Digi20 concentrates on the digitalization of monographs published in the second half of the 20th century, predominantly in the field of humanities and social sciences. In the first phase of the project, approx. 4,700 titles of programme segments of the publishers Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Wilhelm Fink / Ferdinand Schöningh as well as Otto Sagner were digitized. In a second phase, further approx. 1,750 titles are being included till 2014 by consecutively digitizing all monographs up to a defined ‘Moving Wall’ of three to five years to the current year of publication.

Since its foundation in 1964 the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History has been intensively engaged in research into the history of private law in Europe. It therefore has a particularly rich store of literary sources on 19th century German, Austrian and Swiss private and civil procedural law. With support from the German Research Foundation (DFG) it has been possible to digitize this exceptional concentration of material and make it available to a wider scientific audience. In the course of the project, which extended from 1997 until 2002, some 4,316 volumes were digitized comprising around 1,350,000 pages. For the Institute library this venture into digitization represents a continuation of its long-standing initiative to maintain and conserve its collections.