--- type: Documentation title: Managing collections description: Collections let you group related publications by topic and manage them together. resource: https://www.librario.de/en/docs/grundlagen/sammlungen-verwalten language: en revision: e114aa541d24c57e452957a2313c85d2014b716b tags: - docs - grundlagen --- # Managing collections Collections in Librario let you group related publications by topic and manage them together. Unlike [personal favourites](/en/docs/grundlagen/favoriten-verwalten), collections are meant for teamwork. They work especially well as working collections: the literature a particular department or project keeps to hand. ## What collections are for An important use case is **specialist teams (centres of excellence) and departments**. Keeping the relevant specialist literature in one central collection helps you: - Bring new employees up to speed quickly - Make the core works of the field available in one place - Document standards and key works Besides specialist teams, collections are often used to manage **project literature** and to document research projects. ## The collections overview ![Screenshot of the collections overview in Librario. The header holds a search bar and a button to create a collection. Below are collection cards for several specialist teams, each showing the name, the start of the description, the number of publications and the owners.](/de/docs/grundlagen/sammlungen-verwalten/sammlungen-uebersicht.webp) _Overview of all collections with search and filters Screenshot of the German interface._ You reach the collections overview through **Collections** in the main navigation. At a glance you see: - All collections in your organisation - The number of publications in each - The date of the last update - The owners of the collection The search bar searches the names of the collections. With **My collections** and **Editable collections** you narrow the list to collections you own or may edit. ## Creating a collection ![Screenshot of the form for creating a collection. The form has fields for the name and a description with Markdown formatting. Below is a section for assigning permissions.](/de/docs/grundlagen/sammlungen-verwalten/sammlungen-erstellen.webp) _Form for creating a new collection Screenshot of the German interface._ To create a new collection: 1. Click **Create new collection** 2. Give it a meaningful name 3. Add a description and useful links, for example to internal resources 4. Assign further editors and owners > **Markdown for formatting:** > > In the **Description** field you can use [Markdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown) for formatting, for example **bold** , _italics_, lists or links. The hint below the field links to an explanation of the syntax. ## Managing publications ![Screenshot of an open collection named "Kompetenzcenter: IT Architecture". On the left are the description and useful links, on the right the list of publications in the collection with covers, titles and metadata.](/de/docs/grundlagen/sammlungen-verwalten/sammlungen-publikationen.webp) _Detail view of a collection with its publications Screenshot of the German interface._ There are two ways to add publications to a collection: - In the search results, with the folder icon **Add to collection** on the publication card - On the detail page of a publication, with the **Add to collection** button ## Permissions and collaboration ![Screenshot of the "Users & permissions" section in the edit form of a collection. A table shows the users and their assigned roles (Owner, Editor, Viewer). At the bottom is the "Add User" button.](/de/docs/grundlagen/sammlungen-verwalten/sammlungen-berechtigungen.webp) _Managing permissions and roles for a collection Screenshot of the German interface._ Collections are visible to all employees in your organisation. This encourages knowledge sharing and makes relevant literature easy to find. You assign permissions under **Edit**, in the **Users & permissions** section. There are **three permission levels** for managing a collection: ### Viewers (all users) - Can see the collection and its publications - Have access to the descriptions and links it holds - Can export the list of publications ### Editors - Have all the rights of viewers - Can add publications to the collection or remove them - May change the name and description of the collection ### Owners - Have all the rights of editors - Can add further editors and owners - May delete the collection Whoever creates a collection becomes its owner automatically. Administrators and librarians have the rights of an owner in every collection. ## Exporting publication lists You can export the publications in a collection. The export contains all bibliographic information on the publications, so you can import it into a reference manager. You can choose from three export formats: [BibTeX](/en/vergleiche/bibtex) for LaTeX-based systems, CSV for spreadsheets, and [EndNote](/en/vergleiche/endnote). 1. Open the collection you need 2. Click the download icon **Export** 3. Choose the format: **Export as BibTeX**, **Export as EndNote** or **Export as CSV** ## Practical recommendations What works best depends on how you use a collection. The following recommendations are based on our customers' experience. ### General recommendations - Choose meaningful names that describe what the collection contains - Record the purpose of the collection in its description - Name the points of contact for subject-matter questions ### Recommendations for specialist teams - Choose a consistent naming convention, such as "[Department] team" - Name the subject-matter points of contact clearly in the description - Link other relevant resources in the description, for example a SharePoint folder with calculation tools or CAD templates ### Recommendations for projects - Name the collection after the project number (if there is one) or use the format "YYYY-MM [project name]", for example "2025-05 Project name" - Link other relevant resources in the description, for example the link to the project in your project management system