Universitätsbibliothek Mainz

Your Questions, Our Answers

Categories

Library Card

Borrow or Read On-site

Renew and Reserve

Returns and Fees

Account, Wi-Fi, Access to Electronic Media

Searching for Literature

Interlibrary Loan

Doctoral Dissertations

Print, Copy, Scan (Mainz)

Print, Copy, Scan (Germersheim)

Reference Management (Citavi, EndNote, …)

Course Resources, Daily Newspapers

Cataloging Systems

People with Disabilities

Donations

Food and Beverages

If you are not studying or working at JGU, there is an annual user fee of €15.

Minors, those named in Section 8 (1) of the "Landesgebührengesetz" as well as students and employees of the following scientific institutions in the region, are exempt from this annual fee:

Mainz 

  • Academy of Sciences and Literature
  • Fraunhofer ICT/IMM 
  • Helmholtz Institute Mainz 
  • Mainz University of Applied Sciences 
  • Institute for Historical Regional Studies at Mainz University (Institut für Geschichtliche Landeskunde an der Universität Mainz e.V., IGL)
  • Institute of Molecular Biology Mainz
  • Catholic University of Applied Sciences Mainz
  • Mainz State Museum
  • Leibniz Institute of European History 
  • Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
  • Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
  • Natural History Museum Mainz
  • Romano-Germanic Central Museum
  • Studierendenwerk Mainz
  • Mainz University: participants of the Center for Continuing Education and the program specifically tailored for senior citizens (“Studieren 50 plus”)

Darmstadt

  • Technical University

Frankfurt

  • Goethe University 

Wiesbaden

  • European Business School (EBS)

You will receive your library card in virtual form and can use it via the JGU ID card app (app available in the Play Store and App Store ). The Data Center (Zentrum für Datenverarbeitung, ZDV) provides further information about the app on its website.

Members and guests of JGU:
You will automatically receive a library card number and a PIN with your JGU account. The guests of the JGU (visiting researchers, lecturers, interns, private lecturers, doctoral students and scholarship holders) must also have their library card activated at the circulation desk in the Central Library (with specialist staff during service hours).

Extramural users:
Please fill out this form .

  1. You will receive an activation email from the Data Center. Please follow the steps listed in the email. You will then receive two more emails with your usage data. You now have a JGU account (user name “ub……”), a password and a 6-digit PIN.
  2. After receiving the third email, go to the circulation desk in the Central Library (with specialist staff during service hours) and present your identity card, or alternatively your passport and an official domestic registration confirmation. Minors need a declaration of consent (PDF) from a legal guardian. You will then be activated for borrowing.

If you work at Mainz University Medical Center, first apply for a JGU account through the account managers of the respective clinic or institution. You must also tick the respective box on the ESS portal to allow JGU to process your data. Together with your JGU account, you will also receive a library card number and a PIN. 

The library card is accessed via the JGU ID app (app available in the Play Store and App Store).

The Data Center (Zentrum für Datenverarbeitung, ZDV) provides further information about the app on its website.

Various reasons can lead to the blocking of your library card (card expired, owing fees, …).

To have it unblocked, please contact one of the circulation desks in person:

Mainz

  • Central Library 
  • Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, and Technology Library
  • University Medical Library

Germersheim

  • Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies Library

Students can change their address directly in JOGU-StINe. If you have any questions, please contact the Student Service Center.

Employees of JGU and the University Medical Center: 

Report your change of address to the JGU Human Resources Department.

Non-university students should report the change of address on site at one of the circulation desks:

Mainz

  • Central Library 
  • Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, and Technology Library
  • University Medical Library

Germersheim 

  • Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies Library

Please bring your updated ID with you.

A large part of Mainz University Library’s holdings can be borrowed.
This includes, for example, freely accessible media (open stacks, textbook collection).
Media from closed stacks can – with a few exceptions – also be borrowed by placing an order.
Please refer to the respective information in the Research Portal.

