Use and service

Home loan

Direct links: Loaning media

Search and orderBSB DISCOVER!
Information overviewLoaning media
Service opening hours and further informationMedia collection, media return
Do you need a library card?Registration


The majority of items belonging to the Oriental collection of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek is kept in stacks that are not directly accessible. To obtain books and media for home loan, these items need to be ordered using BSB DISCOVER!.
For this purpose you need a library card which can be requested in person at the library's registration office.
Ordered media are available for collection after 2 to 3 working days on average. Those for home lending can be collected in the book collection area on the ground floor.

Please note that there are also parts of the collection which cannot be ordered for home loan. Particularly valuable works or books particularly worth protecting, predominantly for reasons of conservation, for example, can be consulted in the reading rooms only.

Further services:

You cannot collect the ordered items from the library?
Delivery to your home by mail   (service at a fee)

The desired literature is not available in Munich? You need a book (or other item) from the Oriental collection of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, but you do not live in Munich?
Interlibrary loan   (service at a fee)

Reading in the library

Booking a working place

Opening hours of the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room

Monday – Friday09:00 – 19:00

Contact East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room

Phone+49 89 28638-2361
Online inquiry serviceOnline form

Direct links: East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room

Shelving system of the reference librarySystem
Finding the reading room collection in the catalogueBSB DISCOVER!

East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room

Reference library on the Orient

The works from the reference library on the Orient can be used immediately and without prior order. The reference library can be found at the back of the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room. The reference library on the Orient contains dictionaries, encyclopaedias, bibliographies and other reference works, predominantly in Oriental languages, but also in German, English or French. It contains a total of around 8,000 volumes.

Unbound issues of Oriental periodicals in the original languages are available in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room.

These works may be used exclusively in the reading room and cannot be obtained for home loan.

Finding the reading room collection in the catalogue

All Oriental works held by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, including the reading room collection, can be searched in transcription in BSB DISCOVER!. Since 2007, Arabic, Persian and Hebrew titles have been catalogued also in the original scripts. Most original-language periodicals from the Orient are acquired in a bound state and are searchable in BSB DISCOVER!.

Reading room equipment

  • 35 workplaces
  • 5 Internet PCs
  • WLAN
  • Book scanner
  • PC with DVD-ROM drive
  • Microfiche, microfilm readers
  • Earphones (available at the reading room counter)

Information counter in the reading room

If you have any questions, our library staff will be pleased to be of assistance during the opening hours.

Direct links: Reading room loan to the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room

Search and orderBSB DISCOVER!
Information overviewLoaning media
Do you need a library card?Registration

Reading room loan to the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room

Almost all items forming part of the collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek – with a number of exceptions, such as maps, sheet music or manuscripts – can be ordered for use in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room via BSB DISCOVER!.

Ordered items are made available in the corresponding provision shelves in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room after 2 to 3 working days. Your orders are immediately booked to your account as loaned. The books are thus made available for use for 4 weeks and the periodicals for 2 weeks.
After expiry of the loan term they are returned to the stacks. Please keep in mind to request an extension of the loan term in time, if required. When items are no longer needed, kindly take them to the return counter. Volumes ordered for consultation in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room cannot be taken home.

Library card

When you wish to read books or other media from the stacks of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room or another one of the reading rooms, you need a library card.

Digitization orders

The digitization and photographic reproductions service within the framework of the document delivery service "Altes Buch" ("older and rare printed works") of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek produces high-quality and reproducible scans. You can generate corresponding orders for reproductions with the aid of the programme ERaTo. Digitization orders from the department's collections can also be placed in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room or can be placed in writing.

Document delivery service "Altes Buch"   (scope of services, prices, etc.)

Place a reproduction order via ERaTo

Direct links: Reading rooms

Further informationOverview of reading rooms
Searching reading room collections in the catalogueBSB DISCOVER!

Other reading rooms

Literature on the Orient can also be found in the reference collections of the other reading rooms. These collections either treat special, particular aspects of the Orient or are kept somewhat more general than the reference collection in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room.

  • Literature on manuscripts, incunabula and early printed books from the Orient can be found in the Reading Room for Manuscripts and Rare Books.
    (classification mark component "Hbh" in BSB DISCOVER!)
  • Literature on the topical focus of music or maps, atlases and images of the Orient can be found in the reference collection of the Reading Room for Music/Maps/Images.
    (classification mark component "Hbks" or "Hbm" in BSB DISCOVER!)
  • The most recent issues of academic journals from and about the Orient, e.g. original-language periodicals from the subject area of sciences and medicine, and current Oriental newspapers are available in the Periodicals Reading Room.
    (classification mark component "Hbzs" in the BSB DISCOVER!)
  • Further reference works on the Orient and dictionaries of Oriental languages are also available in the General Reading Room.
    (classification mark component "Hbl" in BSB DISCOVER!)

With the library card, literature from the stacks can be ordered for consultation also in these reading rooms via BSB DISCOVER!. Please keep in mind that the reading rooms have different opening hours and equipment and that access is partly restricted.

Questions?

Questions and answers – Oriental collection

Online inquiry serviceOnline form
In the libraryEast European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room  (3rd floor)
Phone+49 89 28638-2361

Service opening hours for information about the Oriental collection

Monday – Friday09:00 – 17:00
In August from 12:30 without professional information service


Do you have questions about the Oriental collection or its use?
Do you encounter difficulties searching for literature from or about the Orient?
We will be pleased to be of assistance.

However, please note that we do not compile literature lists or make translations and do not offer legal or medical consultation.

Online inquiry service

The online form ensures that your question is received by the correct contact person right away.

You will usually receive our response to technical questions within 5 working days.

Information counter in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room

No matter if you call us on the telephone or come to the library: Our staff at the information counter in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room will be pleased to answer your questions.

FAQ

In case you have general questions about the use and the services of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, answers can be found at:
FAQ – Frequently asked questions

Planning a study visit

Direct links: Planning a study visit

Further informationDetails on the procedure and registration forms
Opening hoursReading rooms


In case you wish to use the Oriental collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek within the framework of a brief visit or study visit, please take into account that in most cases books and journals cannot be consulted straight away. They need to be ordered a few days in advance using BSB DISCOVER!. If you do not have a library yet, you should therefore inform us of your visit in writing one week before your arrival date at the latest. Please also note that the opening hours of the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room differ from those of the General Reading Room.

If you wish to work with the desired media in the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room, in order to use the extensive reference collection available there, please let us know in the section "Mitteilungen" (further remarks) of the form.

Donating books

Direct links: Donating books

E-mail inquiry (about titles/ title lists)orient@bsb-muenchen.de
Collection verificationBSB DISCOVER!


If you wish to donate books from the Orient to the library, we kindly ask you to send us a title list by e-mail in advance, containing the following data:

  • Author
  • Title
  • Place and year of publication

You can check in advance in BSB DISCOVER! whether the book already forms part of our collections.

We appreciate your understanding that we only accept such books which we do not own yet and which match our collection profile.

Loaning exhibits for exhibitions

Direct links: Loaning exhibits for exhibitions

Further informationLoans for exhibitions


Within the framework of its cultural mission, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek also makes available exhibits for other exhibitions in Bavaria, Germany and abroad on an international level. Loans can be provided only for exhibitions with a cultural and academic purpose, but on principle not for exhibitions with a duration of more than three months, for displays of large quantities of material or for touring exhibitions.

Independently of the topic of the planned exhibition, please contact the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek for this purpose.

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