Library

It is up to you whether you purchase introductory literature at the beginning or during your studies, or mainly use the library’s services. In seminars, lecturers usually provide you with literature references.

Most items in the Alanus Library can be borrowed for home use. Exceptions are items in the course reserve of lecturers or books marked as reference collection with a yellow dot on the spine.

After successfully conducting your literature research via the online library catalog, note the location (the so-called shelfmark = label on the spine of the book) and take the borrowable items from the shelf yourself. The holdings are arranged systematically by subject area.
Borrowing requires the creation of a user account. At the circulation desk, your loans are also booked to your user account. You will receive a receipt showing the borrowed items and the loan period.

Please observe the loan periods and our library regulations.

The loan period for books and CD-ROMs is generally four weeks or six weeks for part-time students.
For journals, the period is two weeks or six weeks for part-time students, and for DVDs one week.
Before the end of the loan period, we remind you by email that the loan period is ending. You have no legal claim to this reminder, as you remain responsible for complying with the loan period even in the event of server failures, full mailboxes, or similar issues. Further information on exceeding the reminder period can be found under Reminder. Lost or damaged items must be replaced by you.

In the library regulations, you will find all essential rules for using the library. Many of these FAQs are also summarized there on two pages. Students usually receive the library regulations with their enrollment documents. Printed copies of the regulations are available to take away in the library.

The entire collection of books and journals can be searched via the Alanus catalog.

Alanus University has licensed the following databases:

• prometheus online image archive (image database)
• PsycINFO (literature database for psychology with full texts)
• Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection (PBSC)
• Enzyklopädie Erziehungswissenschaft Online (EEO) / Content-Select
• EBSCOhost (including GreenFILE and OpenDissertations)

The links above take you directly to the respective database – further information can be found under the relevant database name in the FAQs.

The bibliographic and/or full-text databases as well as the image archive are accessible to students and employees of Alanus University throughout the entire campus, i.e. from all computers and devices connected to the Alanus University network. In the library rooms, the databases can be searched freely and without registration on the user PCs.

Access from outside requires prior personal registration with the database while you are connected to the university network (on campus, in the library, etc.).

Below we list some helpful partially and fully open-access databases and search tools that lead to freely available e-books, e-journals, open-access articles, and more, as follows:

PubPsych, BASE, OER, ZOERR, MIT

• Database Information System (DBIS) (the Germany-wide reference tool for databases)
• National licenses (DFG-funded national licenses for electronic media)
• Desatis (statistics portal of the statistical offices of the federal and state governments; official statistics of international institutions)
• Heidelberg University Library (access to e-books, e-journals, databases, etc.)
• SAL (redirect links to various online resources such as e-books, PhDs, and open-access material)
• PDF list of various search tools (compiled by ULB Bonn)
• more search tools via ULB Bonn
• Archive.org (contains e-books, films, audio, and images from various disciplines)
• Google Scholar (general literature search for academic documents)
• ECONBIZ (economics)
• Kubikat (art history library database)
• Biodiversity Heritage Library (text and image database for historical natural sciences)

E-books: DOAB (open-access books for download), Google Books (retrodigitized books)

Journal overview: Journal Database (ZDB), Electronic Journals Library (EZB)

The Alanus University library is a facility of Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences and is therefore subject to the data protection provisions of the European General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), supplemented by the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the Data Protection Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (DSG-NRW).

In this privacy policy, we inform you about the processing of personal data in our library. We are committed to protecting the privacy of visitors and to handling and using personal data in accordance with the GDPR.

You can find more detailed information in this PDF and on the Alanus Library website under the accordion section “Data protection.”

The Digital Library (DigiBib) is a public library catalog operated by the University Library Center of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (hbz) in Cologne.
DigiBib makes it possible to order items via interlibrary loan that are not available in the Alanus Library.

E-books are books in digital form that can be read using special software.

E-books can be searched, read online, and downloaded via the Alanus University online library catalog or via the ciando e-book platform & ProQuest.

