Circulation
The activated FAUcard functions as library card for students, researchers and employees of Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) and members of the Graduate Centre. Activation can be done through the IdM homepage. A manual on how to activate the library function of the FAUcard can be found on this page.
If you are a member of the research staff of FAU, but have not received a FAUcard yet, the reason may lie in not having in a regular employment at FAU. In such cases, you can still obtain a library card for external users.
Members of the public (age 16 and older) need a library card of the University Library of Erlangen-Nürnberg (UB) for borrowing books. The fee for issuing is 5,00€. A 5€ note is required for payment.
Members of the University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg can use their OHMcard to register as a user of the university library. A PDF ID card with barcode issued by the University of Applied Sciences is not accepted at the UB; you must obtain an additional library card from the UB against payment.
The library card can be issued at the following locations of the University Library.
- Main Library Erlangen,
Schuhstraße 1a, 91052 Erlangen - Science and Technology Branch Library,
Erwin-Rommel-Straße 60, 91058 Erlangen - Economic and Social Sciences Branch Library
Lange Gasse 20, 90403 Nürnberg - Educational Science Branch Library
Regensburger Straße 160, 90478 Nürnberg
For issuing, an identity card or a passport is required.
For library users who are under 18 years of age, a parent or guardian must complete and sign the consent form.
By registering as a library user, you accept the General Regulations on the Use of Bavarian Public Libraries (ABOB).
If you are a citizen of a non-EU country, your passport with a residence authorization that is still valid for at least 3 months is required. Alternatively, a residence titel can be provided.
Your FAUcard comes with an UB-ID (University Library User ID).
To use it for borrowing books at the library, you have to accept the „General Regulations on the Use of Bavarian Public Libraries“ (ABOB) online.
For this, you have to do the following:
- Log on to the IdM Portal.
- In the upper menu bar, click Requests/Tasks
- Confirm Library card activation and follow further instructions.
- Accept the Terms and Conditions of Use to activate your card.
Please confirm afterwards if the activation was successful:
- Click on Self Service in the upper menu bar.
- Scroll down to the section Services to see if University Library has active written next to it.
If this is the case, your FAUcard has been activated successfully.
If not, please see if you have actually completed the activation process successfully (see above).
It takes a few minutes for the card to activate.
Please bear in mind that your FAUcard can only be used for borrowing starting the day after activation (in certain cases, 2 days after).
FAU-Students
Your FAUcard stays with you during the whole course of your studies.
Its validity period is printed onto it a.d. after re-registering for the next semester, can be renewed every semester at validation machines.
After exmatriculation, your FAUcard expires.
If you wish to continue using the services of the University Library, please contact our staff at the Information Desks.
Researchers and employees of the FAU
How long your FAUcard is valid, depends on your employment status:
- If you are a fixed-term employee, your FAUcard will be valid until your contract is terminated.
- Regular employees usually receive a FAUcard without time limit. The validity period printed on the card, however, is set to a five-year period.
This period can be renewed at a validation machine anytime if the employment is still ongoing.
After your contract has been terminated, your FAUcard will also expire. If you wish to continue using the services of the University Library, please contact our staff at the Information Desks.
External users
Your library card is valid for a year. You can prolong the validation period once every year for another year.
If you have not made any use of the library’s services for at least two years, your personal data will be automatically deleted.
The library card number is an 11-digit number. You will find the library card number on your FAUcard or your library card starting with 028 … or 056 … (for library users who have registered with their OHMcard).
The password is preset to the day, month and year of your birthday, for example 17051982, which is an identification feature to protect your personal data from unauthorized access.
Please change this password in the catalogue via the function Account / Renewal – Personal Data – Change Password to a personal password. The new password needs to consist of at least 8 and at most 12 characters. . You can use letters, numbers and special characters – with the exception of backslash \ and asterisk = star *. Please note that the password is case-sensitive.
We recommend that you change your password regularly.
If you have forgotten your password, you can request a new one. To do so, click the Forgot Password? button when logging onto your catalogue account.
Afterwards, you are going to receive a new one via e-mail.
Students of the Friedrich-Alexander-University: please bear in mind that the address used for e-mail exchange is by default your FAU student e-mail address. If you wish to have your e-mail sent to another private e-mail address, please add the new one to your user data in the catalogue.
