Digital collection
Our digital collection contains e-books, e-journals, e-papers as well as databases and is growing from day to day. You can consult over 101,000 digital journals, around 110,000 digital books and more than 770 databases. Take your time to discover what is available.
Our e-media comprise commercial products that we either purchase for you or make available on a subscription-based licence. At the same time, we are also producing high-quality scans of our older holdings to make them available in digital form.
The e-media we acquire
In partnership with the University of Zurich, we provide you with access to digital formats covering all subjects. The Zentralbibliothek is essentially responsible for the humanities while the University covers STM subjects (science, technology, medicine). Whether you are a freelancer, student, scientist or lay researcher, we hold literature for every need.
E-books
We hold digital books from various publishers in a wide range of languages. As of 2019 we made available the entire digital humanities literature of De Gruyter and Springer. We can also offer you selected modules from other major publishers such as Cambridge University Press, Nomos and Oxford University Press. Catalogue entries for the individual titles are regularly imported into the Rechercheportal. However, you may always directly access the titles you need via the respective publisher’s platform (see the blue field under Search “Database type”: E-book publishers).
E-journals
We offer the most important academic e-journals. In some cases, full-text versions are only available within the UZH network zone. If you are logged into the UZH or ZB network zone, you can access the articles you need. Our holdings also include open-access e-journals for which you do not need to be logged in to the UZH network zone.
E-newspapers
We carry the very latest Swiss and international daily and weekly press. Access is granted via licensed newspaper databases which you can access via the UZH network zone or, in exceptional cases, only within our library. We also hold many newspaper archives as well as free-access newspapers.
Databases
We offer over 750 databases and platforms in our network. These include full-text databases as well as bibliographies covering all subject areas. Please consult the List of databases and e-resources.
Audiovisual media (moving image)
We hold an extensive collection of national and international feature films and documentaries on DVD and Blu-ray, all of which are available for loan. You can also enjoy film adaptations of opera performances on the single-user media station at the Music Department. At this station you can also access the picture and sound archives of the Swiss National Sound Archives, Memoriav and SRG. Alternatively, you can directly access the freely available archives of SRF as well as RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse), RSI (Radiotelevisione Svizzera) and RTR (Radiotelevision Svizra Rumantscha).
We also offer access to various film streaming platforms such as Filmfriend or Kanopy. Documentary film streams for research and teaching are available via platforms such as Academic Video Online or ARTE Campus. Our digital offering is continually being expanded.
e-Thek
e-Thek (Onleihe) is a tailor-made electronic library from the Zentralbibliothek Zürich and the media centres of various secondary and vocational schools in German-speaking Switzerland. It consists of two thirds non-fiction and on third fiction. Besides that, it provides you with popular science e-books, e-magazines, e-papers and e-audios (audiobooks) for online loan. The contents are geared towards upper secondary level II. With OverDrive, a new platform has been added for English fiction. The contents of both platforms can be accessed via browser or via app (Onleihe 3-app and Libby-app).
This electronic library is available to all users of the participating libraries free of charge and around the clock. For access you need to be registered for our free service PURA / SLSKey. Please contact our library staff (kundenservice@zb.uzh.ch) for further information.
On 19 May 2026 the e-Thek switched to Onleihe 3. The new Onleihe 3 app replaces the previous Onleihe app. You can find further information and assistance regarding Onleihe here. The English-language section of the e-Thek, accessed via the OverDrive/Libby app, is not affected by this change.
In August 2026, it was announced that OverDrive would acquire Onleihe and gradually merge the platforms. For the time being, everything remains unchanged for you. We will provide timely updates as soon as concrete information regarding potential changes becomes available.
Our own holdings in digital form
We have already digitised part of our holdings, and the range is being continually expanded. You can regularly search for these items on swisscovery and in ZBcollections. Besides that, the holdings of the Special Collections are made available on the following platforms: