The MPI-MP opened its reference library in 1995. The library houses over 2000 books and 120 prominent molecular biology-related journals.

The Otto Hahn Library is a special scientific library which provides the institutes on the Max Planck Campus at Göttingen-Nikolausberg with literature and information. Its holdings primarily consist of literature covering the fields of research of the institutes Multidisciplinary Sciences and Dynamics & Self-Organization.

Gemeinsamer Katalog des Max-Planck-Instituts für Biogeochemie und des Max-Planck-Instituts für Chemische Ökologie, Jena.

The library of the MPIs Martinsried is a specialized reference library primarily rendering services to research staff and visiting scientists. Its collection of books and ejournals is mainly used on behalf of the Institute's research projects.

The Campus Library is a shared service unit for following neighboring Max Planck institutes: Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen and the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory

Various dictionaries are available.

RiffReporter is a German news magazine based in Berlin and was founded in 2017. RiffReporter delivers in-depth and thoroughly researched journalistic content on topics such as environment, science, technology, society and global affairs. The cooperatively run journalism portal was awarded the renowned Grimme Online Award in 2018. The MPG subscription covers full text access to all content available on the RiffReporter platform.

The research database "Scholarly Journals and Newspapers in the Age of Enlightenment", conducted by the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, provides an extensive systematic index to German-language periodicals of the 18th century. It is based on the long-term research project "Scholarly Journals and Newspapers", which besides indexing and digitizing these scholarly journals aims to visualize their significant role for the emergence and structures of the "Enlightened scientific community". The project focuses on interdisciplinary journals, comprising of original contributions, book reviews, scholarly news as well as all facets of critique. The interactive online database also includes the data of the two previous research projects "Index of German-language Periodicals" (IdZ 18) and "Systematic Index of German-language Review Journals" (IdRZ 18). By the year 2025, it will give access to 323 periodicals (ca. 2,775 volumes and ca. 1,260,000 pages), spanning the time period 1688-1815.

The SpringerLink platform provides MPG staff with access to a huge collection of English and German eBooks from 2005 onwards, as well as the English and the German collection of the Springer Book Archive (1842-2004). In addition, the content of selected book series is available. Includes major reference works and dictionaries. Max Planck researchers who publish a monograph or edited volume with Springer Nature as an Open Access eBook receive a discount on the standard Book Publishing Charge. MPDL covers the costs remaining on a pro rata basis. Further details are available on the MPDL website.

The BSZ develops and maintains the SWB database in cooperation with 1,200 libraries in Baden-Württemberg, Pfalz, Saarland and Sachsen. The online catalog offers bibliographic data free of charge: Monographs, periodicals, articles, loose-leaf collections, off-prints, conference proceedings, university publications, reviews, abstracts, tables of contents, maps, music, audiovisual material, microforms, electronic resources (data media), online resources; scientific and popular literature from all subjects and in all languages from the 15th century to the present; scientific literature (according to the DFG special subject fields programme) from theology, ancient orient, art, music, archeology, law and criminology;

In addition to the 75.000 prints belonging to the basic content, VD16 comprises a supplement of more than 25.000 new titles. New titles are added continuously through acquisitions by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek for the Collection of German Prints, as well as through data provided by national and foreign libraries.

The vifabio portal offers rapid access to biological literature and information. It offers a parallel search in various biologically relevant library catalogues, bibliographic databases, and the internet guide (a collection of selected, quality controlled internet sources).

The ZDB is the world’s largest specialized database for serial titles (journals, annuals, newspapers etc., incl. e-journals). The ZDB contains more than 1 million bibliographic records of serials from the 16th century onwards, from all countries, in all languages, held in 4000 German (and some foreign) libraries, with holdings information. It does not index individual journal articles.