Digital Collections - Frequently Asked Questions

Search

Navigation

Technical questions

Proposals for digitization

Miscellaneous



Search

  • How do I search the Digital Collections?

Using the simple search: Enter one or more words into the search box at the top of any Digital Collections’ page. The simple search automatically searches all metadata and (when available) full text. The advanced search allows you to limit your search to specific fields (author, year, etc.).

  • Why is the box “Search book” not always available?

The “Search book” option is only available if Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has been applied.

Navigation

  • How can I rotate a page?

Choose the page that you want to turn around (the tab “Page” should be highlighted in blue). Then use one of the arrow buttons right above the image to rotate the page 90 degrees to the left or to the right. Bildbearbeitung Drehung

  • How can I enlarge an image?

When you have chosen a specific page, you will find a button with the symbol of a magnifying glass. Click on this symbol and you can look in detail at a portion of the image. Now you can navigate on the image by using the arrows which you find in the top left. You can also zoom in closer by double-clicking or by clicking on the “+”-button. You can also click and drag to zoom in on a specific region in the image. Please note: wait a moment until the image is fully loaded. The blurry image will get sharp. Zoom

  • What does the category “Contents” contain?

When you click on “Contents” the structure of the book will be displayed. It is a list of the parts of the book which includes the chapter headings, but also information like front cover, back cover etc.

Technical questions

  • How can I download images or print them?

You have the option to download the images from the Digital Collections individually as JPG in original resolution. To do this, call up the image you want. The "Page" tab should be highlighted in blue. On the right side of the image you will see a black bar with various icons. Click on the image icon and a new window will open where you can select the desired image size for download (small, medium, large, maximum). Maximum corresponds to the original resolution with which the image was scanned.

Bild Single image

Depending on the browser and settings used, the image will then be downloaded automatically or you will be asked where you would like to save the image. You can then print the saved image using the respective printer menu. If you need scans in reproduction quality as TIFF files (e.g. for publications) please place a reproduction order. If you have any questions about reproduction orders, please send us an e-mail.

  • I cannot download the PDF document. What can I do?

This may have different reasons. One reason could be that you are using Firefox with the Acrobat plug-in. In this case, the downloading of files is limited in time. If you have got a slow internet connection, even medium-sized files may lead to the error message that the file is corrupt. Usually, it may help to download the file from your web browser (right-click, then choose “Save file as” or the appropriate command depending on your browser) and then open the saved file. Alternatively, you can download smaller sized documents. You find them for each chapter by clicking on “Contents”.

  • What is the resolution of the PDF files?

PDFs are automatically generated for the entire work. Because of large data volume, these have got a width of 1000 pixels. For large-sized materials (e.g. folding maps) the PDFs are created with a width of 1500 or 2000 pixels. You can find the PDF files by clicking on “Contents”. If you need scans in reproduction quality (e.g. for publications), we offer you the option of digitizing copyright-free works from our holdings for a fee. To do so, please place a reproduction order. If you have any questions about reproduction orders, please send us an e-mail.

Proposals for digitization

  • I would like to make a proposal for digitization. Is that possible?

All persons with a membership card from the ULB may send us their proposals for the scanning of books via e-mail. Digitization is possible under the following conditions:

  • the author has been dead for at least 70 years,
  • the books are in the holdings of the ULB and were published before 1910,
  • the condition of the book allows a digitization.
 After you have submitted your suggestion, we will check whether digitization is possible and you will receive our response. Please kindly note that the time required to scan the books varies. Please also note that the books proposed to be digitized will be scanned according to predetermined conditions. If you need scans in reproduction quality (e.g. for publications), we offer you the option of digitizing copyright-free works from our holdings for a fee. To do so, please place a reproduction order. If you have any questions about reproduction orders, please send us an e-mail.

In case of duplication or utilization of the images from the "Digital Collections", we ask you within the scope of the usual scientific practices to inform us and/or to send us a specimen copy and/or to inform us about the internet address of your digital offer, in which you have integrated our digital copies (e-mail).

If you want to use our images, please refer to the web pages of the ULB Düsseldorf using the URN. Cite us as follows: University and State Library Düsseldorf, URN.

Example: University and State Library Düsseldorf, urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:1-535970.

The URN can always be found on in the "Title" tab under the title record of the respective work.

You can use only the URN for the citation or, if you consider it easier for the reader to understand, you can also indicate the URN together with the resolver. In combination with the resolver, which converts the urn into a link that can be understood by a web browser, it then reads like this: https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:1-535970 .

The images offered in the Digital Collections are slightly compressed JPEG. If you need reproduction quality scans as TIFF files (e.g. for publications), we offer you the possibility to place a reproduction orderfor a fee. If you have any questions concerning reproduction, please contact us via e-mail.

Miscellaneous

  • How do I know what’s new in the Digital Collections?

Our RSS feed will keep you up to date on the latest arrivals. To subscribe, please click on the RSS feed symbol.

RSS-Feed

  • I would like to assess the value of a book. Who can I contact?

Unfortunately, we do not appraise books. Please contact a local antiquarian bookseller or use websites like Zentrales Verzeichnis Antiquarischer Bücher (www.zvab.com. )

  • What can I do if my questions are not answered here?

Just send us an e-mail. We will be pleased to answer your questions.