Documentation

Getting started

• Getting started — Four steps from signing up to inviting your team.

Basics

• Basics — Search, favourites, collections and frequently asked questions: the basics of using Librario.
• Searching for publications — This guide explains how to search for publications efficiently in Librario.
• Borrowing hard copies — This guide explains how you, as a user, can borrow and return hard copies in Librario.
• Managing favourites — Save publications as favourites, search and export them, and see the favourites of other users.
• Managing collections — Collections let you group related publications by topic and manage them together.
• Frequently asked questions and use cases — Answers to frequently asked questions and typical workflows in Librario.
• Data model — Which records Librario keeps, how they relate, and what identifiers and the publication date are called in the web app, the AI assistant (MCP) and REST API v3.

Library management

• Library management — Importing publications, managing hard copies, bibliographic fields and best practices for library management.
• Managing publications — This guide explains how you, as a librarian or administrator, manage publications in Librario.
• Managing hard copies — This guide explains how you, as a librarian or admin, can manage your library’s physical copies in Librario.
• Publication types — An overview of the kinds of publication you can manage in Librario.
• Bibliographic fields — All fields for bibliographic cataloguing in Librario at a glance, with detailed explanations and examples.

Importing publications

• Importing publications — This guide describes the ways to import publications into Librario and how to manage the status of your imports.
• Importing PDF files — This guide explains how to import PDF files into Librario and have them catalogued automatically.
• Importing by identifier — This guide explains how to import publications into Librario by ISBN, DOI or another identifier.
• Cataloguing publications manually — This guide explains how to catalogue publications manually in Librario when an import by identifier is not possible.

Task management

• Task management — Coordinate quality reviews, loan requests, error reports, and recurring work with a Kanban board, task types, and recurring task definitions.
• The Kanban board — Structure work with the four columns Open, In Progress, In Review, and Closed, with filters, list view, and notifications.
• Task types — Every task type in Librario: which you create yourself, which the daily scan creates automatically, and how automatic tasks behave.
• Recurring tasks — Define routine work such as stocktake, DIN standards updates, or cataloguing new journal issues once and let Librario create concrete tasks on schedule.

Best practices

• Best practices for library management — Practical recommendations for a professionally maintained library: cataloguing, workflows, rollout and migration.
• Grouping publications — Librario has three fields for grouping related publications: original title, parent publication and series.
• Categories in Librario — Categories narrow search results down to one subject area. This guide shows how to build and maintain a small set of clear categories.
• Optimising files for full-text search — This guide describes how to prepare and optimise your publications for full-text search in Librario.
• Setting up a review process — A structured review process makes sure your colleagues quickly find the publications that matter to them.
• Introducing new employees to the library — Best practices for building library use into the onboarding of new employees from day one.
• Encouraging and improving library use — Best practices to make your digital library the first place people in your organisation go for research.
• Rolling out new library software successfully — How to roll out Librario: choose a rollout strategy, plan the five project phases and support the first weeks after the switchover.
• Data migration to Librario — This guide explains how to move your existing library data to Librario.
• Text recognition (OCR) with Adobe Acrobat Pro — Step-by-step guide: run text recognition (OCR) on a scanned PDF file with Adobe Acrobat Pro so that full-text search can find its text.

Administration

• Administration — User management, roles and permissions, backups and account settings for Librario administrators.
• User management — As an administrator, you manage all user accounts of your organisation in one place.
• User roles and permissions — Librario uses a role-based permission system. This page explains the three access levels: basic access, librarian and administrator.
• Account settings — The account settings in Librario let you centrally manage various aspects of your library at the account level.
• Backup and restore — Librario backs up your data automatically every day. You can create your own backups through the REST API at no extra cost, or order one from us as a service.

Integration

• Integration — AI assistants (MCP), Progressive Web App, Windows Explorer integration, single sign-on with Microsoft, OAuth clients and the REST API for Librario.
• Connect AI assistants (MCP) — Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and other AI assistants to your Librario library via the Model Context Protocol — one OAuth sign-in, the same permissions you have in the web UI.
• OAuth clients for integrations — When a connector needs an OAuth client, how an administrator creates it, rotates the client secret and revokes the client, and what users see of it.
• Progressive Web App (PWA) — Librario is available as a Progressive Web App and installs on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
• Windows Explorer integration — With the Librario search connector, you search your library from Windows File Explorer. Double-clicking a result opens the publication in your browser.
• Single sign-on with Microsoft — What single sign-on with Microsoft Entra ID does for your organisation, which plans include it, and where to find the step-by-step setup guide.
• REST API — The Librario REST API integrates and automates your library processes programmatically. v3 signs in with OAuth 2.1; v2 is deprecated and shuts down at the end of 2026.
• Guide for AI agents — How AI assistants work with Librario over MCP: keeping documentation and holdings apart, searching, fetching and downloading, reading hits and standard status correctly, citing sources and fetching the documentation.
• REST API: examples — Runnable Ruby and Python scripts for the Librario REST API: a minimal client, availability checks against a reference-manager export, a data import with file uploads, and backups.