Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (SBB) maintains and develops CrossAsia as an electronic and digital platform to support Asia-related scholarship, research, and research-related teaching. The collections and services bundled via CrossAsia are partially, but significantly, financially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the programme Fachinformationsdienste für die Wissenschaft in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (FID). Within the framework of this responsibility, the SBB looks after collections of physical and digital objects that can generally be used by the scientific community belonging to German university and non-university institutions. The financial support of the DFG ensures in particular the development and expansion of collections relevant to research, which are made available to German academia, research and research-related teaching.
In this context, the SBB acts as a central service provider for users affiliated with German institutions. Within the new service for Nordic and Baltic Universities and research institutions organised in the Nordic Baltic Association for Asian Studies (NoBAS), these may also use SBB services in the context of CrossAsia according to specific agreements. The new servics offered by the SBB do not affect DFG funding and are not intended to make a profit. The offer is geared towards extending useful services such as support in licensing Asian content, the verification of and access to literature, information and data currently provided in the context of CrossAsia to other institutions outside Germany. SBB actively aims to support international science and research as well as collaborations in a more fitting way.