Founded in 1979, the University Library (TUB) of the Hamburg University of Technology has been offering its services on the campus in the heart of the TUHH since 1991. As an independent information and communication center, it is an important point of orientation at the Technical University: with its services and its stock of digital and printed media, it supports research, teaching and learning at the TUHH. The library is open to non-university members as well.
As a central service institution close to teaching and research, the university library is undergoing a transformation process. The digital transformation, changing usage requirements, the innovative further development of the provision of the growing range of electronic media as well as services for open access, electronic publishing and research data management form the challenges in the daily implementation. For many years now, the TU Library has been actively shaping the discourse on open source, open science and open education and has contributed to current debates on learning space design.
TUB stands for openness and supports open access to scientific information: free of charge and as far as possible without technical and legal barriers. This includes the active visualization of research results via TUHH Open Research as well as support for publishing and research data management. Openness also applies to the software used. TUHH Open Research and the tub.find catalog are based on open source software.
TUB – open access to technological information
Head of Library: Beate Rajski
Stock Profile
The University Library acquires literature on engineering sciences in German and in English and, in exceptional cases, also in other foreign languages. Specialist areas include: mechanical engineering and material sciences, electrical engineering, computer engineering, information technology and technomathematics, process engineering and environmental studies, civil engineering, logistics and management sciences. According to the development of the TUHH also literature from the fields of activity like energy, life sciences, shipbuilding and aviation is procured. In addition the requirements for training in the so-called Soft Skills subjects is fulfilled to a large extent. Specific technical forms of literature such as DIN standards are also offered or references provided to the customer. In the case of the physical sciences the library purchases those titles which have a fundamental and application-oriented character.
Special stocks of the former School of Naval Architecture (Institut für Schiffbau – IfS) in the fields of ship engineering and ship operation are held by the library. Stocks from the library of the Swiss mechanical engineering company Sulzer as well as the library of the former Research Institute for Sewage Treatment (Sielklär-Versuchsstation) Hamburg-Eppendorf are also kept at the University Library.
Facts
The information and services offered by TUB include:
Literature:
- 465,000 volumes in print
- 167 current scientific journals in print form, 51,411 electronic journals
- Textbook collection: 1754 titles with 15,777 books for loan
- 551,015 digtal books
- direct access to about 50,000 printed media in the text book collection and reading area
- Digital DIN-Standards for inhouse use in the library
Information services:
- Catalog tub.find
- Specialized databases for research
- Databases of the “Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund” (GBV)
- Information available on the Internet and social networks
- Advisory services
- General and subject-related reference works as a non-lending collection in the reading room.
- Self-service lending including books ordered from the stacks (2022:13,726 loans)
- Document delivery
- Training courses and information events available (2022: 1,638 participants)
- Services on publishing and scholarly research methods
- Learning and working in tub. at almost 400 individual and group workstations. Possibility of reservation for seats in the upper reading room.
- Scanner and coin-operated photocopying machine
- 129,654 visitors in 2022
Behind the Scenes
The library staff ensures that media, information and literature are made available and procured as effectively and as efficiently as possible.
- The user’s department takes care of the service areas in the reading rooms (information and loans), document supply and the closed stacks which accommodates almost 400,000 volumes.
- The media processing section ensures that media are procured and made accessible as quickly as possible.
- Subject librarians of the scientific service department are responsible for selecting literature, co-ordinating acquisitions and making the media available. These librarians are also available for specialist information retrieval and for mediating specialized information literacy.
- The computer department takes care of the comprehensive information technology. The library administration supports the management in the areas of budgeting and staff.
- Co-operation partners are: the computer centre of the TUHH, other libraries in Hamburg, the “Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund” (GBV) (Joint Library Union) of 7 German federal states as well as specialized organizations and commercial business partners.
Open Library Award
The University Library of the Hamburg University of Technology has received the Open Library Badge 2020 for the following criteria:
- Help shape open source software: GitHub and TUHH GitLab-Repository
- Promote openness in workforce development: Policy of Openness in Research and Teaching (with the participation of the library)
- Training opportunities: tub.talks (Coffee Lectures)Establish cost transparency in the acquisition process: Participation in OpenAPC
- Making open access resources visible: Search Open Access
- Uncovering Open Access potential: Event Collect, Write, Publish 2020
- Teaching and learning materials under open license: Use of H5P
- Publish only open access yourself: List of publications of the library in the research information system