Online library catalogue of Alanus University
The online library catalogue of the Alanus universities lists all the media available in Alfter. Extensive help is available. Reservations (reserving borrowed media) or renewals can be made via the user account.

Digital Library (DigiBib)
In the Digital Library (DigiBib), literature research in more than 500 library catalogues, subject databases, full-text servers and internet search engines is possible. If books or journal articles are required that are not available at the Alanus Library, searching in the DigiBib is the prerequisite for interlibrary loan, which is subject to a fee.

bonnus - Catalogue of the University and State Library (ULB Bonn)
A cooperation exists between Alanus University and the University and State Library (ULB Bonn). Click here for the search portal bonnus of the ULB Bonn.

German Union Catalogue of Serials – ZDB
The German Union Catalogue of Serials (ZDB) lists printed and electronic periodical holdings of all German libraries. You will also find the collection of the Alanus Library here as well as periodicals from our cooperation partner, the ULB Bonn. The ZDB is merely a reference tool, not a database with full texts (i.e. no direct access to articles is possible).

Electronic Journals Library – EZB
The Electronic Journals Library (EZB) is a bibliographic database of scholarly electronic journals and is accessible free of charge.
The EZB offers its users the metadata (title, publisher, etc.) of more than 76,000 journal data records. A hyperlink in each of these records leads directly to the website of the desired journal. This makes it possible to find and check references of articles and journals. However, the EZB is not a full text database, i.e. direct access to articles is usually not possible. Exceptions are the journals and databases licensed by Alanus Library. However, more than 45,000 of the 76,000 journals can be read online and free of charge. The full texts of the others can be ordered via interlibrary loan, as the publishers' individual fees for articles are usually quite high.
 

If a medium is not available at Alanus University, you can order a book or an article from a book or journal via interlibrary loan for a fee (1.50 euros) to the Alfter campus. The DigiBib catalogue is available as a supra-regional search engine. Please note that to order literature you must log into your library account with your matriculation number and password.

Please note that interlibrary loan distinguishes between books, sections from books and journal articles. This means that you have to select the appropriate medium at the beginning when ordering.

The University Library Centre (hbz), which operates the DigiBib, offers a detailed step-by-step guide in german that is adapted to the view of the Alanus Library. A german quick guide for interlibrary loan requests is also available.

Lending Media
Most of the items in the collection of Alanus University can be borrowed (exception see non-circulating collection). Once you have successfully researched the literature using the online library catalogue, note the location (the so-called shelfmark = label on the spine of the book) and remove the borrowable media from the shelf yourself. The holdings are arranged systematically by subject area. At the lending desk, the checked out book will be registered on your user account.

Loan Period
The loan period is usually four weeks or six weeks for part-time students.

Non-Circulating Collection
The non-circulating collection is comprised of media that cannot be borrowed and can only be used on the library premises. These are generally the latest issue of a journal,  hardback journals or media in the reserve collection for a semester (temporarily for the duration of the semester syllabi). Media that are permanently part of the non-circulating collection are marked with a small yellow dot on the spine of the book.

Semester Reserve Collection
A semester reserve collection (Handapparat/Semesterapparat) is a temporary non-circulating collection in the library (usually for one semester), in which the accompanying literature for a seminar is collected and sorted by lecturer and topic. The reserve collection is located to the left of the lending desk and can be read and copied in the library. This serves to make the limited literature available to as many users as possible. Only in exceptional cases or at the request of the lecturer can the media be borrowed for a few days or over the weekend.

Acquisition Requests
If an important item is not available in Alanus Library's holdings, an acquisition request can be submitted. If you are an employee, you can send us an e-mail with the completed acquisition request form (fillable PDF – please save it on your PC and then fill it out). This form is also available to all others. Please note that you have to save the form on your device to complete it.

It is also important to obtain approval from your department, which must note the cost centre to be debited. You can decide whether you would like to borrow the book directly upon its arrival – we will then inform you via e-mail.

E-books can be researched and downloaded via the Alanus University online library catalogue or via the e-book platforms of ciando or ProQuest.
There are different types of licences and loan periods. For more information please use the following FAQs.

e-book Download and Software
Downloading the e-books requires special software. You can find this on the e-book platform ciando in the upper right corner. There you can use the ciando eBook Reader or ADOBE DIGITAL EDITION. Please note that in order to use this service you must be recognisable as a student or employee of Alanus University. Therefore please enter your Alanus e-mail address [@student.alanus.edu or @alanus.edu] when you register for ciando or ProQuest.

