Kassel University Library visitor numbers reach record high in 2013

The months with the highest number of visitors were February, April and November, each with over 90,000 users. Even during the lecture-free periods in March, August and September, more than 50,000 visitors came to the library each month. The Senior Library Director, Dr. Axel Halle, sees the observations of recent years confirmed: "The successive expansion of our opening hours was the right step; the library has become the central place of learning for people in the university and the region."

But it is not just as a physical place that people visit the UB. As a modern academic library, it provides academic information, printed and digital media, mostly free of charge, for research and teaching as well as for the region. The new catalog portal KARLA II, which was introduced in May 2013 as a pilot project in Hesse, is particularly popular. In 2013, the new service was accessed 2,777,455 times. Searches in KARLA II are worldwide and unrestricted for Kassel University members, who can also access all documents subject to licensing.

In addition to providing literature and information, the UB is also in the process of successively digitizing the region's historical heritage on its own. These copyright-free documents from the UB's holdings can be searched on its ORKA (Open Repository Kassel) document server. ORKA lists, among other things, valuable manuscripts (such as Hildebrandlied, Willehalm Codex), autographs (manuscripts of famous personalities such as the Brothers Grimm or Louis Spohr), historical photos (e.g. of old Kassel before the destruction of the war) and maps. They are freely available worldwide. Already 460,589 searches have been counted in this directory of historical documents.

Dr. Halle emphasizes the importance of this steadily increasing number of accesses: "With ORKA, the University Library supports science and research as well as the region in its desire for unhindered access to its historical holdings that are worth protecting. The large number of personal and virtual visits to the UB Kassel shows that the path we have chosen to combine attractive learning opportunities with a modern digital offering is successful and forward-looking. Even in times of Google, cloud and social media, the analog library on site remains an indispensable part of academic work," says Dr. Halle.

Kassel University Library on the web: www.ub.uni-kassel.de
Schriftenserver ORKA: http://orka.bibliothek.uni-kassel.de
 

Info:
Sibylle Kammler
Kassel University Library
Public Relations
Tel.: 0561 804 2839
E-mail: kammler[at]bibliothek.uni-kassel[dot]de