E-book download and software
In the library and on the Alanus University network, e-books can be read online and downloaded without access restrictions. To download e-books, you need the software Adobe Digital Editions (PC) or the ciando eBook Reader (smartphones, tablets, e-readers). Access from outside the Alanus University network requires login, which you will automatically be prompted for when using the service. If you want to use e-books outside the Alanus University IP range that you previously used at the university, you must personalize your account at Alanus in advance so that the desired titles are also available in your account at home. Personal registration is always recommended if you wish to work with annotations, notes, and similar program functions that should remain accessible later (see below).
To identify yourself as a student or employee of Alanus University, enter your Alanus email address [@student.alanus.edu or @alanus.edu] when registering with ciando. External users cannot access the service from outside the campus network.

Loan periods
When downloaded, e-books are stored temporarily, i.e. for a limited period, on end devices.

There are two different lending models with the following periods:

• Type A downloads = only one single access possible with a loan period of 24 hours (recommended when using university computers)
• Type B downloads = 5 parallel accesses possible with a loan period of 14 days (recommended when using private end devices)

The return of items from the virtual bookshelf takes place automatically after the loan period expires. Early return is unfortunately not possible. Next to borrowed books, the catalog displays in red when the book will be available again. While the number and duration of downloads are limited (see above), online reading within the Alanus University network is possible without limitation. However, significantly more functions are available when downloading, e.g. highlighting and inserting notes, which remain even after the loan period expires as long as the book remains on your own virtual shelf. Further information can be found on ciando’s FAQ pages or you can contact support directly (see below).
Ciando support
Telephone support from Ciando is available.
Service hours: Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Phone: 089 5205759-51

ProQuest

Another e-book platform offered by the Alanus Library is ProQuest. Existing purchased e-books can be borrowed there. Users can create their own user account on the login page, provided they are connected to the campus network in Alfter or Mannheim.
To make the best use of Ebook Central, please first access the platform on the Alanus campus using the available PCs or your mobile device via the following link in order to request an account there via “Request Account” using your Alanus email address (activation will take place as quickly as possible). With this account, you can then access the database from home or while traveling and will also have extended usage options within the database.

• 1 User / 3 User: per copy, only one person can use the item at a time. When reading online, use is limited to one day. If the book is exited earlier, it is immediately available again for other users. Download is also possible for one day. For the 3 User license, this rule applies to up to three users at the same time. With the 3 User license, the loan period can be selected as 1, 2, 3, or 7 days.
• Non-Linear-Lending (NL): use is billed here by usage days. Each e-book has 325 usage days available per year. As soon as the book is read for longer than 5 minutes or borrowed, the corresponding usage days are deducted. This license allows simultaneous use by different users.
• Unlimited Access (UA): Use of this title is unlimited with regard to loan period and simultaneous use.

Among other things, reminders and overdue notices about the end of loan periods are sent to your Alanus email address (@student.alanus.edu or @alanus.edu), as well as information about changes to the library’s opening hours. For this reason, it is important to make sure that your mailbox is not full and that emails can always reach you.
Interlibrary loans and reservations are only possible if you have a valid email address.
Please note that you have no legal claim to receiving reminders by email, and that you remain liable in the event of “technical failure” and overdue fees may still apply.

The term e-media refers to all digital media such as e-books and the databases of the Alanus Library.

The databases currently offered are the EBSCO databases PsychINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection (PBSC), EBSCOhost and the prometheus online image archive as well as Enzyklopädie Erziehungswissenschaft Online (EEO) / Content-Select. These databases are accessible only to students and employees of Alanus University.

In contrast to expert or professional search, the simple search offers fewer fields for searching the Alanus University online library catalog. This makes the search query somewhat broader. The easiest method is to use the free-text field, because entering terms there automatically searches the other fields such as author, title, etc. Truncation (see below) can also be used in the simple search.

If you wish to end your studies at Alanus University, you will need, among other things, confirmation from the library that you have no borrowed items and no outstanding fees.
Until recently, the library clearance certificate was issued on paper. This has now been replaced by an internal digital process. As soon as you submit your exmatriculation, the library is informed and checks whether any outstanding fees and/or borrowed items remain. If this is not the case, this is entered directly.

