Library

You will find the full range of media in the university library. All forms of media are accounted for in the online catalogue KAI.

Many databases are searched directly or can be accessed individually via the subject guides. You will find further information on the respective portal there. Under Search Tips you will find general information on the media offered as well as details on how to use e-media. Advice on e-media and research is provided via the electronic information service " e-Auskunft".

Each branch library offers individual or group workstations. Research and multimedia computers are available as well as Wi-Fi hotspots for internet access with your own mobile devices.

The library is open to the public and normally free of charge.

University members need to register once for using the library via the university's website. Both, new university members and those already registered as users in the old system, must agree to the use of the library.

In order to borrow books you need to activate your library account. Therefore please visit your branch library and present your university ID card Chiporello or an official identity document with a photograph.

The regular loan period for books is 30 days. Afterwards, the period can be extended as long as the media has not been reserved.

Printed journals can only be read in the library with the option to copy articles.

DVDs and CDs are treated specially. Please ask at the information desk.

The library services are normally free, but the following charges might apply:

For overdue media

• up to 10 days: 2.00 Euro
• up to 20 days: 5.00 Euro
• up to 30 days: 10.00 Euro
• up to 40 days: 20.00 Euro

For interlibrary loans: 1.50 Euro per order

The payment of fees is currently restricted to bank transfers - the library will provide you with the necessary data.

Interlibrary loans are literature requests from other libraries when the item in question is not available in any of our branch libraries. You can request both books and copies of individual chapters or papers, which you do have to pick at the library after delivery.

The access to the interlibrary loan portal is obtained in KAI by choosing the link "interlibrary loan" in the top menu.

Tips:

• Be sure to check in KAI whether or not a medium is available in our library.
• Each interlibrary loan costs a 1.50 Euro processing fee.
• An interlibrary loan is not necessary to borrow media from other branches of our library. In this case an internal university transfer via the request function in KAI is available free of charge.

We offer trainings on different topics in various formats:

• Library introduction
• Research
• Citavi (Reference Management)
• Special trainings, such as about patents and standards or quoting

Our trainings are currently conducted as online-seminars only. Regardless of your location, you can participate remotely on online-seminars via your own mobile device. You only need, when applicable, a headset.

Via the learning plattform Moodle, we offer individual modules as self-study courses. For using this learning plattform, open www.elearning.fh-swf.de in your browser and log in with your university password. You can select "Bibliothek" under the menu heading "Kursbereiche" and register for our courses. Most of these are only available in German, but there´s an english course on the topic of Literature Research. Also, if you pass the final test in the Literature Research course, you have the opportunity to obtain our library certificate.

Check out our video tutorials on various library services on YouTube.

For extensive individual consulting, for example before starting to write your thesis, we offer research consulting hours online. Contact e-Auskunft@fh-swf.de for further information.

Citavi assists you with academic literature research: from the reference management to knowledge organisation and task management all the way to the creation of the bibliography.

There is a licensed version available to our university members. In addition to the cost-free version, it offers editing of projects in teams and the management of an unlimited number of references.