The easiest way to search for literature is to use the search bar (“I’m looking for …”) on our homepage. (On pages where the search bar is hidden, click the magnifying glass at the top of the page.) The search terms entered will be forwarded to our Research Portal. There you will find all of Mainz University Library’s electronic and print media in the “Library Catalog”.

When you click on a title, you will see all the information you need to find the book or magazine on the shelf at the bottom of the page. For more information about locations, see “Where are the books or magazines located?”.

Under “More Literature”, you can access online articles and literature references from databases. (Literature that is not accessible via JGU is also displayed.)

There is an advanced search option for both the “Library Catalog” and for “More Literature”, which allows you to search more specifically. You can find more information in the Research Portal’s help section.

Tip: Learn about the Research Portal in more detail in our online course “Research for beginners: tips and tricks for searching literature in the Research Portal”.

All of the University Library’s media are listed in our Research Portal.

In case of electronic media, a link to the full text is available in the short list (access through the university network, via VPN, or remote desktop).

For print media, you will find more detailed information (e.g. scanned tables of contents) by clicking on the title and, in the blue area below, all the necessary information to find a book or magazine on the shelf:

  • the library,
  • the location within the library,
  • the classification number under which the book or magazine can be found on the shelf.

For some publications, the classification number is missing from the usual place in the location information:

  • For multi-volume works, click “show all volumes”.
  • Newly ordered titles are initially displayed without classification number.

In the Branch Libraries, the media are mostly arranged thematically according to different cataloging systems, so that one can also navigate the collections standing in front of the shelf. When searching for a specific title, be sure to use the Research Portal!

The Central Library’s open-access area is not thematically arranged (exception: textbook collection). A prior search in the Research Portal is necessary.

In the Central Library and in most Branch Libraries, you can borrow media with your library card using self-service terminals. The media will be registered to your library account. You can view your library account at any time via the Research Portal.

You can borrow various anatomical models from us.

  • All anatomical models are listed in the Research Portal. We kindly ask you to find the model’s classification number in advance.
  • To use the models, please contact the Central Library’s circulation desk and give the respective classification number.
  • There you will receive a key card for the corresponding compartment.
  • You can borrow the models on a daily basis, i.e. you must return the key card and the model to the circulation desk by the next working day at the latest (if you borrow on Friday, you can return it on Monday).
  • A return via the return machine is not possible.
  • The models can only be used in the rooms of the Central Library and in the Georg Forster Building Library.
  • If you wish to return the model on the next working day, it must be locked in the locker overnight. In this case, you can take the key card home with you.

Please do not loosen any screws or connections that you do not need to loosen in order to view the model!
If a part of the model is damaged or lost, you are obliged to replace it. If you lose the key card, we have to charge a fee of €20.

Some types of media cannot be borrowed:

  • reference material
  • special materials (microfilms, microfiches, maps, newspaper volumes)
  • very valuable volumes and all books published before 1918
  • books from interlibrary loan that the lending library has only released for use in the reading room

You can use these types of media in our reading rooms.

There are several reasons why a book might not be at the location given:

  • The book is on loan. You can recall it, if possible.
  • The book was borrowed and returned, but has not yet been placed on the shelf by our staff. Check back again later.
  • The book was recently purchased and is still being processed. This is often the case with new releases. Contact the information desk.
  • Someone has taken the book from the shelf, but hasn’t borrowed it. Check back later in the Research Portal and on the shelf.
  • The book has been moved. Check around the area where the book should be.

Click on “Request” for the desired title in the research portal and select the desired pick-up library. The order will be kept available there for fourteen days. 

You have found separate collections in the catalogue without a request link? Please contact the staff on site.

Closed-stack media from the Humanities Library can be requested online or by order form.

Orders from the Research Portal or Online Catalog

Your library account in the research portal will show you whether your ordered books are ready for collection (status: ready for collection).
As a rule, these books are available the following day at the latest. Please note that orders from one location to another can take several days. Keep an eye on the status.
The ordered books will be kept available for you to pick up for fourteen days.

