Max Planck Digital Library (MPDL)

More and more, computerized documentation systems find their way into scientific laboratories. They promise efficient, cooperative and easy working, standardized input and filing as well as connections to other electronic applications. MPDL investigated the current situation in the MPG, examined which demands researchers have on such a system and what barriers might arise when implementing it. Eventually, in 2016, laboratory notebook software was licensed by the MPDL, which can be used locally in the institutes or as a central MPG platform.

For more than ten years, researchers have pushed for open access initiatives. While the amount of freely available scientific papers on the internet is growing continuously, no joint strategy is on the horizon yet to achieve a large-scale shift in the near future. In 2015, the Max Planck Digital Library published a much-noticed study showing that a large-scale transformation to open access publishing is possible without added expense. Based on this analysis an international initiative has been launched in December 2015 with a view to pursuing the open access transformation on a global level.

Digital transformation enables transparent working and cooperation methods in research – Open Science. MPDL experts explore these opportunities to support Max Planck researchers in handling it. They represent the interests of the Max Planck Society in various alliances. MPDL hosts several events to connect further professionals for information exchange and the setup of new networks. Innovative services and technologies are established for the institutes to facilitate the realisation of new requirements.

There is rising awareness in the research world to not only archive and provide publications as the main outcome of a research process, but to also enable access to the related research data. With its open source web application imeji, the Max Planck Digital Library offers a software and a service for the sustainable publication of research data. In one sentence, imeji creates citable research items by describing, enriching, sharing, exposing and linking data.

Libraries want to provide comfortable access for the scientists to several digital information resources – not only to the library catalog. Discovery systems support this objective by allowing the integration of all sorts of data sources into one index. The Max Planck Digital Library and five Max Planck Institute libraries carried out a pilot project to establish a discovery system, which is simplifying the access to the libraries' information resources significantly.