VD18 Hauptphase I

The project "Digitization and Cataloging of 18th-Century Printed Works Published in the German-Speaking World (VD 18)" aims to create a retrospective German national bibliography for the 18th century, following the model of the predecessor projects VD 16 and VD 17 for earlier centuries. This "Catalogue of 18th-Century Printed Works Published in the German-Speaking World" involves the collaborative recording of all printed works published between 1701 and 1800—either in the German language or within the German-speaking region—and assigns each a unique VD18 number. Unlike the predecessor projects, the cataloging of relevant monographs and multi-volume works does not take place in a dedicated database but rather within the respective library network environments of the participating libraries; periodicals are recorded in the Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB). At the same time, the works are being digitized. The Göttingen State and University Library (SUB Göttingen)—together with the Berlin State Library, the Saxon State and University Library Dresden, the University and State Library Halle, and the Bavarian State Library Munich—participated in the VD18 pilot project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) between 2009 and 2012, during which the project's organizational framework was developed and tested. In addition to establishing workflows and standards for cataloging, digitization, and the creation of structural data, over 110,000 printed works were processed during the pilot phase; this represents nearly one-fifth of the total collection of approximately 565,000 items. During the pilot phase, SUB Göttingen cataloged, digitized, and added structural data to 21,000 monographs and multi-volume works as well as 2,000 journal volumes, making them available online. During the initial one-year segment of the VD18 main phase, an additional 3,100 monographs and multi-volume works, as well as 400 journal volumes (comprising approximately 105 journal titles) and totaling around 554,000 pages, will be processed at SUB Göttingen. Furthermore, upon the conclusion of the VD18 pilot phase, SUB Göttingen assumed overall project leadership; in this capacity, it coordinates the necessary operational workflows—both prior to and during the first main phase—in collaboration with the other pilot libraries, the library network centers, the *Zeitschriftendatenbank* (ZDB), and the DFG administrative office.