Closed stacks orders from the Humanities Library, which you have requested via order form, will be available the next working day from 12:00 p.m.

You can order media from Germersheim to Mainz via the University Library’s Research Portal. Click on “Request” and select “Zentralbibliothek Ausleihe” as the pick-up library (“Auswahl Abholbibliothek”). For media without such a link, please contact the information desk.

You can order media from Mainz to Germersheim via the University Library’s Research Portal.  To do so, click on “im Online-Katalog bestellen” and select “Bereichsbibliothek TSK” as the pick-up library (“Auswahl Abholbibliothek”).

For titles without such a link, please contact the circulation desk.

JGU staff in possession of a library card can borrow media until the end of the current semester (semester loan period). The loan period is shortened when a hold is placed on the book by another user. Books from the textbook collection as well as interlibrary loans are excluded from the semester loan period.
We will be happy to advise you on site about special loan regulations for individual holdings.

JGU students with an identity card for severely disabled people or a certificate from the “Office of Accessibility” can also borrow media from reference collections. To borrow, please come to the respective lending desk during regular service hours. The loan period is one week.



Are there any exceptions?

Manuscripts, Nachlasse (literary estates), autographs, old prints, media of particular value, and media published more than 100 years ago unfortunately cannot be borrowed. The same applies to microforms and media whose conservation status is endangered, other special collections and journal volumes.

JGU students with children can also borrow media from reference collections during regular service hours. All you have to do is present us with the child’s birth certificate (original or copy) and your identity card at the respective counter. The prerequisite is that your child is younger than 7 years of age. The loan period is one week.



Are there any exceptions?

Manuscripts, Nachlasse (literary estates), autographs, old prints, media of particular value, and media published more than 100 years ago unfortunately cannot be borrowed. The same applies to microforms and media whose conservation status is endangered, newspapers and special collections.

You can extend the loan periods via your account in the Research Portal (“Checked out items”). To log in you need your JGU account (user name and password).
Alternatively, you can also renew by calling +49 6131 39-22213 or by emailing ausleihe@ub.uni-mainz.de.

The loan period will be extended by four weeks (from the day on which you extend it).

An extension of the loan period is not possible, for example, if

  • a medium has already been extended five times
  • it has been reserved
  • Your Library Account is blocked
  • it was ordered via interlibrary loan and the lending library does not allow an extension of the loan period.

In the research portal, click on “Recall This” for the desired title.

Enter your library card number and password on the following page and confirm the reservation.

As soon as the reserved title becomes available, you will be notified via e-mail, sent to the address linked to your account.

In your account, in the Research Portal (“Checked out items”), you can see when the loan period is up. To log in you need your JGU account (user name and password).

You will receive a reminder email from us three days before the end of the loan period.

Regardless of whether you receive the reminder email, there are fees for late returns.

If possible, please return the books to the library from which you borrowed them so that they are available to everyone again without wasting time due to transportation. Use the self-return machines or self-service terminals available there.

The devices are accessible during general opening hours.
At locations without self-return machines or self-service terminals, for returns followed by a new loan or if you have further questions, please contact the specialist staff at the counter during service hours.

You can also ship back the books to the respective library. We recommend having additional shipping insurance for your package, as you bear the costs and risks of the return transport.

You will receive a return receipt for all returned media. Please also check the bookings in your library account. We can only process complaints upon presentation of the return receipt.

You can easily make any payments to us by bank transfer. Our bank account details are:

UB Mainz
IBAN: DE15 5535 0010 0200 1322 98
BIC: MALADE51WOR
Rheinhessen Sparkasse

Please be sure to enter your library card number and what kind of fees you would like to pay, e.g., late fee (“Säumnisgebühr”), annual fee (“Jahresgebühr”), etc., as Reason for Payment.