ProQuest
Another e-book platform licensed by Alanus library is ProQuest. There you can lend e-books licensed by the library. As a user of the library you can creat an account on your own with ProQuest, if you are on-site at Alfter or Mannheim. If you are not on-site, you have to ask the library for permission to get an account with ProQuest via the welcome page of ProQuest. Please remember to use your Alanus mail.

EBSCO eBook Collection
Another provider of numerous e-books ist EBSCO. Via the following link you can have a look at the e-books provided.
The Psychology Collection is also available for research.

Ciando Support
Ciando offers a telephone support service.
Service Hours: Monday-Friday from 9am-6pm
Telephone: +49 89 5205759-51

Important Instructions

The databases can be used without restriction throughout the university network. If you wish to use the databases from outside the university you must register once in the Alanus University network (e.g. PsychINFO) or provide the library proof of your affiliation with Alanus University (prometheus image database). In the case of PsycINFO, you log into the Alanus Campus once using the PCs there or your mobile device to create your login data. You can then use this login data to access the database from home or on the road.

Alanus Databases

The databases of the Alanus Library include literature and full-text databases as well as image archives.

• Image Database: prometheus
• Psychology: PsycINFO
• Psychology: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection (PBSC)
• Education: Enzyklopädie Erziehungswissenschaft Online (EEO) / Content-Select
• General: EBSCOhost

You can find more information on the individual databases under the name of the respective database in the FAQs. Via the DigiBib or the DBIS, the national database identification tool, you can find further freely accessible databases. The Electronic Journals Library (EZB) also lists all existing e-journals at German universities and research institutions. For an extended list of partially and fully open-access databases and search tools, please refer to the Databases tab in our FAQs.

BonnerBibliotheken Cooperation

The link bonnerbibliotheken.de provides access to the new search and information portal of the BonnerBibliotheken cooperation. This platform offers an overview of the range of libraries in Bonn and the surrounding area. In addition to the municipal libraries and two university libraries, museum, specialist and research libraries are introduced here, many of which make their highly specialised collections available to the public.

University and State Library (ULB Bonn)
A cooperation exists between Alanus University and the University and State Library (ULB Bonn). Students and staff of Alanus University can use the Bonn University Library free of charge and borrow the holdings (except for the textbook collection) after registering in person during registration hours. The online resources can also be used free of charge on site and most of them can be printed or downloaded. Click here for the search portal bonnus of the ULB Bonn.

Institute of Art History University of Bonn
The reference library of the Institute of Art History is one of the most comprehensive specialist libraries for art history in Germany and covers the subject of art history in its entirety. The collection can be found online on the search portal bonnus of the ULB Bonn.

Library of the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Library of the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany is open to everyone. The media can either be viewed directly in the reading room or ordered and borrowed from the collection. Literature research is carried out via the library catalogue.

Library of the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck
The Library of the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck includes specialist journals, monographs, catalogues raisonnés and exhibition catalogues with a focus on the art of the 19^th, 20^th and 21^st centuries. Literature on art history, art theory and art methodology complement the collection. A thematic focus is on Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp and the Dadaists. The library of the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck is a non-circulating, reference library.

Simple Search
Simple search offers few fields for searching the online library catalogue, which makes the search query somewhat broader. The easiest method is to use the free search box, since the other fields are also automatically searched when you enter data. So-called truncation (see below) can also be used for the simple search.

Advanced Search
Advanced search allows entries to be made in several fields to narrow down the search, such as searching for a publisher, certain years or the ISBN. In this way, very precise search queries can be formulated.

If you do not know exactly how data (e.g. an author's name) is written, you can truncate (see below).

Truncation
Truncation or "wildcard searching" is a technique that enables you to search for a term as well as various spellings of that term. It is achieved through the truncation symbol *. The truncation symbol can be used at the beginning, middle or end of a word, e.g. "Kunstpädagog*". This will find both "Kunstpädagogik" and "Kunstpädagoge" The * tells the computer to search for all strings that are before and after the *. This technique is used when terms are to be kept open, e.g. because you want to capture grammatical forms (such as plural or genitive) or derivations of the word.

Literature Management with Citavi

***Important notice: We terminated our licence agreement with Citavi. This means, you will have access to Citvi campus licence until end of May 2024. Thereafter we recommend using the open source program "Zotero".***
Citavi is a Windows-based software for literature management and knowledge organisation. Alanus University has a campus licence for the literature management software Citavi. This means that students and staff at the university can use the full version "Citavi Pro" free of charge. Detailed information can be found in the Citavi help section.

All students and all staff at Alanus University have their own user account with the library, which is independent of the student administration (so please ensure the data is updated regularly).

