Archive press releases

One of Germany’s leading research organizations secures access to 110,000 books from almost 170 years of publishing history for its researchers

The Max Planck Society, a highly reputed research institution, has bought the entire Springer Book Archives (SBA) consisting of 110,000 individual titles. The purchase gives staff in 82 Max Planck institutes in Germany direct online access to the retro-digitized books via the SpringerLink platform (link.springer.com).
The Springer Book Archives contain the digital copies of nearly all the books published by Springer from 1842, when the publishing house was founded, up to and including 2004. The works are divided into 11 collections in English (around 56,000 titles) and five in German (around 54,000 titles). Licenses are available for each of these individual packages. The Springer Book Archives give today’s researchers access to key academic work from the past two centuries, and researchers can use these e-books on a wide variety of electronic devices.

The Springer Book Archives contain around 50 different imprints, although scientific works published by Springer Verlag account for the majority of publications. In addition, there are also titles by the longstanding engineering publisher Vieweg (now SpringerVieweg), the economics book portfolio Gabler (now SpringerGabler), the U.S. IT publisher Apress, and the U.S. science publisher Copernicus.
“The Springer Book Archives clearly demonstrate once again that today’s scientists stand on the shoulders of giants. Our digitized titles include publications by prestigious researchers and a number of Nobel laureates,” commented Focko van Berckelaer, Vice President Library Sales, Springer. “All these works have been out of print for a long time and are now available again online in the Springer Book Archives. I am delighted that the researchers and post-doctorate students at the Max Planck Institutes now access this basic knowledge.”
“The Springer Book Archives books had only been available for a short time before the Max Planck institutes signaled their interest in acquiring these titles,” explained Dr Ralf Schimmer, head of Scientific Information Provision at the Max Planck Digital Library. “We would like to congratulate Springer on implementing this fantastic retro-digitization project, and we are pleased to be able to make this historical body of work available to researchers in the Max Planck Society in today’s digital working environment.”
Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) is a leading global scientific, technical and medical publisher, providing researchers in academia, scientific institutions and corporate R&D departments with quality content via innovative information products and services. Springer is also a trusted local-language publisher in Europe – especially in Germany and the Netherlands – primarily for physicians and professionals working in healthcare and road safety education. Springer published roughly 2,200 English-language journals and more than 8,000 new books in 2012, and the group is home to the world’s largest STM eBook collection, as well as the most comprehensive portfolio of open access journals. In 2012, Springer Science+Business Media S.A. generated sales of approximately EUR 981 million. The group employs more than 7,000 individuals across the globe.

Contact: Renate Bayaz| Springer | Tel.: +49-6221-487-8531| E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Download Press Release