GIGA

German Institute of Global and Area Studies in Hamburg emerged from the German Overseas Institute (founded in 1964) after a restructuring process in 2006. The institute is the largest German and one of the largest European research institutes of Area Studies and Comparative Area Studies. Its research is focussed on political, economic, and social developments in Africa, Asia, Latin America as well as North Africa, Near and Middle East. The Area Studies are furthermore concerned with developments in North-South and South-South relations.

The GIGA disposes of the largest non-universitarian information centre on 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 encompasses 190.000 books and about 750 current journals plus online documents, press cuttings, online press archives and databases on Area Studies. The information centre is publicly accessible and is kept as a reference library with the option of weekend lending. The publications are largely available for inter-library loan (red library ticket). The regional libraries acquire non-conventional literature in the framework of their special interest collections on behalf of the DFG (German Research Foundation), so called "grey literature" in their respective regions.
A large part of the collections is documented in the database World Affairs Online-WAO by the German Information Network International Relations and Area Studies (FIV-IBLK), where 12 independent German and one nordic research institute co-operate to form a collective information network. The regional departments of the GIGA contribute to the virtual libraries Cibera.de, CrossAsia, MENALIB and IlissAfrica.

The Goettingen State and University Library (SUB) was founded in 1734 together with the University of Goettingen. Because of its important role it was made State Library in 1949. Since 1922 the library is in charge of a number of special collections. Since 1947 it is in charge for example the Altaic and Palaeoasiatic literature (SSG 6.26), so that together with its collection of Finnougristic literature (SSG 7.50) the SUB covers nearly all of Central and Northeast Asia.
The SUB places great importance on the collaboration of research and teaching, especially in the field of Central- and Eastasian Studies, which were founded by the Mongolist, Manchurist and Sinologist Erich Haenisch in the 1920s.
In the field of altaic and palaeoasiatic languages, the University provides up to 200.000 monographs, journals, series and books.