Profile of the Library

In accordance with the mandate of the Max Planck Institute, the library collects

• literature on German, foreign, and international criminal law and procedure
• literature on criminology and related disciplines (psychiatry, sociology, psychology, and the social sciences gener­ally)
• fundamental works in international and European law
• publications on (criminal) information law and legal informatics, as well as
• literature on medical law.

Currently, the library contains over 480,000 volumes and grows annually by over 8,000 printed volumes. Approximately one-third of these new acquisitions are criminological publications. The library subscribes to some 1,300 – mostly for­eign – journals and periodicals. The library collection can be searched via the Online catalogue or the Classifica­tion system.

The library is designed as a reference library that is available primarily to Institute staff as well as domestic and foreign guests. In addition, persons unaffiliated with the Institute, especially participants in comparative law seminars, can use the library after they have obtained permission following a written request. This group of day-guests comprised annu­ally approximately 600 persons.

For Institute guests, there are 40 work places in two reading rooms, which are equipped with Internet connections and, for the most part, with computers. For day-guests, limited work places with laptop connections are available.

The library inventory is housed in open stacks and can be checked out for use at the work place in a self-service proce­dure. Loans outside of the Institute are not possible.