Tips for your search
Search the library catalog for print and e-books by keyword, author surname or with an author-title combination.
The tab books & more lists all items the library holds matching your search terms. The results list indicates whether a title is available as a print copy or e-book and if it is available or currently on loan.
E-books: The link full text takes you directly to the e-book.
Books: Click on the title for more detailed information. At the bottom of the full record you get holdings and availability information:
- Shelf mark: It tells you, where to find an item in the library.
- Location?: Click on the link and the exact location will be shown on a floor plan highlighted in red.
If you need any help to research a topic, just stop by the service desk or ask a librarian at the information desk.
1. Step: Search the library catalog
Keyword searching is a good way to begin your search for relevant books and other materials on your topic. A keyword is any meaningful title word. In addition using subject headings can help you be more effective in your research. Subject headings (clickable headings called “subject” in the full record) describe the content of the item. But please note that in our catalog subject headings are in German only.
On the results page, narrow your list down quickly with the filters listed to the left of the search results, e.g. select a specific format. Or try the advanced search to focus your search or filter your search results.
The results of your search will be presented in two tabs.
2. Step: “Books and more” tab
The tab books & more list all items the library holds matching your search terms. In the list you will find books, e-books, journals, e-journals but you won’t find any journal articles or other articles.
3. Step: “Articles and more” tab
In contrast to the tab books and more the tab articles and more also shows you articles, e-book chapters, conference reports, reviews, etc. from a wide range of databases, publishers and aggregators.Therefore if you want to search in-depth on a topic we recommend to check this tab. Please note: not all items listed here are available in the library.
Partly you have direct access to the full text.
Tip: You can use interlibrary loan to obtain or get photocopies from books, extracts from books, articles and other research material that are not available locally and are owned by other libraries in Germany. The basic fee is €1.50 per request.
4. Step: In databases:
Not all databases held by the library are included in the tab articles and more. If you want to search for articles or do an in-depth search you might want to go directly to a specific database on top of searching the library catalog.
In DBIS you find a list of available databases grouped in subjects that are not included in the library catalog. Please note: all databases are described in German only but the databases are mostly available in English and contain English and German records or full texts.
Finding e-books via the library catalog:
All e-books can be found through the library catalog which includes both printed and electronic material. You can search for e-books as you would for a printed book, using title and author information.
Having found an e-book the hyperlink full text will take you directly to the e-book.
On and off-campus access:
For students of the University off-campus access is possible by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPN requires an authentication with your IT user login & password provided by the IT department.
Please note: The databases Beck online and Juris do not allow remote access via VPN.
FAQ
Read our FAQ for more on how to use e-books.
All e-journals can be found through the library catalog. Via the link full text you can read e-journals online, print or download articles onto your USB drive.
If you want to browse for e-journals you can also use the Electronic Journal Library. It lists all e-journals available at the Frankfurt UAS by subject or title.
Read our FAQ for more on how to use e-journals.
For members of the University off-campus access is possible by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPN requires an authentication with your IT user login & password provided by the IT department. For more information on setting up VPN visit the Campus IT (German only).
Please note, the databases Beck online and Juris do not allow remote access via VPN.
When searching for journals you have to distinguish between the title of an individual article and the title of the journal in which it is published. For example, the journal article Planning by parameters is published in the journal Architectural Design (2013), volume 83, no 2, page 92-95.
When should I search for a journal title?:
- If you know the title of the journal, the volume/issue and maybe even the pages of an article you need.
- If you just want to browse in a known journal.
Search the library catalog for journal titles. The tab books and more lists all journals printed and online the library holds matching your search terms. Via the link full text you can read e-journals online, print or download articles onto your USB drive. The current issues of all printed journals are filed in boxes in the main reading room. The back issues are stacked on the 3rd floor, room 3 C.
Remember that the tab books and more does not list individual articles, just books and journals.
When should I search for journal articles?:
- If you want to search for journal articles by subject.
- If you do not know in which journal, volume/issue the article you need is published.
- If you want to search in-depth on a topic/subject.
By contrast with the tab books and more the tab articles and more lists journal articles from a wide range of databases, publishers and aggregators. Partly you have direct access to the full text. Please note, that not all journal articles on this list are available in the library.
Not all databases are included in the library catalog. So if you want to search for articles or do an in-depth search you might want to go directly to a specific database on top of searching the library catalog.
In DBIS you find a list of available databases grouped in subjects that are not included in the library catalog. Please note: all databases are described in German only but the databases are mostly available in English and contain English and German records or full texts.
Some databases are included in the library catalog in the tab articles and more. But a number of relevant databases are not included due to licensing restrictions. So if you want to search for articles or do an in-depth search you might want to go directly to a specific database. Furthermore, searching directly in databases is more effective due to search interfaces that offer a greater variety of advanced features and the records are more up-to-date. In DBIS you find a list of available databases grouped in subjects.
Important databases for your subject:
Check other libraries in Frankfurt:
Use HeBIS-Portal for searching in different catalogs in Frankfurt and beyond.
Interlibrary loan (ILL):
You can use ILL to obtain or get photocopies from books, extracts from books, articles and other research material that are not available in any library in Frankfurt (except the German National Library) from other libraries in Germany. The basic fee is 1.50 Euro per request. Please come to the service desk to set up an ILL account.
Purchase suggestion:
Suggest books that you would like to see added to the library's collection. Please send an email to: erwerb(at)bibl.fra-uas.de.