaft, Physik Journal, Scientific American, Spektrum der Wissenschaft and Sterne und Weltraum as well as several non-scientific journals which are all publicly displayed in the reading area in front of the library. They are not permanently stored, but the latest 8–10 issues should generally be available. Please feel free to contact me about other journals that you think would be a good fit.