In the future, even current works that have just been released by the Wolfenbüttel library’s own in-house publisher will be made accessible via the ‘gold route’. The intention is for digital open-access versions to become freely available parallel to the paid print edition. This will facilitate a discussion of the findings and the reuse of relevant research data.

The first forty publications on the platform include the 1998 brochure Herzog August Bibliothek: Ein kulturelles Gedächtnis mit Profil (Herzog August Bibliothek: A Cultural Memory with a Distinct Image), which like all the others can be researched by putting in basic bibliographical data such as the author, title, subject matter and keywords. Users can also find a PDF of the digitised version by entering the publication date of the print version. A link takes the user to the HAB’s online catalogue (OPAC).

A further development is currently at the planning stage, namely implementing a more detailed way of differentiating between the digital volumes in terms of how they are presented. This would affect the way that individual entries are displayed, link authors with relevant internet portals (e.g. ORCID) and include reviews of each work.

One particular challenge when undertaking retro-digitisation is obtaining the rights for the process, because all publishers, authors and their legal successors have to give their consent to open-access publication. The image rights have been checked, too.

To the HAB-Repository.