If there are still outstanding items, we will contact you requesting the return of the items or transfer of the outstanding fees.

The difference from the simple search is that entries can be made in additional fields for a more precise narrowing of the search, such as searching for a publisher, specific years, or the ISBN. In this way, you can formulate a very precise search query.
If you are not sure exactly how, for example, an author’s name is spelled, you can use truncation. The truncation symbol to be used is *. This symbol can be used at the beginning of a word, in the middle, or at the end, e.g. “Kunstpäd*”: this finds “Kunstpädagogik” as well as “Kunstpädagogen” and “Kunstpädagoginnen.”

Even if you are not or are no longer a student at Alanus University, you can still use the Alanus Library for an annual fee of €25. To register, the library requires your identity card and a valid email address. After registration, you can use all services, including interlibrary loan for books not available in the library.

Interlibrary loan gives you the opportunity to order literature that is not available in the Alanus Library from another library. A prerequisite is that you have a user account with the Alanus Library including library card number and password. Interlibrary loan is subject to a fee.

Delivery usually takes 1–2 weeks. When the ordered item has arrived, you will be notified by email and can collect it from the library.

The provisions for interlibrary loan in Germany are governed by the Interlibrary Loan Regulations (LVO). Among other things, these regulations determine which titles may not be ordered. These include, among others:

• Literature that is available in your library or another publicly accessible library in your area.
• Works that are available through the book trade at a low price. In this case, obtaining them via interlibrary loan would be more expensive than buying the book. The current price limit is €16.00.
• Literature from the current year.
• Works of special value, especially from the 16th and 17th centuries. In addition, many libraries exclude works published before 1800 from interlibrary loan. In these cases, however, copies or microfilms can usually be produced for a fee.
• Loose-leaf editions and unbound journals.
• Works in poor condition.
• Diploma, master’s, bachelor’s, Magister, and examination theses.
• Standards.
• Patents.
• E-books, e-journals.
• Television recordings may not be lent for copyright reasons.

What is difficult to obtain?

• current literature; it is often borrowed from the local library, reserved multiple times, and should remain available for its own users, so it is not available for interlibrary loan.
• data carriers (CDs, DVDs, disks, videos …); most libraries do not lend them for security reasons.
• items that are only listed in special libraries, as these are reference collections.
• complete newspaper volumes are not sent for conservation reasons.

Via the Digital Library (DigiBib), you can order your interlibrary loans (book orders and journal articles) directly. Both books and journal articles are delivered to the Alanus Library and can be collected here. Articles can only be provided as printed copies – sending electronic copies / PDFs, etc. is unfortunately not possible for copyright reasons. For employees, we can also deliver interlibrary loans directly to their mailbox via internal mail.

Conducting a search
When searching for literature in DigiBib, in addition to Own catalog and Local catalogs, you should also select additional catalogs. For interlibrary loan, we recommend selecting Union catalogs: these are selected libraries, mostly in NRW, with which we cooperate in a network.
Using the How do I get it? button, you will reach another page headed Available via interlibrary loan. There you can request either a whole book or a copied section using the Order button.

Note
Please note that interlibrary loan distinguishes between books, sections from books, and journal articles. This means that at the beginning of the ordering process, you must select the appropriate type of item.

DigiBib login
Your login details for DigiBib are the same as for the Alanus University online library catalog: your matriculation or employee number (if necessary, padded with leading zeros to make an eight-digit number) and your chosen password. You also need a TAN (transaction number). TANs are available from the library; students and external users pay €1.50 each. TANs can also simply be sent by email and the amount charged to your library account.

Fees are charged for various procedures in the library.

Overdue fees

If you keep borrowed items beyond the due date, overdue fees apply. These amount to €2 per item per week.

Interlibrary loan fees

apply when ordering items that are not available in the Alanus Library. This fee is €1.50 per item ordered.