Alternatively, you can pay by cash or card at our circulation desks:

  • Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, and Technology Library (card only)
  • Humanities Library (cash or card)
  • Law and Economics Library (card only)
  • Theology Library (card only)
  • Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies Library (cash or card)
  • University Medical Library (cash or card)
  • Central Library (cash or card)

Please report this to the circulation desk immediately, so that there will be no late fees for the book:

  • Mainz Phone: +49 6131 39-22213
  • Germersheim Phone: +49 7274 508-35161

If the book does not turn up, you must cover the cost of the new purchase plus an €11 processing fee.

At the service terminal, select the “Remove Assignment” function, log in with your account, and delete the assignment. You can then assign yourself a new card using the “Assign Card” function.

There can be various reasons for this:

Wrong printer: The wrong printer was selected when you submitted your print job. Please make sure that the printer “\jgu-ps-1.zdv.net\Drucken” is set by default.

Incorrect option selected in system notification: When printing PDFs, a window sometimes opens indicating a possible printing problem. Please select the last option here (“do not make any changes”), so that your print jobs can be started. 

The multifunctional printing and copying devices can also scan.

For book-friendly scanning, book scanners are also available in the Central Library and in the larger Branch Libraries (USB stick required). 

Two copiers are available in room 212. Color copies are possible. You can buy copy cards during the service hours at the information/lending desk.

You can order literature from other libraries that is not available on-site.

If you need a recent title that the UB does not already own, or if there are too few copies of an existing one, please feel free to make a purchase recommendation.

Tip: If you are looking for international doctoral dissertations, we recommend first searching the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database. This is the world’s most extensive collection of doctoral dissertations and theses. Many doctoral dissertations are available as full texts through the university network (via VPN or Remote desktop).

Users from Germersheim or Mainz can order media from the respective other library location for free! For more information: “How do I access media from Mainz in Germersheim?” and “How do I access media from Germersheim in Mainz?”

In addition to a valid library card, you need an interlibrary loan account.
Your interlibrary loan account operates on a credit basis. To set up an account or to deposit credit, please contact a circulation desk at one of the following locations:

Mainz

  • Central Library
  • Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, and Technology Library
  • University Medical Library

Germersheim

  • Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies Library

To facilitate a largely contactless process, please fill out and sign the registration form (PDF) in advance and bring it with you. You can also send a scan of the signed form by e-mail to ausleihe@ub.uni-mainz.de. 

Payment of the interlibrary loan fee can be made on site by cash or card or by bank transfer to the following account:
UB Mainz
Rheinhessen Sparkasse
IBAN: DE15 5535 0010 0200 1322 98
BIC: MALADE51WOR

Please be sure to enter “Interlibrary loan fees” (“Fernleihgebühren”) and your library card number as Reason for Payment.

A processing fee of €2 applies to each title ordered, even if the desired title cannot be delivered. The fee is debited automatically from the interlibrary loan account as soon as the order is sent. In some cases, additional costs may arise.

In the HeBIS Portal, under the menu item “Login” select your home library (“Mainz: University Library”) or “Mainz/Germersheim: Campus Germersheim”) and log in with your library card number and PIN.

Have you forgotten your PIN or would you like to set a new one? You can manage your PIN via your ZDV JGU account. 

If you want to order a book for loan, please search using the details of the book (title, author or ISBN) and click on the “Order” button once you have found the correct result. 

If you would like to order an article from a journal (you will receive a copy you can keep), please search with details of the journal (title of the journal, ISSN), NOT with the title of the article. You enter the details of the item later in the order form.

You can check the processing status of your interlibrary loan orders via your interlibrary loan account.

In the HeBIS portal, select your home library (“Mainz: University Library”) under the “Login” menu item and log in with your library card number and PIN. Go to the “Patron information” menu item at the top and select “Your account in the interlibrary loan system”. Once you have entered your PIN, you will see a list of your interlibrary loan orders, which you can click on individually.

Please note: It can take up to fourteen days from the message “ready for shipment” to the arrival of the delivery. You will receive a pick-up notification. If your status message is negative, you will receive feedback from us.

