Universität zu Köln 
Philosophische Fakultät
Thomas-Institut
The Library of the Thomas-Institut
The library of the Thomas-Institut is first and foremost a dedicated research library. Accordingly, the differentiated inventory comprises an immense scope of special topics connected with medieval philosophy. The most extensive part of the collection consists of editions of texts written by medieval philosophers and the corresponding secondary literature (primary sources, secondary sources). Additionally, there are editions of texts by ancient and patristic philosophers, which form the most essential basis of medieval philosophy and the study thereof.
Scholars and students have access to e.g., the complete series of the “Patrologia Latina", the "Patrologia Graeca", the "Sources Chretiennes" and the main series of the "Corpus Christianorum" ("Continuatio Mediaevalis" and "Series Latina"). This is an extraordinarily comprehensive collection, which is present and directly accessible in only very few small libraries.
Another important branch comprises the collection of literature of source material by medieval Arabic and Jewish philosophers, which was decisive for certain passages of medieval philosophy. A differentiated assemblage of secondary sources is available on that topic, as well. There is also a widespread variety of books dealing with the history of philosophy (structured into “general history”, “history of the philosophy of the Orient” / i.e., Arabic and Jewish philosophy, “Greco-Roman philosophy”, “History of medieval philosophy”, etc.) All the sections are subdivided in more detailed areas.
Furthermore, there is literature on adjacent fields of interest, such as history of the university, history of science, palaeography, history of literature and culture, theology, history of religious orders, lingustics (classical philology), and on diverse topics of systematic philosophy (e.g., logic, esp. medieval scholastic logic). Additionally, there is a large compilation of microfilms of medieval manuscripts, several accessible on CD-ROM and a collection of the special genre of “Festschriften”, more than sixty learned journals, numerous lexica, dictionaries, and encyclopaediae.
Guidance concerning the content and the setup of the library is available to the users of the library. There is also a broad support concerning literature research using the library catalogues of the university and in Cologne, as well as national and international databases and literature services, e.g., “subito”.
Advice is also available on questions regarding the enhancement of inventory of already existing libraries or the assembly of new libraries (e.g. for the Institute of Catholic Theology and its didactic at the chair for systematic theology / dogmatics at the Marin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg / Philosophical Faculty III / Educational Science).
A constantly updated alphabetical card index is still present (in contrast to other libraries). All material acquired since 2003 is also catalogued in the KUG. Experience shows, that the card index is imperatively essential as an updated, non-accident-sensitive, permanently accessible working instrument as well as content verification device.
The setup of the library follows a system, which has been developed in the founding years of the Thomas-Institut. Certain characteristics date back to that time.
The employment of the library is organized by internal terms of use.
| Office Hours of the Library : Mo. - Thu. 9-17 h and Fr. 9 - 15:30 h |
Type of Library : Reference Library |