The African and Near Eastern Studies Library primarily serves everyone who researches, teaches and studies at the Institute for African Studies and at the Institute for Near Eastern Studies at the University of Vienna. As a scientific public library, it is also generally accessible and can be used by anyone interested. You do not need to be affiliated with the University of Vienna or have a library account. However, a library card is required for certain services, such as borrowing media.
The library is an open-access library with a loan service. Books can therefore be taken off the shelves and put back again or taken to the information desk to be borrowed. Orders are also possible via u:search.
There is no obligation to hand in the cloakroom in the library. If you would like to store jackets, backpacks or anything else, there are lockers in the entrance area. Keys for these lockers can be borrowed at the information desk. Users without a library card can obtain a cloakroom key by depositing another ID card at the information desk.
The usage regulations for libraries of the University of Vienna apply. 83 workplaces have been set up for use in the library rooms. Books can be left at the workplace for further use the next day, please add a note to this effect.
Both the African Studies and the Near Eastern Studies stock of specialist books is organized by classifications. An explanation of the list within the respective subject areas and subject groups is also located directly on the shelves. For a quick overview and as a guide, the subject areas are signposted in different colors. Room 1 contains Arabica, the South Arabian collection and Turcica, while room 2 contains Turcica, Assyrica and large formats from the Near Eastern Studies collection. Room 3 offers space for magazines, theses in Arabic Studies and International Development Studies, the library of the Consular Academy, Central Asiatica, Persica and Semitica. The journals are arranged in room 3, separated by titles from African Studies and Near Eastern Studies. The journal titles are arranged in alphabetical order. Lists of the journals are available in room 3 and at the information desk, once ordered by title and once by signature.
In room 4, the African Studies inventory is displayed.
The African and Near Eastern Studies Library has a group study room, which can also be reserved. The booking can be made by phone, e-mail or at the information desk.
New acquisitions remain on special shelves for about for weeks: New acquisitions from the Near Eastern Studies are on a shelf to the left of the information desk, those from African Studies are in room 4, to the left of the door as you enter. The handsets for Near Eastern Studies are in room 1 next to the information desk, those for Ancient Near Eastern Studies are in room 2 behind the workplaces, and those for African studies are to the right of the reading couch in room 4.
The rooms described and the sytematic arrangement of the library can be seen on the library plan.