Mainz: At the selected place of issue (collection shelf of the Central Library as with other orders, circulation desks of the Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, and Technology Library or of the University Medical Library). The ordered volumes will remain ready for you to pick up for two weeks.

Germersheim: Collection shelf of the Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies Library.

The ordered volumes will remain ready for you to pick up for two weeks.

The loan period is usually four weeks.

A renewal is possible, provided the library that supplied the book agrees.

Articles you will normally receive as PDF files, in exceptional cases as paper copies for collection on site.

You can extend the loan periods of interlibrary loans up to two times in the search portal under the menu item “Items on loan”, provided the lending library allows this. You will need your JGU account (user name and password) to do this.

Alternatively, you can also request a renewal by telephone on +49 6131 39-22213 or by e-mail to ausleihe@ub.uni-mainz.de.

The loan period will be extended by four weeks from the day of the extension.

Most titles can be ordered via interlibrary loan.



Exceptions:

  • daily and weekly newspapers as well as general-interest magazines (can be neither copied nor loaned)
  • loose-leaf books (partial copies are possible)
  • Master’s, Bachelor’s, Diploma, Admission, and Examination theses
  • DIN Standards—you can view these at a Standards Infopoint
  • particularly valuable works
  • works of an unusual format
  • works that are available in bookstores at a low price
  • media not available in book form (e.g., slides, records, maps, plans, etc.) if, e.g. due to their nature, they are at risk of being damaged during shipment
  • frequently used media, in particular those in textbook collections, reading rooms and reference libraries
  • e-books

Testing material (psychological or medical tests) can only be ordered by people who can demonstrate a justified scientific interest. Please contact the information desk in the Central Library.

Using the Internal Loan Service, members of the University Medical Center can access articles from medical journals for free.

Your benefits:

  • short delivery time: one week
  • convenient delivery: shipping by internal mail or collection at the University Medical Library

    Note: We are only allowed to provide photocopies of articles.
  • free of charge: Should costs arise because the article is not available through the ILV libraries, we will contact you before we order it.

Order form

The printed copies can be handed in either by post or in person during service hours, at the University Medical Library or via the yellow box at the entrance of the Georg Forster Building library area.  

Mailing address:
Mainz University Library
Central Library
Jakob-Welder-Weg 6
55128 Mainz

Please note that we cannot issue a receipt, but a confirmation note will be sent directly to the respective faculty.

  • save references in a database
  • import data from library catalogs and other databases
  • insert references into word processing programs with one click 
  • automatically create bibliographies
  • Students as well as doctoral and post-doc candidates: adding own summaries, notes, citations, etc. when studying specialist literature, textbooks, etc., managing literature to be used for their academic work
  • Scientists and lecturers: using templates and citation styles for scientific journals, compilation of literature lists for seminars
  • Workgroups: shared access to a data collection

The University Library and the Data Center (Zentrum für Datenverarbeitung, ZDV) make reference management programs available to all JGU members. These can help you keep track of the increasing flood of information and publications.

Currently available at JGU:

Other programs available on the market include:

  • JabRef, Mendeley, Zotero (free software)
  •  BibDesk, Papers (for MacOS only)

These differ in some respects, for example:

  •     Platform (Windows, Mac OS, platform independent)
  •     Client or web-based
  •     Free or fee-based
  •     Range of functions (knowledge organization, ability to work with a team, …)
  •     Language

Citavi offers the usual functions of reference management (collecting, managing, and outputting references).

In addition, there are some special features:

  • Knowledge Organizer (add content to title data using abstracts, citations, tables of contents, …)
  • Task Planner (manage deadlines, such as loan periods)
  • Citavi Picker, an add-on program to add websites, for example
  • English-language interface and support
  • Team version available (multiple people can work on Citavi projects simultaneously in local networks)

The University Library and the Data Center (Zentrum für Datenverarbeitung, ZDV) have entered into a campus license agreement for Citavi for Mainz University. The contract currently runs until the end of 2023 and entitles all of the university’s employees and students to use the software during this time.