Please transfer any fees due to:

Alanus Hochschule gGmbH
BIC: BFSWDE33XXX
IBAN: DE91 3702 0500 0007 0793 00
Bank für Sozialwirtschaft Köln

Please fill in the reference field (so that the payment can be allocated):
– Fees library
– Surname of the person liable for payment, matriculation number or library card number (person whose library account incurred the fees)

You can find our current schedule of fees here.

Please note: No cash is accepted in the library!

A bibliography is the complete list of literature used at the end of an academic paper, serving to provide detailed information about the sources used. It is part of good academic practice, because it must always be possible for anyone to understand what one’s own findings and thoughts are based on. It is prohibited to use copy & paste to incorporate parts of other works into your own work without making this clear.
Reference management software such as the open-source software Zotero is helpful for creating bibliographies.
Please note that there are different citation styles and methods. As a rule, lecturers or departments specify what the required citation style and format should look like.

As soon as items are overdue, they can no longer be renewed by you.

Reminders and fees
The first three reminders are sent weekly by email. Overdue fees of €2 per item per week are charged.
After three or four weeks, you will receive two written reminders by post, each of which automatically adds an additional €3.50 to your fee account for preparation and mailing of the reminder letter. After five weeks, the total fee for one overdue item therefore amounts to €12.

Account suspension
After five reminders, your account is automatically blocked for use. The same happens if your fee account exceeds €50.

Please therefore pay attention in your own interest to our email reminders and overdue notices.
Without payment of your outstanding fees, the library cannot issue your clearance, which is important, for example, for your exmatriculation.

If you are a student, your student ID card also serves as your library card for the Alanus Library. If you are an employee, your Alanus Card (staff card issued when you are hired) is used as your library card. External users receive a separate library card.

Borrowing items requires the creation of a user account with the Alanus Library: for this purpose, you present your valid student ID at the library desk, which after registration also serves as your library card. Only after a user account has been created in the Alanus Library is it possible for you to borrow items and use interlibrary loan.

Booking of items, renewals, and reservations
All your loans are booked to your user account. This allows you to keep track of your loans and their due dates at all times. It also enables renewal of loan periods. Likewise, when you are logged into your account, you can place reservations on books currently on loan and will be notified by the library as soon as the items you have reserved are returned.

User account login
To log in to your user account, you will be asked to enter your library card number – this corresponds to your matriculation number with four zeros in front – and your password – which we sent to you by email. Next to the login form, there is a text Help with input, where this is explained again in more detail.
The Forgot password? function is available.

You can find the daily updated opening hours here.

Monday closed
Tuesday 09:00-16:00
Wednesday 09:00-16:00
Thursday 09:00-17:00
Friday 09:00-17:00

The library is closed on Sundays and public holidays.

In the Alanus University online library catalog, called Open, you can search the entire holdings of the Alanus Library. The catalog also makes it possible to access the catalog of the Hochschule für Künste im Sozialen, Ottersberg and search its holdings.
The catalogs list the literature available at the respective locations. With the help of the online library catalog, you can determine the location of the item in the library and whether the requested item is currently available or on loan.

Items marked with a yellow dot on the spine belong to the so-called reference collection. This means that these items may only be used within the premises of the Alanus Library and are not available for borrowing. This is regulated so that the limited literature remains available to as many users as possible.

Prometheus is a digital image archive for art and cultural studies currently containing more than 2.9 million digital reproductions from 87 databases of museums, academic institutions, and research projects. The prometheus image archive works on the principle of a database broker that brings together heterogeneous image databases and makes them searchable through a common interface.

Thematic areas
The image material comes from the fields of art and cultural history, archaeology, and other image-based disciplines. With prometheus, these images can be searched using a search form, sorted into image collections, and compiled into presentations for lectures. The database is updated monthly.

Using prometheus at Alanus University
Access is always possible from computers that are connected to the Alanus University network. To do this, log in on the prometheus website in the field Campus access on the left using your Alanus email address and accept the terms of use.

