The ZB MED
The ZB MED is the Federal Republic of Germany's central specialist library of medicine, health, nutrition, the environment, and agriculture.
It was formed in 1969 from the Medical Department of the University and City Library of Cologne and is co-funded by the German federal and state (Länder) governments under the auspices of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The ZB MED is a member of the Leibniz Association and works together with national and international partners.
The ZB MED's sphere of responsibility was originally limited to the subjects of medicine and health. Its remit was later extended through its site in Bonn, which has been in charge of the subjects of nutrition and environmental sciences since 2001 and agricultural sciences since 2003.
The ZB MED is an independent and non-partisan public institution with 123 employees. Over the last 40 years ago it has developed into the world's largest specialist library in its combination of subjects. The ZB MED strives to be innovative and future oriented: In recognition of its work on the GREENPILOT search portal, it was awarded the status of a "Selected Landmark" as part of the Germany – Land of Ideas initiative. The ZB MED has also long prided itself on being an equal opportunities employer. In 2010 it received the TOTAL E-QUALITY Award for exemplary practices in the sphere of equal opportunities.
ZB MED holdings
In its role as a central infrastructure facility for science, research and real-life applications, the ZB MED collects and provides access to scientific information and literature in all publication formats. Its customers primarily comprise students, doctors, scientists and industry clients. The ZB MED provides access to its holdings through its sites in Cologne in Bonn as well as via the Internet, by e-mail, by fax and by post.
In 2010, the library's budget for acquisitions was 5.5 million euros.
The library’s holdings include a total of 1.5 million books and volumes of journals. It stocks 27,500 journal titles and currently has ongoing subscriptions to 7,300 titles. Some 7,000 additional journal titles are available electronically at no charge.
The search portals MEDPILOT and GREENPILOT can be used to track down information and literature, read it online, and order copies.
Some 275,000 documents were ordered from the library in 2009 and 90 percent of these were successfully traced and delivered.