You can obtain the software directly from the provider’s website.

This is primarily the free version (Citavi Free), which can be converted into the full version by registering on the www.citavi.com/uni-mainz website. Please note that you must enter your work/student e-mail address

JGU institutions can purchase EndNote at discounted rates through the Data Center (Zentrum für Datenverarbeitung, ZDV).

Mainz University Medical Center has acquired a framework license of the EndNote software for its employees and students. We have compiled detailed information on this.

Anyone can create a web-based EndNote Basic account for free. However, the range of functions is significantly limited compared to the single-user version.

If you have any questions, please contact the University Medical Library via e-mail: bbum@ub.uni-mainz.de 

Current, printed editions are available in:

Mainz

  • Law and Economics Library
  • University Medical Library

Germersheim

  • Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies Library

The newspapers may only be used in the reading rooms.

You can find information about the printed newspaper holdings and electronic editions in the research portal.

The terms of use can be found on the publishers or the database providers’ websites.

In general:

  • Full texts may only be printed or saved for personal and research purposes.
  • Systematic downloading of articles or search results, in particular by robots, is prohibited.
  • You may not pass on articles to third parties, neither electronically nor in printed form.
  • Violations of the respective terms of use may result in providers or publishers blocking access to full texts.

With your university account, you can log into the Wi-Fi on the Mainz and Germersheim campuses (unfortunately, this is not possible for non-university users). You can find instructions on the ZDV website.

As a member of another university participating in the European eduroam network, you can connect to the eduroam Wi-Fi by logging in with your home university’s account.

You are welcome to offer donations that add value to our media collections.

The subject librarian in charge will decide whether your donation is accepted and where the media are placed.

The media must correspond to our acquisition profile, which is primarily oriented at the focuses of research, teaching, and studying at Mainz University. They must also be in good condition.

  • Please contact us in advance via email. We may then ask you to provide a list of the books intended for donation.
  • Duplicates are generally not accepted. Therefore, before handing over the donated media, they should be checked against our library catalog.
  • The donor is responsible for the delivery of the donation. There will be no reimbursement.
  • Unsolicited donations will not be returned.
  • Conditions made for the donation (e.g. special identification, separate or closed location, usage restrictions) cannot in general be accepted.
  • Upon handing over the media, the donor submits a written statement (PDF), through which unrestricted right of disposal of the media is permanently transferred to Mainz University Library. Media that are not incorporated into the collection may be disposed of, given away, used for a book bazaar, sold to secondhand bookshops, or given away to another library.

Acceptance of donations is based on purely objective criteria, irrespective of the person or function of the donor(s).

In duly justified cases, the library’s head will decide on exceptions of the points mentioned above.

The following are allowed:

  • Cold and hot drinks
  • Generally odorless and cold, outside the break rooms only 'noiseless' food.
  • When working with manuscripts, autographs, old prints published before 1850, other special collections, as well as the holdings of the University Archives, drinks and food are prohibited. 

Please be careful with the media in general.

Georg Forster Building Library and Central Library
AMA Lounge between Georg Forster Building Library and Central Library, Group study room 2 on the second floor of the Central Library

Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, and Technology Library
Outside the library: Chemistry foyer (weekdays only), on weekends entrance area in front of the library

Humanities Library
Outside the libraries: Communication corners

Humanities Library, School of Music
Outside the library: Break room on the ground floor, seating on the second floor

Humanities Library, Musicology
Sofa in the entrance area; outside the library: Tables and chairs in front of the library

Law and Economics Library
Learning center; outside the library: ReWi foyer and ReWi cafeteria (during opening hours) 

Theology Library
Outside the library: In the lecture hall area of the Faculty of Theology (Mon. to Fri.) and at the main train station

Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies Library
Outside the library: Cafeteria

University Medical Library
Outside the library: Tables and chairs on the ground floor