SPECIALISED INFORMATION SERVICE BIODIVERSITY

Literature & Licences

BIOfid provides biodiversity research in Germany with literature and electronic resources for specialized needs. In line with the goals of the DFG's Specialised Information Services funding program, the aim is to provide as much of the specialist literature as possible in electronic form (e-only policy). However, there are currently two obstacles to a complete Germany-wide supply in electronic formats:

  • Considerable portions of the relevant literature on biodiversity are still published only in printed form.
  • Considerable portions of the relevant literature are published in parallel in printed and electronic form, but suitable licensing models are not yet available.

Against this background, BIOfid currently provides the following resources. Access to the licensed resources is via campus unlocks and/or via free personal registration. We welcome you, as a researcher, to notify us of additional titles (books, journals, databases) as suggested purchases !

  • Online access to the JSTOR database "Global Plants" (for all herbaria and botanical gardens in Germany).
  • Online access to the biological e-books of Brill Publishers (for all interested people in Germany).
  • new (2022): Online access to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's database "Birds of the World" (after free registration with BIOfid - a maximum of 600 accounts available).
  • A high number of current specialized journals on biodiversity research in printed form, which can be ordered via interlibrary loan or document delivery. In addition to funding from the DFG, the international journal exchange service of the SGN also forms an important basis for the journal holdings.
  • Several thousand new books each year which are published in printed form and can also be ordered via interlibrary loan or document delivery. This also applies to the extensive, historically grown holdings of the former Senckenberg Library.

You will find the available e-books and the printed titles, together with extensive open access literature, currently still at vifabio (the predecessor of BIOfid); the integration of the catalogs into the BIOfid portal is in preparation.