Borrowing items and managing your account

Authorisation for borrowing items and using the document delivery service

Internal
• Faculty and clinic staff
• Faculty students
• Doctoral students (faculty and clinic)
• Visiting scientists and doctors employed here for at least three months
• Faculty and clinic apprentices
• Work placement students/medical clerks employed here for at least three months
• Emeriti

External
• Doctors and scientific staff from practices and hospitals in Mannheim and Ludwigshafen as well as from the Teaching Hospitals of the Medical Faculty of Mannheim
• Other scientists (including students) in the life sciences field* who have their primary residence in Mannheim
• Students at Mannheim University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Mannheim): medical engineering, biotechnology , medical informatics and biological chemistry

Authorisation for (restricted) use of the document delivery service, but not for borrowing items

• Visiting scientists and doctors employed here for less than three months
• Work placement students/medical clerks employed here for less than three months
• Other scientists (including students) in the life sciences field* who do not have their primary residence in Mannheim
• Former students (alumni) of the faculty

* Life sciences: medicine, biology, chemistry, pharmaceutics (and interdisciplinary fields)

To borrow items from the Library's collection, you require a Library card and a four to six-figure alphanumeric password. Please fill in the registration form inside the Library's premises and go to the counter to collect your card.

To change your password, see How can I manage my user account online?.

Note: To register, please bring along your staff ID card or confirmation of enrolment and your national ID card or passport.

Normally you can borrow books, textbooks (only for students of the faculty), theses and CDs/DVDs. Issues of the current volumes and bound journal volumes generelly cannot be borrowed.
See further information on the page Library items.

When you've found the items you want, take them to one of the self-issue machines. After the machine has read your Library card and you have entered your password, you can add books and CD-ROMs/DVDs to your user account and request a receipt showing the return date and short title of the items.

If the title you are looking for is not available at the main Library site, but at an institute, clinic, depot, or is on permanent loan (extended loan period) please order it by clicking on the reservation/order tab in the online catalogue. (Notice for non-students)

If you can collect an order in the freely accessible collection shelf, you will be notified per email automatically. You can borrow this media within 7 days after the notification via a self-issue machine. Please inform us, if don't need the media.

Note: Media from an institute/clinic and permanent loans can be loaned for maximum 4 weeks. The loan period cannot be extended.

Students and doctoral students of the Medical Faculty of Mannheim can borrow wheeled containers for use in the Library rooms.
The containers act as a "mobile desk" for Library items on loan and your own materials.
To borrow and return containers, consult the Library staff at the lending desk; the containers are booked in the borrowing system using the container key and can be borrowed at the following times:

• Monday to Friday 08:00 to 20:00

Notes:

• 15 containers are available
• Containers can be borrowed free of charge
• Containers can be borrowed for four weeks with the possibility of renewal.
• The containers must be returned to where they belong each time after use to keep the passageways in the Library free. The person borrowing the container retains the key. Once the loan period has expired, containers are liable to the usual fines for borrowed items.
• Valuables, food and drinks, or items that have not been borrowed must not be locked inside the containers.
• The wheeled containers terms of use from 23.05.2007 apply.

If you want to reserve an item, click on the tab reservation/order in the detailed display and use the link that is shown there. Enter your user number and password. You then have the option of entering an expiry date (how long you want the reservation to apply for). Once you have made your selection, click on the OK button to receive confirmation.

Please delete any invalid reservations from your user account (Reservations submenu, Cancel reservation).

If you can collect a reservation in the freely accessible collection shelf, you will be notified per email automatically. You can borrow this media within 7 days after the notification via a self-issue machine. Please inform us, if don't need the media.

Note: If you are not a student and you cannot reserve or order an item because there are available copies of an item in the textbook collection, please log on to your user account via the Log on link in the online catalogue.The system recognises that you are not authorised to borrow textbooks and activates the reservation/order function if necessary.

Items can generally be borrowed for 4 weeks. After these four weeks, you may renew the items twice for four weeks (earliest 10 days before the end of the loan period until 1 day before the end) via your user account, providing that the items have not been reserved by another reader. 7 days before the end of the loan period you will get an automatic reminder per email concerning the return or renewal of the items.
If you need items longer than 3 month, you could go to the information desk to return and borrow the items again.

Note: Media from an institute/clinic and permanent loans can be loaned for maximum 4 weeks. The loan period cannot be extended.

To return the items you have borrowed, please use our self-return machine (BookReturn).
Location: foyer of no. 42, between the Library entrance and the lockers on the left-hand side. You can find instructions on how to return items by the machine.

Note: You do not need your Library card to return items.

The Library can be used free of charge. Fines or fees are charged for reminders, replacements, postage and special delivery services, such as interlending and subito.

Note: Fees are also charged if your data is not kept up-to-date, e.g. if your e-mail address is invalid.

You can pay fines and charges at the payment machine.
Please note that if your card is locked because you have owed fees for a long time or owe a large amount of fees, it can only be unlocked on full payment of the outstanding amounts.

You can also pay your fees by bank transfer to the following account:

* the eight-digit user number is printed on the library card.

If you lose or damage an item, you are obliged to compensate for it according to the Terms of use, Section 11.

Note: Please do not purchase replacements for lost or damaged books yourself.

Klick on the link Account in the online catalogue or go to User account on our homepage and log on using your user number and password. On the Account details page you can see the items that you have taken out and the fees or fines that you owe.

Within your user account area, you can renew items and cancel reservations.

On the User details page you can change your email adress. By going to Change password, you can specify a new six or more figure alphanumeric password.
You should inform us of any other changes, such as limited access, adress data and name changes immediately (contact us).