You can borrow books that may be borrowed for 28 days. Non book material may be borrowed for up to 7 days. You need a library card (u:card) to borrow books. You receive your u:card at the library information desk once you have presented your student ID card (or an official photo ID card if you are not a student) and your residence registration form.
Please note: You cannot borrow books in Chinese, Japanese or Korean that are not recorded in the online catalogue straight away. We record the book in the catalogue as soon as possible. You receive a notification, as soon as the book is ready for you to collect.
| Your borrower status | Loanable items can be borrowed | Loaned items are renewed | Holds can be placed | Reference works, books from reserve collections (Semesterhandapparat), items published more than 100 years ago and journals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student | for 28 days; 10 items |
automatically for up to one year | yes | can be used in the library |
| PhD student or student at diploma/master thesis writing level; | for 28 days; 20 items |
automatically for up to one year | yes | can be used in the library |
| Academic staff/faculty/administrative staff | for 28 days; 50 items |
automatically for up to one year | yes | can be used in the library |
| Other users (alumni, annual card, students of other universities) | for 28 days; 5 items |
automatically for up to one year | yes | can be used in the library |
| Other users (monthly card, employees of other universities | for 28 days; 10 items |
manually after card renewal | yes | can be used in the library |
Users can search for printed works in two ways:
Because we are an open access library (meaning that most items are freely accessible to patrons) you can usually only request items over u:search that are not freely accessible. This concerns AV-media, which can be found at the information desk, and material from the stacks. Both will be retrieved at your request and will be found at the information desk for five workdays. AV-media are loanable for up to 7 days. Items from the stacks can only be used on site due to material-preservation reasons.
If the item you looked for in u:search is currently on loan you can place a hold on it. When the item is returned, you will be notified by email that you can collect it from the department library. Items that have been placed on hold can be collected for the following five days.
Reference works, dictionaries, magazines and older books (archive) are exempt from the loaning process. Please take note of the corresponding information on u:search.
Scientific staff of the University of Vienna can borrow items for 1 year or for up to 2 years (depending on the type of ID-card that was issued) if they need books to hold lectures or conduct research. The name of the borrower will be visible on u:search, thus allowing other users to access the literature in question. Books have to be stored on campus.
Books can be borrowed for 28 days. (Exception: AV-media can be borrowed for only 7 days). This period can be extended up to one year via u:search, provided the book is not requested by another user via u:search. All works have to be returned within the loan period. You can view, extend or cancel your current borrowings/reservations online in u:search under “My Account”. Returns can be made at the information desk or the return-box in the main library building.
If you dont return books on time, overdue fees will be charged (unless you are exempt) and you will no longer be able to use the library until you have returned your overdue books and have paid all fees.
You can find further information on the main library website under Fees.
