VD 17 started on 1 July 1996 as one of several major retrospective national bibliographic projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Since 1 January 2007, when the main funding phase ended, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München and the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel have been responsible for VD 17. The VD 17 database has been hosted by the Common Library Network (GBV) since 2002.

The database continues to grow by incorporating new data from domestic and international institutions. Reports of new titles which have not yet been listed are especially welcome.

All cataloguing is done by the copy-in-hand method. In the past, bibliographic data were enriched by digital images of selected key-pages. This provided more detailed bibliographic information and facilitated the differentiation and definition of editions or issues. Nowadays, the bibliographical records are linked to complete digital copies.

More than ten years ago, the German Research Foundation (DFG) started funding the digitization of VD 17 material. The digitization policy is based on a master plan developed by the libraries in charge of VD 17 and other participating libraries. By 2020, this cooperative digitization project will provide access to digital copies of about 90 per cent of all VD 17 items via the VD 17 online catalogue. Part of this plan is the inclusion of all relevant digital copies resulting from the Google partnership with the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.