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Typically, Rare Book and Special Collections are housed with and part of university libraries. It is their assignment to hold, preserve and adminiatrate a wide range of special media, including documents from classical antiquity (papyri), medieval manuscripts, incunabula and early prints, estates and donations, prints, maps as well as modern rare books and collector's items (books and/or illustrations produced by artists etc). Such Rare Book Collections derive their identity, in part, from their close vicinity to and collaboration with university departments.
Comparable institutions can also be found at the Federal State Libraries (Landesbibliotheken) and at museums. Large monastic libraries and the collections of the Austrian National Library, on the other hand, are quite differently organized and arranged. In view of such differences relating to the character of their collections, the latter have not been included in this web portal. A selection of links to such institutions, however, is listed among the "Ausgewählte Links" below. The range of tasks of Rare Book Collections comprises nearly the entire scope of fields of activity of traditional and contemporary libraries.

These mandates in turn can be subdivided into four areas:

• Service: local on-site service and research assistance (expert advice; direct, personal services); assistance via e-mail and phone; a diversified range of electronic services nd support, with free access via the home page or web portal (so-called hybrid library), as well as individual work materials and support
• Research: scholarly and scientific research, curatorship and investigation, reconstruction, processing and editing of holdings
• Transfer of knowledge: talks, lectures/lecture series, workshops, courses, publications
• Museum-oriented aspect/mandate: conservation of holdings, restoration, exhibitions