The university library in Karlsruhe has been open around the clock, seven days a week, since April 2006. 300,000 titles freely accessible at all times. This 24-hour operation, unique in Germany to date, could only be realized with the installation of the BiblioChip RFID system.

The RFID system has been integrated into the library's own developed management software. "Our objective with the new 24-hour library was to adapt library knowledge transfer for scientists and students to meet the higher requirements of global competition. Besides modifying the old usage concept, we also had to make architectural and technical adjustments to the library," explains Christoph-Hubert Schütte, the university library's Executive Director.

In October 2006, Karlsruhe Technical University was awarded the status of "German elite university". The library, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, is an important factor in the attractiveness and success of the university, thanks to its consistent user-centered approach.

For more information please visit www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de

(Pictures exterior view © Thilo Mechau)