Studying in Germany: Libraries and Research

At the beginning of your research, you should of course first be clear about which subject areas you actually want to inform yourself about. Which keywords describe them headline-like? Are there certain technical terms that are particularly relevant here? In Germany, it is common for universities to offer an online catalog on the websites of their libraries, which you can search for keywords or catchwords. This works similar to search engines like Google: You type in keywords and get a sorted list full of suggestions. For most libraries, these consist of a mix of books, e-books, and essays. Whether the literature actually contains what interests you is sometimes difficult to judge from the title alone. In the online catalogs, there is therefore often additional information that you should look at carefully: The publication date can tell you something about the topicality, the subject classification about the perspective, keyword collections or excerpts about content priorities. Sometimes you can even find scanned tables of contents, which can tell you more precisely how the literature is structured and which chapters or sections might be relevant for you. Once you have found a selection of literature that could fit your needs, you should be aware that not everything on the list is necessarily located in your university's library. Therefore, you should take a close look at the location information of the books.

If the literature you find interesting can be found in the library, a location should be noted. Some universities have divided their holdings into different departmental libraries, which may be located in different buildings. Larger libraries are also often divided into different departments. In most cases, you will find an overview of which part of the building each department is located in, either online or as a notice posted on campus. You should keep this in mind; otherwise, it can take you forever to find the literature you are looking for. The exact location of the works is then determined by the signature. Usually, there are signs on the shelves indicating which signatures can be found there. These are sorted alphabetically or numerically: a comes before b, 1 before 2, and so on. Some universities also give out double signatures, so you should also pay attention to the title, the author and - to be sure to get the latest edition - the date of publication and the number of editions. For media other than books, such as microfilms, journals or similar, many libraries have special rooms where, for example, equipment is available to read the media or workstations where it can be used. Often, such special media cannot be lent out. However, there are also books that may not be lent out due to their age, their value or their importance for a . In this case, you can either view the books directly on site, photograph relevant sections with your smartphone, or use the scanners provided in most institutions to save the contents to a USB stick or copy them.

It's especially comfortable when you don't even have to get up from your desk to review literature. As digitization continues, most German universities now offer e-books that students can access free. If you come across online offerings in the results list, there are several ways you can get access to them. Some offers are basically in the public domain and can theoretically be accessed by anyone. This is often the case with (older) articles from journals or shorter essays. In this case, you should be able to get to the respective article in a relatively self-explanatory way via the given link. Sometimes you have to specify the exact issue of the publication on the website and search for the article individually. Of course, there are also so-called 'open source' offers for e-books. However, they are much rarer. In most cases, access is only free via a subscription from the university. Therefore, if you don't want to buy the books yourself, there are two ways to use the subscription in most universities: Either you log in with your end device within the university network, i.e. via the WLAN of the university with your student login data. To do this, you usually have to be on campus. The second possibility is to install a VPN client once on campus. You should find detailed instructions for this either on the pages of the library or the IT-Services of the university. Moreover, don't worry: This is not very complicated and if something should go wrong, most universities have a contact point where you can get help with the installation. Once you have completed the installation, you can connect to the VPN client from the comfort of your own home, and although you are actually using your own Internet connection, the client will pretend that you are on the university network. This allows you to access the e-books offered freely.

In addition to these two more direct offers, many universities also offer interlibrary loan or indicate where you could lend an important book alternatively. The latter is relatively straightforward in itself. You can see at which libraries the book is available and then consider whether you have a possibility to lend the book there. To do this, however, you usually have to either know someone who is authorized to lend from the library in question and would do so for you, or apply for a library card yourself, for example as a visitor. This can cost a few euros and involve some effort, such as a longer journey. With interlibrary loan, you can order the book directly to your university library. The staff there will then request that the book be sent to your library. Then you can pick it up there, usually a few days later. This also usually costs a few euros for shipping and handling. Often, the loan periods are also stricter, for example, they cannot be extended. Interlibrary loan is therefore especially useful if it is absolutely relevant that you get exactly this one book or if it is for a particularly important (final) paper. For everyday tasks, you can usually find a reasonable alternative locally.

Of course, you can also get information outside the university library catalog. However, it is important that you pay attention to the validity of the sources. This applies to all sources, of course, but with those from the library catalog, you can be relatively sure that you can use them. Especially with online sources, this is usually less clear. However, there are some characteristics that can help you to assess whether the source is suitable: Is the text written in a scientific and correct language? Are sources cited correctly and are they trustworthy sources themselves? Is the author of the text recognized in the field about which it is written? Are editors and authors indicated? For websites: Is there an imprint and who is listed? If you are unsure, you can ask fellow students or lecturers. It can also help to use search engines that specialize in scientific texts, for example, Google Scholar rather than the normal Google search. Sites where theoretically everyone can write something, like Wikipedia, are never a valid source. Of course, you can use them to look up a technical term quickly or to get a first overview of a topic that is completely new to you. For actual lectures or texts, however, you should not use them.

The literature search is a bit tricky when you first get into it. However, with a little practice, you will quickly find your way around and develop your own system or preferences as to how you prefer to handle it. If you are still very unsure or uncomfortable, you should check with your university. Often the librarians offer courses or lectures that explain the specific system of the respective university in more detail and give answers to questions. At the moment, this will probably only work via videoconferencing, but hopefully soon there will be guided tours of the libraries themselves again as well.