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26-748: The Bamberg State Library (German: Staatsbibliothek Bamberg ) is a combined universal , regional and research library with priority given to the humanities . Today it is housed in the New Residence , the former prince-bishop 's new palace. The Free State of Bavaria is responsible for the library. The Bamberg State Library supplies the town of Bamberg and the region Upper Franconia with literature for research and higher education purposes, professional work and advanced training. The historically grown holdings of more than 500,000 volumes are continuously supplemented and enlarged by acquisitions in all general fields, and in specialized areas such as

52-617: A library, however, would be as useless as it would be complete. A similar idea was a planet called Memory Alpha, (from the Star Trek episode " The Lights of Zetar ") which was the Federation 's "storehouse of computer databases containing all cultural history and scientific data it has acquired.". It has been commented that the Internet already approaches this state. In Discworld , Terry Pratchett 's fantasy world, all libraries in

78-657: A special collections area or division can be a fundamental part of their mission. Some special collections are standalone institutions that are privately funded, such as the Newberry Library or the American Antiquarian Society while others are part of a larger institution, such as the Beinecke Library at Yale University or Special Collections at University College London . Many American university special collections grew out of

104-686: A special collections department or managed separately, and whilst rare books and manuscripts are often kept within special collections some institutions may use the term exclusively for modern material. Larger, historically distinct collections may also be managed as part of a Special Collections department: for example, the British Cartoon Archive at the University of Kent is part of the Templeman Library 's Special Collections & Archives. For research libraries,

130-1566: The Wikimedia Foundation , which, using the Wiki system, is attempting to collect the breadth of important human knowledge under various open content projects such as Misplaced Pages and Wiktionary ; and some shadow libraries . However, many technical and legal problems remain for the dissemination of all possible knowledge on the Internet. Current barriers to the construction of a universal digital library include: Special collections In library science , special collections ( Spec. Coll. or S.C. ) are libraries or library units that house materials requiring specialized security and user services. Special collections can be found in many different organisations including research libraries , universities , colleges , schools , national libraries , public libraries , museums , art galleries , archives , historic houses , cathedrals , subscription libraries , learned societies , hospitals , companies and monasteries . Materials housed in special collections can be in any format (including rare books , manuscripts , photographs , archives , ephemera , and digital records ), and are generally characterized by their artifactual or monetary value , physical format, uniqueness or rarity, and/or an institutional commitment to long-term preservation and access. They can also include association with important figures or institutions in history, culture, politics, sciences, or

156-701: The multiverse are connected in "L-space", effectively creating a single semi-universal library. With the advent of cheap widely available digital storage, the ideal of universality, although still nearly impossible to attain, has become closer to being feasible. Many projects are now attempting to collect a section of human knowledge into one database. These projects vary in breadth and scope, and none are complete. Examples include digitization projects such as Project Gutenberg and Carnegie-Mellon 's Universal library , digital libraries which are using book scanning to collect public domain works; The European Library , an integrated catalog for Europe's national libraries;

182-454: The temperature , humidity , illumination , and other environmental conditions are carefully monitored to ensure the integrity of materials, and adequate security is provided to protect the materials from unauthorized access, theft, and vandalism. Offsite storage facilities have become increasingly popular among institutions holding special collections. Most libraries consider it their mandate to maintain acquisition of new collections, although

208-408: The 17th century, the ideal of universality continued to be attractive. The French librarian Gabriel Naudé wrote: And therefore I shall ever think it extremely necessary, to collect for this purpose all sorts of books, (under such precautions, yet, as I shall establish) seeing a Library which is erected for the public benefit, ought to be universal; but which it can never be, unlesse it comprehend all

234-631: The Bamberg Art Association (German: Kunstverein Bamberg ) the E.-T.-A.-Hoffmann-Gesellschaft and the Bamberg group of the Frankenbund . Its high esteem to be a research library of international rank is based on its rich manuscripts holdings. This collection may be traced back to the emperor Henry II , who founded the bishopric of Bamberg on 1 November 1007. Three of these manuscripts became part of UNESCO 's Memory of

260-688: The Bamberg State Library receives a copy of every book published in Upper Franconia and continues to compile a complete bibliography of the region. It also provides space for book collections belonging to Bamberg institutions such as the Bamberg Historical Society (German: Historischer Verein Bamberg ), the Bamberg Society of Naturalists (German: Naturforschende Gesellschaft Bamberg ),

286-539: The World : The nucleus of the collection may be traced back to the emperor Henry II , who founded the bishopric of Bamberg in 1007. Among his gifts to the cathedral were many precious manuscripts, which he and his predecessors had collected or commissioned. Manuscripts from various spiritual centres of the Western world were brought to Bamberg as a result. In the ensuing period many books were written and illuminated in

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312-422: The administration of the bishopric was placed in that wing of the building. The so-called Dominikanerräume are part of the library's showrooms which are not open to public. They are so called because of the bookshelves from Bamberg's Dominican monastery that were brought to the library during the secularisation when the monastery was closed down. The Vierzehnheiligenpavillion on the third floor also belongs to

