Book array

Open stacks

A large portion of the books are arrayed in freely accessible shelves in the branch libraries and can be checked out.

You can easily identify open stacks by their call number and by their blue or white back back label. Their location code ends in -1, e.g. in 11, 21, 31, 41, 51 or 61.

Items in the Students Library (Location Code 02) and materials of the library administration (Location Code 07), which are to be found in Branch Library 3, are also part of the open stacks.

Reference collections

The reference collection can only be used in the halls of the Library. This includes basic reference books, loose-leaf editions, and periodicals but also sourcebooks and text editions as well as frequently used course and research literature.

Large sections of the reference collection can be checked out overnight or over the weekend (location code ending in -5; red back label). One exception to the rule is primary literature in Branch Library 4 which can be checked out for one week at a time so that you can read it at home.

Exclusive reference collections (i.e. "Information collections") include, for example, loose-leaf collections and relevant reference books. Those cannot be checked out overnight or over the weekend.

Course reserves

Course reserves for the various classes are compiled according to the wishlist of the lecturer. They are placed in the reading hall of the respective branch library and are sorted by the instructors' last name.

Course reserve material can only be checked out for a brief period of time.

In the online catalogue, a list of all course reserves is available under the "Additional services" tab. Click on the title of a course reserve to see the media contained.

Details for instructors

• During the reading period, i. e. when no lectures take place, you will receive an email notification from your branch library containing all the details for creating course reserves.
• Since 2019, electronic media from the online catalogue can also be included in course reserves.
• Unfortunately, for copyright reasons, it is not possible to keep folders with copyable material in the term reserve list (letter from the Ministry of Science dated 7th April 2008). We therefore ask that you make the relevant material available electronically on the virtual campus only. The University Library offers a digitising service for this purpose.

Textbook collection

Each branch library holds a textbook collection (Location code ending in -3: 13, 23, 33, 43, 53, 63; yellow back label). Here you will find multiple copies of highly sought-after course literature (introductions, textbooks, manuals).

Books that are part of the textbook collection can be checked out.

Repository

Not all books are arrayed in freely accessible sections: Many books, mostly older ones, are stored in our repositories, which can only be accessed by Library staff.

You can request literature from our repositories via the Online Catalogue to your branch library. Almost the entire stock in the repositories can be checked out, including periodicals which can be checked out for one week.

Refer to the call number to identify repository items; their location code ends in -0.

Journals

In addition to a wide range of e-journals, the University Library also offers printed journals. Copies of the current volumes are kept in flap cabinets in our branch libraries. However, they can be checked out for copying purposes only. In Branch Libraries 3 and 5, QR codes indicate whether or not a journal is also available online.   

All copies of one year are compiled in volumes. As a result, they are not available for about two months. Bound volumes of frequently sought-out journals are usually made available again within two weeks.

Bound volumes are arrayed either in a section of their own in the open stacks (where they can be checked out overnight or over the weekend) or in the repository (older volumes which can be ordered through the Online Catalogue).

Newspapers

In our branch libraries, you will find current issues of German and international daily and weekly newspapers. Generally, they are made available on the newspaper racks and/or the newspaper archive for two to four weeks.

Online access

Many current newspapers and newspaper archives are also available online - either through the publisher or in newspaper databases, such as Nexis, or WISO. You can find a list of newspapers that may be read online in our DBIS database information system.

Confined materials

Although the books and media of confined materials are actually part of the various branch libraries, they are permanently made available at the respective chair, institutes or research bodies. Please contact the chair or research body directly if you need an item from a course reserves.

A list of all course reserves can be found here [in German only]. Confined materials can be easily identified by their 3-digit location code.  

DVDs and other media items

DVDs, CD-ROMs, maps, and test folders (of psychological tests) etc... In addition to books, the Bamberg University Library also holds divers other media. Most of them are kept in special locations that are not freely accessible. (Their location code ends in -8, i.e. 18, 28, 38, 48, 58). They can be requested through the Online Catalogue, which is where you can also find details about the various loan periods.

At Branch Library 4 and at the ERBA Library, media items from the open stacks can be checked out as well. (Their location code ends in -7, i. e. 47, 67).

Games

You may check out games at Branch Libraries 3 and 4  for one week; their location codes are 032 and 042 respectively.