This page provides a brief summary of basic information about using the library, the library's facilities and borrowing books and media. For more detailed information, please follow the embedded links.
The German, Dutch and Scandinavian Studies Library is available to all people who study, teach or conduct research at the Department of German Studies and the Department of European and Comparative Literature and Language Studies (Dutch Studies and Scandinavian Studies divisions) at the University of Vienna. As a public institution, the library and its services are also available to all other interested people.
There are no access restrictions. To be able to use the library facilities and the books and media on site, please leave your coats and jackets in the library cloakroom and observe the applicable Regulations for the Use of the Libraries of the University of Vienna. You do not have to reserve a seat or register for using the Library.
The Library is located on the second floor of the Main Building of the University of Vienna and can also be reached via the lift at staircase 9.
The historic reading room and the reading nooks in the Library invite you to read and work on site. All 110 workplaces are equipped with Wi-Fi as well as power sockets. There is a small sofa lounge in room 41. Eight research PCs are available for online research and for using the electronic resources offered by the Library. In room 40 you will find a u:print device and other devices for copying, printing and scanning.
If you need assistance with finding books or with general questions about researching, please contact the employees at the information desk in the entrance area of the Library.
Take a virtual tour to get an impression of the library premises before your visit.
To protect the book collections, users of the special library are obliged to leave their coats, jackets, bags, etc. in the library cloakroom. Please borrow a locker key at the information desk in the entrance area using your u:card or another photo ID as a deposit. The key must be returned on time on the same day; the entrance door closes automatically at the end of opening hours. You may only use transparent bags to carry your work materials in the Library.
If you are using the Library only for a short period of no more than 15 minutes – for example, to borrow a book from the open stacks – you can also use the short-term cloakroom (without liability) to the left of the entrance door.
While in the Library, please refrain from talking loudly and eating and turn off or mute your mobile phone. Drinking beverages from sealable bottles is allowed.
You may take books off the shelves yourself in the open-shelf area. After using them, please put them back in the right place, according to the shelf mark, to ensure that other users are able to find them. You have to replace books that have been damaged or lost while using them. If you return books late, your access to the lending services will be restricted and you will have to pay reminder fees.
As a rule, you can borrow books from the special library for at least 7 days. You may take books kept in the open stacks from the shelves yourself to use them on site or borrow them at the information desk; you cannot request them online. The only exception: accessible book request.
Books kept in the closed stacks must be requested in advance before you can use them on site or borrow them.
Holdings that are for reference use only may not be borrowed. The detail view in the library search engine u:search provides detailed information about the location and availability of the book/medium and specifies whether it may be borrowed.
Unfortunately, not all books kept in the open-shelf area are barrier-free accessible. Therefore, users with physical impairments have the opportunity to request books kept in the open stacks, which is not usually possible. They thus have the opportunity to request all items kept in the Library for viewing and borrowing at the information desk. If you want to make use of this service, please send an e-mail to: fbg.ub@univie.ac.at or get in touch with our employees at the information desk.
The University Library currently offers a free digitisation service for teachers and researchers of the University of Vienna. Please use the order form “Bestellformular Digitalisierung für Lehre und Forschung“ (digitisation for teaching and research, in German) to request scans. Information about (fee-based) digitisation offers for all library users.
Students and researchers from abroad as well as other guests without a place of residence in Austria* can use books and media kept in the German, Dutch and Scandinavian Studies Library on site during the opening hours without registration and free of charge. However, they may not borrow books from the special library without a library card/u:card. Since you can only order books kept in the stacks on site and cannot reserve books and media via the u:search search engine if you do not have a library card, you may have to take longer waiting times into account. Therefore, if you plan to be on site only for a short time, please contact us at least 2–3 weeks before your visit at our service e-mail address fbg.ub@univie.ac.at.
*) Visiting researchers who visit Vienna at the invitation of the Department of German Studies or the Department of European and Comparative Literature and Language Studies (Scandinavian Studies and Dutch Studies divisions) may receive special conditions for the duration of their stay. Please contact us at the service e-mail address fbg.ub@univie.ac.at nach.
