Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek nutzen und Dokumente und Daten veröffentlichen

The German Digital Library is the central platform for culture and knowledge in Germany. You can use the German Digital Library free of charge or as a cultural and scientific institutions publish your own content.

The German Digital Library (DDB) provides free access via the Internet to Germany's cultural and scientific heritage, i.e. to millions of books, archival documents, pictures, sculptures, pieces of music and other audio documents, films and sheet music.

As a cultural and scientific institution in Germany, you can supply data to the DDB or, as a curator, present the objects in the context of an exhibition theme .

To make digitized content available, you must register on the DDB website. Registration is free of charge.

As a central national portal, the DDB is intended to link the digital offerings of all German cultural and scientific institutions. So far, more than 4000 institutions have registered, and around 400 institutions are already providing data.

Digitization is a process that will take years. The portal's functions will be continuously expanded.

The DDB is jointly financed by the federal and state governments on the basis of the administrative and financial agreement of December 2009.

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If you would like to publish content in the DDB

• you should be the author of the documents yourself or
• assure the German Digital Library that you are authorized to add the content to the DDB holdings, including release for third parties, or that the content you have contributed is free of rights (in the public domain).
• The data for the DDB must be available in a supported metadata format.

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If you would like to publish content in the German Digital Library,

• you must first register your institution on the DDBpro portal.
• The DDB Service Center will check your registration.
• Your institution will appear on the culture and science map.
• Now contact the service center.
• A cooperation agreement is concluded between the DDB and your institution.
• The DDB will send you a link to an online questionnaire and clarify questions about data formats and copyright.
• The DDB loads your data into the test system.
• You check the view of the content before the data is imported into the DDB. The files are published under a Creative Commons license.
• If you wish, the DDB can also forward your data to Europeana .

You also have the option of using the DDB's holdings in external applications (such as websites or mobile apps), provided they are not protected by copyright. This allows you to develop a wide range of applications and display the DDB data as you wish.

Integration takes place via the Application Programming Interface (API), a programming interface.

The API is open to all persons.

The processing time depends on the quality of the data supplied and the quantity of data.

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• German Digital Library (DDB), provision of information
• Free access to Germany's cultural and scientific heritage via the DDB website
• Books, archives, pictures, sculptures, music and other audio documents, films and sheet music
• Cultural and scientific institutions and curators can publish content in the DDB
• Free registration required
• Copyright of the documents must be observed
• Perspective of the DDB: to bring together the scattered holdings and collections of cultural heritage and make them accessible worldwide via a central portal; to network all German cultural and scientific institutions with each other
• Funding from the federal and state governments
• Responsible: Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation

• Forms: no, but cooperation agreement
• Online procedure possible: yes
• Written form required: yes (cooperation agreement)
• Personal appearance necessary: no