Office for Library Standards

The Office for Library Standards (AfS) at the German National Library is responsible for the main technical work in the area of library standardisation for Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. We are involved in the development and maintenance of concepts, standards and best practices in the areas of cooperative cataloguing, data exchange, data networking, data formats and technical interfaces. Here you will find a selection of the standards which are particularly important to the German National Library.

Standards A to Z

Bibliographic Framework (BIBFRAME)

BIBFRAME is a framework in which bibliographic data can be generated, stored, transported and made available with the aid of linked data and semantic web technologies. The German National Library is involved in the BIBFRAME initiative and a multiplier and contact in the German-speaking countries.

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Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)

DDC is the world’s most widespread library classification system. The German National Library provides access to the German translation. The Deutsche Nationalbibliografie (German National Bibliography) is structured according to DDC Subject Categories. Parts of the collection have been catalogued using full DDC numbers.

More about DDC

More about DDC at the German National Library

DNB Casual

The German National Library uses the metadata format DNB Casual to export its bibliographic data. This is an xml-based Dublin Core format.

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International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI)

The ISNI is an international standard identifier (ISO 27729) which is used for the unambiguous identification of public identities of persons or organisations. The identifiers are assigned and managed for Germany, Austria and Switzerland by the ISNI Registration Agency at MVB GmbH.

More about ISNI and the ISNI Registration Agency

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

The ISSN is an internationally binding standard code which is used for the unique identification of regular publications such as journals or serial publications. ISSN numbers are assigned and managed by a network of national ISSN centres; the national ISSN centre for Germany is located at the German National Library.

More about ISSN and the National ISSN Centre

Long-Term Preservation Metadata for Electronic Resources (LMER) and Universal Object Format (UOF)

The German National Library uses the metadata schema LMER for the long-term preservation of online publications. Information packages are processed in UOF (Universal Object Format).

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Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC 21)

The data format MARC 21 is used to record, store and exchange bibliographic data. The German National Library has been delivering its national bibliography data and authority data in MARC 21 since 2009. MARCXML is a content equivalent XML version of this data format. The German National Library uses this format for the submission procedures of online publications.

More about MARC 21 in the German National Library

More about MARCXML in the German National Library

Resource Description and Access (RDA)

RDA is an international cataloguing standard which is continually being developed further and was introduced cooperatively to the German-speaking countries under the leadership of the German National Library.
The German National Library has been using these rules for cataloguing since October 2015.

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Resource Description Framework (RDF)

The German National Library uses the Linked Data Service to provide access to its national bibliographic data and authority data using the RDF schema. In some cases, separate RDF vocabularies have been defined for this purpose.

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Resource Cataloguing with Authority Data in Archives and Libraries (RNAB)

RNAB is a cataloguing standard that is primarily used in literary archives. The German Exile Archive 1933–1945 and the German Museum of Books and Writing catalogue parts of their collections in accordance with RNAB recommendations.

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Regeln für die Schlagwortkatalogisierung (RSWK)

The German rules for cataloguing by subject headings, referred to as RSWK, form the basis for intellectual cataloguing with subject headings in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland.

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Uniform Resource Name (URN)

This schema is used for unique and persistent identification of online publications. The German National Library uses URN to address the archived online publications regardless of where they are stored and manages their use through the URN service for the namespace urn:nbn:de.

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XMetaDissPlus (XMDP)

XMetaDissPlus is a metadata standard used to describe online university publications and other types of publication. The German National Library applies the data exchange format for the delivery of online publications.

More about XMDP