Since December 2024, restricted-access electronic publications have been available at the ZLB via the ‘Virtual Reading Room of the State Library’.
You can access the Virtual Reading Room at all internet workstations in the American Memorial Library and the Berlin City Library by clicking on the reading room icon.
What does the Virtual Reading Room offer?
Did you come across the following note on our website?
This notice appears on all electronic publications that are subject to ‘restricted access with usage restrictions’.
The Virtual Reading Room enables legally compliant access to these restricted electronic publications.
Files in PDF and EPUB format are opened in a separate window and can be read there. Copying, saving or printing is not possible.
Note: Freely accessible publications can be accessed as usual from anywhere on our website.
Background: Amendment to the Legal Deposit Act of the State of Berlin
The Central and State Library of Berlin holds all publications published in Berlin. Since the end of March 2024 (enactment of the amendment to the Legal Deposit Act), this includes all electronic publications. Many of these publications are subject to usage restrictions and are therefore only available in our Virtual Reading Room at the Berlin City Library. We therefore ask for your understanding that they cannot be copied or sent. Excerpts may be printed out.
More information on electronic legal deposit E-Pflicht
Here you can find the latest restricted-access publications in the ZLB's Virtual Reading Room:
You can perform a combined metadata and full text search (“Search in all data”). Alternatively, you can restrict your search to either the metadata or full text within the digital collection.
If you use more than one search term, they are automatically linked using AND. This means that results will only be displayed where all the search terms appear in the metadata or full text.
Example of search with automatic linking: print book Example result: “I would like to print a book for my father”As an alternative to automatic AND-linking, you can explicitly link your search terms using AND or OR. In the latter case, results will be displayed even if only one of the search terms is found.
Example of search terms linked by OR: book OR print Example result: A very good book”, “There are some good passages in this book”, “The print was very faint”.
In the case of a simple search, target words are automatically right-truncated. However, if you are performing an AND or OR search, you can specify left-truncation by using the asterisk.
Example of search with automatic right truncation: print book Example result: “I want to have a book printed for my mother” Example of search with explicit left-truncation: *read Results would include bread, tread, dread, etc. Please note that there is no right or left truncation if you enter a search term between quotation marks.
If you enter a term between quotation marks, the system will search the metadata or full text for the exact combination of words as written.
Example of search term in quotation marks: “page number” Example result: “The reference is on page number 24.” The search will not find: “A number of examples can be found on page six.”
Once the search has been performed, all results are initially sorted in order of relevance. Thereafter, they can be re-sorted according to different metadata fields. These fields can be selected from the list in the sidebar under “Sorting”. Click your chosen metadata field a second time to change from ascending to descending order.