Media are registered to the account when they are checked out. You can access your user account independently via the online library catalogue and use it to renew or reserve books. We kindly ask you to use these functions independently in order to keep the service counter free for consultation and other work. Ordering books via interlibrary loan is also registered via your account.

Privacy Policy
Alanus University Library is an institution of the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences and is therefore subject to the data protection regulations of the basic EU Data Protection Regulation (EU-DSGVO), as well as the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the Data Protection Act for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (DSG-NRW). 

In this privacy policy we inform you about the processing of personal data in our library. We undertake to protect the privacy of visitors and to treat and use personal data in accordance with the DSGVO.

Responsible Office
The office responsible for data processing is:
Alanus Library
Campus II
Villestr. 3
53347 Alfter

Responsible:
Alanus University GmbH
Villestraße 3, 53347 Alfter
Tel.: 0222293210
e-mail: info@alanus.edu
Website: www.alanus.edu

Data Protection Officer:
Arndt Halbach
Gindat GmbH
Wetterauer Str. 6
42897 Remscheid
Germany
Tel.: +49 2191 909 430
e-mail: datenschutz@alanus.edu

What do we use your data for?
We need your data to process the lending and returning of media, to contact you (e.g. to inform you if a reserved medium is available, if desired).

The legal basis is provided by: Art. 6 para. 1 letter b) for the processing of data for the purpose of preparing and/or implementing the contractual relationship with you, as well as Art. 6 para. 1 letter f) for the purpose of safeguarding the legitimate interests of the library (proper media lending). If you have given us your consent for certain data processing, your consent serves as the legal basis in this respect within the terms of Art. 6 para. 1 letter a) DSGVO / §51 BDSG nF.

What data is collected?
We record your user number/registration number, (first) name, department, e-mail address, address, telephone number (optional), date of birth.
This data is used exclusively for the purposes of the library (lending, reminders; with your express consent: information on reservations, expired borrowing periods). If you wish to use WebOPAC, it may be necessary to pass on data to service providers (see below).

WebOPAC
Our library runs a WebOPAC on the Internet. It is possible for your user account to be activated for this service and you can view your account online, e.g. to renew a medium. For this purpose the following data must be passed on to the operator of the WebOPAC:

Website visitor: IP address

Library user: internal system user number, ID number & password (as encrypted hash) of the registered users are stored, first and last name, e-mail address (optional)

Newly registering library users: first & last name, address, telephone number (optional), e-mail address (optional), internal system user number is generated when the reader data set is generated.

Operator of the WebOPAC is

OCLC GmbH
Grünwalder Weg 28g
D - 82041 Oberhaching

We have entered into a contract with the operator of WebOPAC for order processing. If you have questions about data protection, you can confidentially contact the operator's data protection officer: Brent Rogers, Data Protection Officer, 6565 Kilgour Place, Dublin, Ohio 43017-3395 USA, t. +1-614-764-6166, dpo@oclc.org

What happens if you do not entrust us with your data or revoke its use?
If you do not entrust us with your data or revoke its use, you can no longer borrow media on site or via interlibrary loan. 

How long is your data stored?
We store your personal data for as long as you wish to borrow media or use our other services. Lending data is deleted immediately upon return of the media. Your personal data will be deleted at the end of the year in which you were ex-matriculated or in which you have de-registered with us.

What rights do you have regarding your data that stored with us?
Within the framework of the applicable legal provisions, you have the right to obtain information free of charge at any time about your stored personal data, its origin and recipients and the purpose of the data processing and, if applicable, the right to correct, block or delete this data.
For this purpose, as well as for further questions on the subject of data protection, you can contact the responsible parties or their data protection officer (Mr. Halbach, GINDAT GmbH, see above) at any time at the address given above. You also have the right to complain to the responsible supervisory authority if you have the impression that the website operator does not comply with the data protection regulations.

In accordance with Art. 51 DSGVO, the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in North Rhine-Westphalia is responsible for data protection supervision:

State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information
North Rhine-Westphalia
Postfach 20 04 44
40102 Düsseldorf

Revocation of your consent to data processing
Many data processing procedures are only possible with your express consent (see Art. 7 DSGVO). You can revoke any consent you have already given at any time. All you need to do is send us an informal notification by e-mail. The legality of the data processing carried out up to the time of revocation remains unaffected by the revocation.

Right to data transferability
You have the right to have data that we process automatically on the basis of your consent or in fulfilment of a contract, handed over to you or to a third party in a common, machine-readable format. If you request the direct transfer of the data to another responsible party, this will only take place to the extent that it is technically possible.

This information is available here as a PDF.