Information Centre
The GIGA is home to the largest non-university information centre for area studies and comparative area studies in Germany. The four regional libraries collect literature on economic, political, and social developments in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The collection comprises about 200,000 books and approximately 11,000 online journals – plus more than 120,000 online documents.
The Information Centre (IZ) is publicly accessible and operates as a reference library with the option of weekend lending. The publications are largely available for inter-library loan. Identified as an “outstanding research library,” the IZ was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Opening Hours
Location Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, Collection Africa, Latin Amerika, Middle East and Global (Comparative Area Studies, Theory and Methods) Phone: +49 (0)40 - 428 25 - 580 | +49 (0)40 - 428 25 - 519 (Periodicals)
Location Rothenbaumchaussee 32, Collection Asia Phone: +49 (0)40 - 42 88 74-14 / -16
Tuesday–Thursday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Friday: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
The GIGA Information Centre is still closed (as of 19 March). This also applies to the limited operation (ordering by e-mail and lending). When it will be possible to borrow books or use the premises again depends on the further course of the COVID-19 pandemic. As soon as the development is clearly positive (incidence value well below 50), we will look at the situation and consider returning to limited operation. We will inform you about this here, as well as via social media and the GIGA Newsletter.
Contact
Phone: +49 (0)40 - 428 25-580
Email: iz@giga-hamburg.de
Search
In our online public access catalogue (OPAC) you can find our:
books
papers
book articles
journal articles
magazines
in both printed and electronic form.
You can also search the World Affairs Online (WAO) database, which offers approximately 960,000 titles on international relations and area studies – of which 123,000 have links to online full texts. The WAO is one of the largest social science literature databases in Europe. The catalogue is available in German, English, and French.
More databases
Electronic Journals Library (EZB)
German Union Catalogue of Serials (ZDB) for printed journals
Database Information System (DBIS): Here you can find information on bibliographic databases, reference books and encyclopaedias that are managed at the IZ.
Online Catalogue (OPAC)
Service
Borrowing
A weekend loan service from Friday till Tuesday is available; however, an ID card or equivalent document must be presented to use this service.
Inter-library loaning
A regular inter-library loan service
Books: Four-week loan period
Journal articles: Preparation of photocopies (up to 20 pages free of charge, larger quantities € 0.30 + 19 per cent VAT per page, payment in advance)
Facilities
7 PC workstations
14 reading or notebook workplaces
free Internet access (eduroam, guest WIFI) (Neuer Jungfernstieg only)
copier/scanner with USB port.
