Background information about the use of DFG keys at DESY

The administrative management of equipment at DESY is essentially defined by the so-called Gerätewirtschaftsordnung (GWO) . This order has been formulated by the "equipment management workgroup" (Arbeitsgruppe Gerätewirtschaft) and harmonized with the Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology (Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie - BMBF). In the present version (originating from April 30, 1996) it has been approved by the DESY directorate on may 02, 1996.

In part as an injunction by the resource providers, the aforementioned order intends -- among other things -- to improve the usage of available resources at DESY. As a consequence, especially declared equipment shall be made available to several user groups. Supposition for a better comparability of equipment during an availability check is the installation of a uniform equipment classification.

Upon this basis DESY is forced to classify equipment by means of DFG keys starting from january 1st, 1997. These 3-digit number keys are, in addition to corresponding german key texts, provided by the DFG ('Deutsche Forschungs-Gemeinschaft'). As a part of the classification process, DFG keys must e.g. be used in DESY order forms (BA forms) to specify the desired equipment.

The present WWW interface is intended to support end users in the determination / attachment of DFG keys. Apart from DFG keys and corresponding key texts provided by the DFG, the database contains DESY specific synonyms.


If you are not able to classify special equipment on the basis of the available equipment groups or if you like to make suggestions concerning the consideration of DESY specific synonyms, please send a mail to the "conference of equipment commissioners" "(Konferenz der Gerätebeauftragten)".
Gundolf Erhorn, Central Computing (IT)
Last change: November 28, 2003