338-566: The arts. Some special collections are recognised as being of global importance; the UNESCO Memory of the World Register includes documentary heritage material. Individual libraries or archival institutions determine for themselves what constitute their own special collections, resulting in a somewhat mutable definition that is often a legacy of the institution's organisational structure. For example, archives may be part of

364-580: The collections for which they are responsible. Items in a special collection are usually stored in closed stacks (not directly accessible to the institution's patrons) which contain noncirculating items, meaning that items cannot be loaned or otherwise removed from the premises. Access to materials is usually under supervision. Depending on the policies of an institution holding special collections, researchers may be asked to present identification cards, letters of reference, or other credentials to gain access. Most special collections are stored in areas in which

390-414: The first library approaching universality, although this idea may be more mythical than real. It is estimated that at one time, this library contained between 30 and 70 percent of all works in existence. The re-founded modern library has a non-universal collections policy. As a phrase, the "universal library" can be traced back to the naturalist Conrad Gessner 's Bibliotheca universalis of 1545. In

416-477: The history and geography of (Upper) Franconia , art history and appreciation, manuscripts and the printed book. It cooperates in all areas of librarianship with the University Library of Bamberg . One of its regional tasks is to acquire documentary material on and of persons who are connected with the region. More over it gets the legal deposit for the region of Upper Franconia; that means

442-409: The internal showrooms. It was the prince-bishop's library room. Since 1978, the former wine cellar serves as closed access stacks. The library presents in the entrance hall precious stained glass dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. Joseph Heller, an art historian and collector, left them as legacy to the library. The reading room can be reached from the entrance hall. In former times, it served

468-519: The library was enriched by gifts such as the art historian Joseph Heller's collection, which today comprises 80,000 prints and drawings. The E. T. A. Hoffmann material became a special collection in our times, as did, more recently, autograph books from the 18th and 19th century. The Bamberg State Library nowadays is housed in the east wing of the New Residence of Bamberg which was built in 1697–1703 by Johann Leonhard Dientzenhofer on behalf of Prince-Bishop Lothar Franz von Schönborn . Originally,

494-429: The limitations of their physical plants may not be able to handle all that is acquired. Storing materials offsite allows flexibility in how libraries design and apportion their space and provides security for materials. The 2010 "Taking Our Pulse" report cites a survey in which 67% of responding institutions use offsite facilities, with another 5% in planning stages. Special reading rooms are often provided to minimize

520-605: The merging of rare book rooms and manuscripts departments in a university's library system. In contrast to general (or circulating) libraries, the uniqueness of special collections means that they are not easily replaced (if at all) and therefore require a higher level of security and handling. The primary function of a special collections division is to foster research by providing researchers and interested groups or individuals access to items while ensuring their longevity. Many staff members involved with special collections have either advanced degrees or specialized training related to

546-531: The monasteries of the town and bishopric up to 1802/1803 was incorporated into one library (now the Bamberg State Library) during the period of German Mediatisation and merged with the library of the old University of Bamberg , which had been founded in 1648 as a Jesuit academy and was closed at that time. Bamberg became part of the Electorate of Bavaria . In the course of the 19th century

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572-451: The presence of food and beverages. Protective gloves are sometimes required when consulting particularly delicate materials, photographs, and metal objects, and many libraries may require that books be read only while resting in special cradles. Research libraries are increasingly investigating offering virtual reading rooms and virtual teaching environments to support remote access to special collections - work which has been accelerated since

598-469: The prince-bishop as audience room and summer room. The reading room provides a view over the rose garden which also was built on behalf of Prince-Bishop Lothar Franz von Schönborn. During the exhibitions taking place several times a year the Sternengewölbe and the former Gartensaal – or Scagliolasaal – can be visited. Universal library The Library of Alexandria is generally regarded as

624-769: The principal authors, that have written upon the great diversity of particular subjects, and chiefly upon all the arts and sciences; [...] For certainly there is nothing which renders a Library more recommendable, then when every man findes in it that which he is in search of ... Science fiction has used the device of a library which is universal in the sense that it not only contains all existing written works, but all possible written works. This idea appeared in Kurd Lasswitz 's 1901 story "The Universal Library" and Borges 's essay "The Total Library" before its more famous expression in Borges's story " The Library of Babel ". Such

650-409: The risk to holdings while being consulted by patrons, which are sometimes monitored by library personnel who also provide reference assistance and relay requests for materials. Rules often apply to use of materials in order to protect against inadvertent damage; Writing implements which use ink are very commonly prohibited, as well as flash photography, use of mobile phones (except for photography), and

676-631: The town, notably in the 12th century by the Benedictine monks of the Michaelsberg Abbey . Bamberg was the first place where printed books in the German language were illustrated with woodcuts . Although only fragments of the very first period of printing in Bamberg can be found in the library, the collection of incunabula documents the wide range of book production in the 15th century. All that remained of these manuscripts and books in

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