VD18 Hauptphase III

The DFG-funded project "Digitization and Cataloging of 18th-Century Printed Works Published in the German-Speaking World" is creating a retrospective German national bibliography for the 18th century, following the model of the predecessor projects VD 16 and VD 17 for earlier centuries. In this "Catalogue of German Printed Works of the 18th Century" (VD18), all printed works published between 1701 and 1800—either in the German language or within the German-speaking region—are cataloged collaboratively and assigned 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. Catalog records and digital copies can be searched in the union catalogs but are also automatically fed into the publicly accessible VD18 database.
SUB Göttingen was already involved in the VD18 pilot project funded by the 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 alone. To date, a total of 21 libraries have participated in the VD18 project; by February 2018, the libraries had collectively processed around 178,000 monographs, 9,500 multi-volume works (comprising 28,000 volumes), and approximately 3,300 journal titles. Further information on the VD18 project can be found in this article from the journal "BuB - Forum Bibliothek und Information."
During the pilot phase, SUB Göttingen cataloged, digitized, enriched with structural data, and made available online 21,000 monographs and multi-volume works, as well as 2,000 journal volumes. As part of the first section of the main phase, an additional 3,100 monographs and multi-volume works as well as 400 journal volumes were processed; in the second section of the main phase, another 8,000 monographs and multi-volume works were handled. All VD18 digital copies held by SUB Göttingen can be viewed in the VD18 collection of the Göttingen Digitization Centre.
During this project phase, SUB Göttingen is processing around 1,200 monographs and multi-volume works as well as just under 600 journal volumes. In addition, 7,000 titles are being cataloged that have already been digitized by Google at the BSB Munich but have not yet undergone processing. Furthermore, beyond its core cataloging and digitization activities, the SUB assumed leadership of the overall VD18 project following the pilot phase; together with the central office of the Joint Library Network (GBV) and the DFG headquarters, it organizes the necessary workflows for this national bibliographic initiative.