This page contains answers to a selection of frequently asked questions.
Jackets and coats can be taken into reading rooms P0 – P3, as can small bags and laptop bags (smaller than A4 format). Please place personal items in the ZB baskets provided on site before taking them into the reading room. Security staff may check the content of laptop bags when you enter and leave. Please deposit larger bags, rucksacks and suitcases in the free lockers in P-1. Note that separate rules apply to the Special Collections.
Wheelchair and pushchair access is available via the side entrance in the library courtyard from Zähringerplatz. There are two parking spaces for people with restricted mobility in the courtyard. Prams and strollers (without children in them) can be parked on the first basement level of the historic building (historic building , A-1) in the pram parking area. Barrier-free toilets and a changing table are also available in P-1 and P2. Here you can find information about accessibility.
Internet workstations from which you can conduct academic research in licensed databases and have unlimited access to e-journals and e-books are located in reading room P0. To have full access to the library catalog, e-resources and the internet, you need a swisscovery account.
Internet access via WLAN is also possible in the reading room:
If you are studying at the University of Zurich or another university you can log on to the internet via SWITCHconnect. Library visitors are recommended to use our “ZB Zuerich (Guest)” Wi-Fi. When you register, you will receive a password that is valid for six months. Please note that you cannot use this connection to access the databases, e-journals and e-books licensed by the Zentralbibliothek and the University of Zurich.
Our digital books are catalogued in swisscovery. They can also be found via the platforms of the e-book publishers. The rules for accessing full-text versions are the same as for databases and e-journals: full-text versions can be accessed from the workspaces in our reading room, but only members of the University of Zurich can access them from home.
Most electronic media are not freely accessible via the internet and therefore cannot be opened outside the library. E-books and digital journal articles can be read, printed out and downloaded to your own USB stick at the Zentralbibliothek’s public workstations. This applies to media where the Zentralbibliothek is listed as the location (UZH-ZB Online). For example, where the location is given as “ETH-Bibliothek Online” (“ETH Library Online”) you can only access the document from the ETH.
If you are not studying at the University of Zurich, you can normally only use our licensed products within the ZB Zürich and the University of Zurich. You can access some items from home using your PURA login.
If you are studying at the University of Zurich you will have a UniAccess account. This will allow you to download the VPN software or configure the proxy server or EZProxy. With a VPN client, proxy server or EZProxy you have external access to the licensed products (specialist databases, electronic journals and books) of the University of Zurich and the Zentralbibliothek Zürich. Information and installation instructions for VPN, proxy and EZProxy on PCs, notebooks and mobile phones can be found on the University of Zurich IT Services website.
You can order copies in various formats from the Zentralbibliothek Zürich’s Digitisation Centre. For details of prices see the current price list.