The archive establishes and maintains collections of documents relevant to the Institute's areas of research, including various topics of contemporary history and current affairs. Although these documents are primarily intended for use by the Institute's staff, access is also available for other interested persons. The collection includes documents from the many protest movements working outside of the parliamentary arena and political parties which have accompanied political, social and cultural controversies in the Federal Republic of Germany from its establishment to the present day. The archive also houses a number of specific collections which are linked to the Institute's research projects in various areas of the social sciences, contemporary history, and science studies. The archive is open to the public, within the constraints set by relevant regulations on privacy, information security and archiving.
Archive users have direct access to some of the archive material via PC workstations .
The staff provides assistance with searches for gray literature, archive documents, and other sources. The aim is to produce a reliable information base on events, developments, and interactions within these many protest movements and thus contribute to a better understanding of their role in German society. The contents of the documents are described and made accessible with the aid of a system developed by the archive staff, in combination with a thesaurus and various indexes. Thus, users can identify gray literature, magazines and other materials as well as primary and secondary literature on a given topic in this area with a single data search. Currently, the special collection occupies 810 meters of shelf space.