FAQ: Frequently asked questions
Catalogue and Literature Search
- What can I find in our catalogue?
- How do I search our catalogue?
- Are there tips for searching our catalogue?
- Why can't I find this book or that journal in our catalogue?
- How can I find literature about a specific topic?
- How can I find literature for an academic assignment (bachelor's/master's thesis, doctorate thesis)?
- How can I find journals?
- How can I find electronic full texts?
- How can I find journal articles?
- Why is there no shelf mark in the catalogue?
- How do I get books I haven't found here?
- What kind of special collections do I find at Dortmund University Library?
What can I find in our catalogue?
Our catalogue contains all media of the Central Library and the Departmental Libraries and it records their location.
You can find
- all printed and electronic books (e-books)
- all printed and electronic journals
- digital and analogue media
- links to tables of contents or abstracts of our books
You will not find individual journal or book articles! Please make sure you always search for the title of the journal or of the book.
How can I find journal articles?
27.06.2008
How do I search our catalogue?
How can I find a book I'm looking for?: using our online catalogue (video tutorial)
How do I find the journal article I'm looking for?: using our online catalogue (video tutorial)
Basic search (standard setting)
Enter one or more search terms and click on "Search". If you have entered more than one term, they are combined with a Boolean "and".
You can narrow your search down by selecting one of the options in the categories "Search in branch", "Type of publication", "Type of media", "Language" and "Year of publication".
Detailed search
You can search for specific terms such as the name of a person, key words, subject headings, ISBN, ISSN, shelf mark, etc..
You can also combine different search terms with the Boolean operators "and", "or" and "not".
If you write down more than one search term, they are combined with an "and". Exception: if you search for a publication by the name of a person (author, editor), you can only enter one person's name.
You can save your preferred settings under "Search preferences".
Search terms can be truncated with an asterisk (*), single characters with a question mark (?). For Example: Theolog* / Tos?ana (e.g. Tos?ana --> Toscana, Toskana).
More detailed information can be found under the menu item "Help" in our catalogue.
Hitlist
The results of your query are displayed in a hitlist.
In the left pane, you can sort the results by alphabet (standard setting) or chronologically. Please note that you can only sort results if the hitlist is no longer than 250 items.
Click on a title to see the full display of the item in question.Full display
In the full display, you can see additional information about the selected item, e.g. publisher and ISBN. Under "Holdings", you can find the shelf mark, loan status, and the branch (i.e. where on the campus the item is located) of all copies of the selected item.
13.09.2010
Are there tips for searching our catalogue?
- Using initial capital letters makes no difference to the search.
- It is enough to use few, but significant search terms. Articles (i.e. der, die, das eine, einer, eines) as well as syntactic expletives (e.g. für, zum, und, oder) can be left out.
- Always enter search terms as they appear in the original document. Adjectives for instance must be entered in their inflected form. Example: If you are looking for "Auf dem Weg zum guten Aufsatz", enter the search terms "Weg guten Aufsatz" and not "Weg guter Aufsatz".
- Always search for names in their full form. If a person's first name is abbreviated, leave it out.
- If your search terms generate a lot of hits, you might want to change your query by providing additional keywords, by narrowing down the year of publication, by selecting a library branch, etc.
Truncate if you want to widen your search: If your search term
- begins with a specific (part of a) word: right truncation.
Example: Hund* ---> Hund, Hunde, hundemüde, Hundertwasser. - ends with a specific (part of a) word: left truncation.
Example: *akustik ---> Akustik, Elektroakustik, Fahrzeugakustik. - begins and ends with a specific word or parts of specific words: middle truncation.
Example: Fotogra*ie ---> Fotografie, Fotographie.
Truncation allows you to include different spellings and variants of search terms in your search, e.g. singular and plural form.
The symbol for truncation is the asterisk (*). Single characters can also be truncated by a question mark (?) (e.g. Tos?ana --> Toscana, Toskana).
- begins with a specific (part of a) word: right truncation.
- If an item has a rather unspecific title like "Die deutsche Geschichte", you might want to search in the category "Beginning of title". You may not, however, leave out articles in this category.
More advice can be found in our catalogue under "Quick help" and "Help"..
19.09.2007
Why can't I find this book or that journal in our catalogue?
There are different reasons why you cannot find an item:
- We do not hold the item in question.
- You have misspelled part of the query.
- Your search terms were too unspecific.
What you can do:
- Request that the item be acquired by filling in the Book suggestion form. You will find the link in the top navigation of our catalogue.
- Search with the exact wording.
- Consult the "Help" function or the context-related "Quick help".
- Leave out search terms you are not sure of (difficult names, words with different spellings). This will increase your chances of finding the item.
- Try to truncate! This means that you replace the ending of a word with a * if you do not know the grammatical form of a word.
- Try to check your search terms in a inter-regional database. Use our list of library catalogues in the subject guides.
- If you need help, do not hesitate to ask our staff at the reference desk.
01.04.2008
How can I find literature about a specific topic?
If you are looking for books, journal or book articles about a topic you are currently working on, there are different approaches. Depending on how wide or how specific you want to search, you may either search in our catalogue or in online databases and catalogues. There are different strategies for different purposes.
Before starting your search, you should therefore ask yourself:
Am I looking for locally available books or journals about a topic?
If you want to get a general idea of the literature available at Dortmund University Library about a specific topic, use the basic search function of our catalogue.
You may also want to search for related terms or search individual parts of your search term separately. Truncate search terms with * so that related titles are also covered by your search.
Am I looking for all books and articles about a topic, regardless of their location?
If you want to find all relevant texts about a specific topic, it is important that you consult other library catalogues and databases and search by keywords and subject headings.
Your research will take some time as interlibrary loans may take some weeks to arrive.
Am I looking for texts about my topic, published in:
19.09.2007
How can I find literature for an academic assignment (bachelor's/master's/doctorate thesis)?
If you are looking for literature and/or resources for an important academic assignment, you might want to consult your subject librarian. Your subject librarian can advise you on search strategies for searching subject-specific databases.
The library also offers training for student assistants, students and faculty staff on a regular basis.
16.02.2009
How can I find journals?
Journals held at Dortmund University Library can be found
- in our catalogue. Here you can see if we hold the journal in question and where you can find it (Journal shelf marks). Licensed electronic journals are linked directly from our catalogue to the Electronic journals library (EZB). A tip for your research: If you search a rather general title like "Die Betriebswirtschaft" narrow your search down to journals by selecting the option "Journal, newspaper" under "Types of publication" in our catalogue.
- in the serials database (ZDB). In the serials database, all journals and newspapers held by any German library are recorded. The libraries are sorted by state, so you would find Dortmund University Library under "NRW" and its number, "290".
05.06.2008
How can I find electronic full texts?
Electronic full texts can be found in our catalogue (however, not all electronic full texts are recorded in our catalogue). E-books can also be found on our e-books website, sorted by subjects, or in our eOpac. Full texts of articles published in electronic journals can be found through the electronic journals database (EZB) (you need to search the title of the journal, not the title of the article!)
01.04.2008
How can I find journal articles?
Find articles about a specific topic:
- Search in one of our subject-specific databases if you need articles about a specific topic. The button 'Get It UB Dortmund' will show you whether the article you are looking for is part of the Dortmund University Library collection.
- For further information and advice, consult one of our subject librarians.
Find articles if you have the full bibliographic reference:
- Our print and electronic journals are recorded in our catalogue. In our catalogue, you will find the journal title, not the article itself! To see which volumes of a journal we are holding please look at
- "Our holdings" (for print journals),
- the button "Volltext" (for electronic journals).
- You can also find electronic journals directly: Electronic journals library EZB.
- Tables of contents of selected journals emailed to you free of charge: journals information service (ZID).
10.02.2012
Why is there no shelf mark displayed in the catalogue?
Books recorded in our catalogue are held at either the Central Library or one of the Departmental Libraries. If there is no shelf mark displayed, the work in question might be a multi-volume publication or a serial publication. The individual volumes and their shelf marks will be displayed under "volumes".
01.04.2008
How do I get books I haven't found here?
If you need a book or an article which is not available in Dortmund, you can order it via interlibrary loan:
- Interlibrary loan, books
- Interlibrary article delivery
- How do I place an interlibrary loan? (video tutorial)
Go to FAQ: Interlibrary loan
10.02.2012
Where do I find special collections at Dortmund University Library?
You can find more information and conditions on the special collections web page.
13.07.2010
Further information
- Frequently asked questions about borrowing
- Frequently asked questions about your library card, user ID and password
- Frequently asked questions about your library account, fees and fines
back to FAQ