Important Information regarding Borrowing

The user card, for students of the OvGU, is the same as the student card (UniCard) or, for all other users, is handed out to you when you register.

You will find your user number on the back of the card next to the barcode.

A password is generated automatically during registration from your birth date in the 6-digit form DDMMYY. Attention!!! For security reasons, you should change this password as soon as possible. You can do this under the corresponding option in your user account.

You will need your user number and password for important functions such as ordering and reservation of media, but also for online access to your user account and for using electronic resources outside the campus network (external use).

If you lose your user card, you should report this immediately to the circulation desk. This way your user account can be protected against misuse. 

You can borrow items from the library's holdings at the circulation desk or at the self-check-out counters next to the exit.

Circulation Desk

Upon presentation of your user ID, books and media from the open stacks area can be borrowed, reservations can be made, and stack-room or interlibrary loan orders are handed out.

Self-Check-Out Counters

SelbstverbucherYou can borrow books contact-free from the open stacks area at the self-checkout counter.

Please follow the instructions that appear on the monitor.

Please note that books with electronic data carriers (DVD, CD-ROM, floppy disk, etc.) can only be borrowed at the circulation desk (if desired).

The loan period is 28 calendar days. If there is no reservation for the loan, up to five renewals can be made.

In the case of interlibrary loans, the lending library determines the loan period, which cannot be renewed. 

Renewing your membership

Your membership is limited to one year and must be renewed annually. The renewal is free-of-charge and can be done in person at the circulation desk or by e-mail to ausleihe@ovgu.de. A prerequisite for renewal by non-personal means is valid proof of OVGU membership. For students, for example, a picture of the student ID or a scan of the certificate of enrolment can be sent by e-mail. Additionally, please provide us with your current address(es), telephone number and e-mail address. 

When your membership is expired no loans, renewals, orders or reservations can be made. It is also not possible to use electronic resources outside the campus network (external use).

Renewing your loans

Loans can be renewed up to five times, if they have not been reserved by another user. When the maximum of renewals is reached, the corresponding media must be presented at the circulation desk.  If the loan period has expired, a renewal is not possible.

The following options are available for renewals:

  • Online renewal using your user account
  • Renewal at the circulation desk during service hours (presentation of user ID is necessary).
  • Renewal by telephone: during service hours by calling +49 391 67-52925. Your user number is required for this. 

Please note: books from the Medical Central Library (MZB) can only be renewed there. 

You can access your user account via the quick access on the landing page. After entering your user number and password, click on the "send" button. In your account, there are five tabs in the upper blue area:   

Data:

After opening your user account, you will always see your personal data as well as the validity of your membership and when it ends.
If your membership has expired, it can be renewed. Until then, however, no functions can be executed in the user account!

Loans:

You will see a list of all items you have currently ordered or borrowed. To the right of each title, you can see the loan period, the number of renewals and the number of reservations.
Here you can renew the loan period if the items have not been reserved by another user. Reserved items cannot be marked, since renewal is not possible. Click the check box in front of the desired item(s) or click on the checked box in the table header. Now click on the grey button labelled "renew". All selected items will be given a new loan period.

The loan period can be extended a maximum of 5 times. Before the loan period of the last extension ends, you have to present all corresponding loans at the circulation desk of the library.

Reservations:

Here you can see the list of items that you have reserved.

Costs:

Here you will find a list of open fees that are debited from your account due to postal notifications (postage) or loan period overruns (reminder fees) and have not yet been paid.

Password:

Here you can change your password. It can consist of a maximum of 8 characters. Permitted characters are: 0-9, a-z, A-Z.

For the media you borrowed, you will be reminded by e-mail two days before the corresponding loan period expires.

This reminder e-mail is a service provided by the library from which no legal claim can be made. If you do not receive such a reminder e-mail for various reasons, you are still obliged to return or renew the loan in due time. Exceeding the return date will lead to the issue of a reminder fee.

For reserved media you will also receive an e-mail notification when the media is available for you and can be picked up at the circulation desk. 

In case the loan period is exceeded, a first reminder will be sent by e-mail (if it is entered in the user account), setting a deadline.

If this reminder is not followed in due time, a second reminder will be sent. If this reminder is also not successful, a third reminder is sent by post.
In that case, the user account will be completely blocked and your presence at the circulation desk is necessary.

Reminder fees per item:                     

1st reminder                2.00 EUR

2nd reminder               5.00 EUR

3rd reminder              10.00 EUR

These fees will be added, so in case of, for instance, a 3rd reminer, you will have to pay 17 EUR in total.

Payment

You can pay fees of all kind at the circulation desk during service hours. Card payment is possible Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m. from a minimum amount of 5.00 EUR.

If the media is not returned in a period of 14 days after the 3rd reminder, the library can have the media picked up, replace it, or use other adminstrative means at your costs.

If you no longer have the books listed in your account or reminders, please inform the circulation desk of our library immediately so that you avoid unnecessary costs through further reminders or compulsory measures.

However, you will have to pay a replacement according to the regulations for use. Furthermore, for each lost an initial fee of 20.00 EUR and, in case replacement by the library is possible, an additional fee of 7.50 EUR are issued to your account.

If all the copies of a title are already on loan, you can reserve them.

How do I know that all copies of a title are borrowed?

In the OPAC the loan status is "borrowed" and next to it there is a blue button "Reserve".

How does the reservation process work?

  1. Press the blue "Reserve" button.
  2. Enter your library user number (3100...) and password in the fields displayed and confirm by clicking on the "Send" button. The meta data of the selected copy will appear with the loan date and any existing reservations.
  3. Confirm by clicking on the button "Reserve" on the right side of the screen.
  4. Quittieren Sie nochmals mit Benutzernummer und Passwort und betätigen Sie mit dem Button "Vormerken".
  5. The confirmation of the reservation appears. The process is finished.

You will find an overview of all your reserved titles in your user data under the tab "Reservations".

By when will the reserved books be available?

You will receive an e-mail as soon as the reserved book arrives. The reserved books are available for collection at the circulation desk for a maximum of 10 days.

Last Modification: 31.03.2023 - Contact Person: Webmaster