Using prometheus outside Alanus University
Access from outside requires, firstly, personal registration with prometheus and, secondly, proof of affiliation with Alanus University through the use of the Alanus email address. Registration takes place via the prometheus site. Here is a step-by-step guide.

Search tips
For a successful search in the image database, you can find some tips & tricks here. As in many other databases, a successful search can, for example, be carried out using Boolean operators or truncation.

PsycINFO is a bibliographic database for psychology.
PsycINFO indexes journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, research reports, case studies, etc. relating to psychology and related fields such as psychiatry, sociology, educational sciences, anthropology, pharmacology, physiology, criminology, and linguistics, insofar as they are of interest to psychology. Approximately 2,500 journals are evaluated.
Overall, PsycINFO offers approximately 60,000 new entries per year. PsycINFO is produced by the American Psychological Association (APA) and hosted by the provider EBSCO.

A search in English is recommended, as this currently generates even more search results.

Technical access to PsycINFO
Access is only possible from computers connected to the Alanus University network. To use the databases from outside the network, you must log in once within the Alanus University network. To do this, log in once on the Alanus campus using the available computers or your mobile device via “Sign In” and “Create a new account” to create your login details. You can then use these login details to access the database from home or while traveling.

At Campus II, the Alanus Library is available to you, where you will find subject-specific academic literature and can order items online. Owing to an agreement with the Bonn University and State Library (ULB), students of Alanus University are also entitled to use and borrow media at ULB Bonn; electronic resources can be used on site.

A course reserve is a temporary reference collection in the library (usually for one semester) in which the supplementary literature for a seminar is collected and arranged by lecturer and topic. The course reserves are located to the left of the circulation desk and can be read and copied in the library. They serve to make the limited literature available to as many users as possible. Only in exceptional cases or at the request of the lecturer may the items be borrowed for a few days or over the weekend.

The books in the library are arranged according to a specific classification system (SFB: Systematik für Bibliotheken). This means that the books can be found in the shelves sorted by subject. Areas include, for example, education, business administration, art, religion, anthroposophy, or sociology. Please note that it is advisable not only to search for books in the shelves, but that research in the Alanus University online library catalog should be the starting point of your academic research.

Truncation means searching with the help of wildcards.
This can be used, for example, if you are not sure about the exact spelling of names or want to increase the number of results. In the Alanus University online library catalog, * is used as the wildcard. It can replace either a single letter or several letters. For example, if you are not sure how Meyer is spelled, you can search for M*r and all persons with spellings such as Meyer, Maier, Meier, etc., but also, for example, Müller, will be displayed. Or if you want to display results about both Kunstpädagogik and Kunstpädagogen, you can simply search for Kunstpäd*.

To renew the items you have borrowed, log in to your user account. Your library card number is your matriculation number with four leading zeros. Your password was sent to you by email and can be changed at any time.

Via the account function in the online catalog, you can view your borrowed items. Behind each item, as soon as a renewal is possible, you will see that the item is renewable. This is indicated by a green check mark. After clicking this button, the new due date will be displayed and whether the renewal was successful. You will then receive an email confirming the successful renewal. Please note that you must carry out the online renewal at least one day before the due date. You can perform two renewals yourself.

Renewal not possible:
If a renewal does not work, it may be because you are trying too late, the item has been reserved, or you have already carried out two renewals.
We would like to ask you to make renewal requests by phone only if all other options do not work and only in very urgent cases. Constant phone calls repeatedly interrupt the workflow in the library and also disturb users in the library rooms.

To reserve borrowed items, you must log in to your user account.
If you search in the online library catalog for an item that is currently on loan, the Reserve button appears at the top of the detailed display. After clicking this button, you will be prompted to enter your library card number – your matriculation number with four leading zeros – and your password – which was sent to you by email. You will then be asked to confirm your reservation. The item will then be displayed in your account under Reserved items. The user who has borrowed this item will then no longer be able to renew it. As soon as the relevant item is ready for you in the library, you will be notified by email.

Please note that items with the status “available” cannot be reserved.