Media available for loan at the Main Library (HB), the Science and Technology Branch Library (TNZB), the Economic and Social Sciences Branch Library (WSZB), and the Educational Science Branch Library (EZB) usually have a lending period of four weeks. Please note that certain types of media (for example periodical volumes, reading room only media) or media already reserved by multiple people have shorter lending periods.
Lending periods for media from Departmental Libraries (shelfmarks ranging from 01 to 18, and 98SP) may be limited, sometimes borrowing is even not possible.
Further information on specific conditions of borrowing can be found for each medium in particular in the catalogue under Location guide.
A maximum of 100 items can be borrowed at the same time.
You can check your borrowed media, your orders, and your reservations anytime through your personal account. Please click on Account/Renewal in the catalogue after logging in. Alternatively, the button Library Account on the home page will lead you directly to the login page of your account.
The submenus Loans, Requests, Reservations, Fines, FAUdok and ILL: copies, e-books will tell you about the current state of your account.
Please click on the pictures below to enlarge them.
- Personal Login to the catalogue
- Personal Login to the catalogue via the button on the homepage.
Log in via the Account/Renewal tab within the catalogue with your UB-ID number and password. The account balance shows all borrowed media. You now have the possibility to extend the loan period of individual items or to renew the entire account. Please note that you can only renew media ten working days before the loan period ends.
Reserved items and items that have already been renewed six times cannot be renewed. Subsequent renewals are also not possible.We will send you an information e-mail before the deadline to remind you to return your media in time. Nevertheless, please check your personal account on a regular basis. There, you will find the current, binding lending periods of your media.
For students only: Please bear in mind that the e-mail address used for e-mail exchange is by default your FAU student e-mail address. If you wish to have your e-mail sent to another private e-mail address, please add the new one to your User Data in the catalogue.
Charge Collection Procedure
In case you’ve forgotten to return your media in time, we are obligated to charge you. The amount of the charges is according to the Bavarian Cost Law. After receiving the warning letter, please immediately return the requested media.
Otherwise, you risk additional, incremental charges.
Please pay outstanding fees at a payment terminal with your FAUcard, your OHMcard, your library card, or a guest card of the Studentenwerk.
Reclaim Procedure
Regarding members of the research staff, a reclaim procedure will be initiated after expiration of the deadline. If you fail to return media, you are liable to pay for the new literature that will be bought as substitute.
If you need literature that has been borrowed by another user, it is generally possible to reserve the respective medium through the catalogue.
- Select the location where you want to pick up the medium first.
- Search the catalogue for your desired medium.
- Click on the medium. By doing so, you also receive an overview of potentially available duplicates.
- Click on status; the medium will be reserved after you’ve entered your UB ID and your password.
- If there is more than one copy available, you will receive the one which is available first.
- If after a year, you still have not received the desired medium, your reservation will be deleted automatically – if you do not wish a deletion, you can enter a different deletion date manually via the calender.
After you reserved a medium, it is no longer possible for the current borrower to prolong the lending period of the medium. Please note that the return data for the medium is estimated and thus not final. The eventual availability of the medium depends on the timely return of the medium and other reservations.
An overview of your currently reserved media can be viewed online via your library account. Check Reservations to check the current status of your reserved books.
We will inform you through e-mail or in written form when the reservation is ready for you to pick up.
Notice for students: please bear in mind that the e-mail address used for e-mail exchange is by default your FAU student e-mail address. If you wish to have your e-mail sent to another private e-mail address, please add the new one to your user data in the catalogue.
While accessing the catalogue, you have to choose the location where you would like to pick up ordered media. After researching the literature, you can select your favoured medium by clicking on it. Under the sub-point Copies, you then click on for order. Enter your login data. After selecting the point of delivery (for example Reading Room or Service Counter), the catalogue will show you when the medium will be ready for your picking it up.
Your orders (both regular and interlibrary loans) will lay ready to be picked up at your chosen point of delivery for one week.
In case of losing or damaging a borrowed book (or parts of it), you are obliged to pay a compensation. In this case, please report to the location you have borrowed the book from. The staff there will decide if and how you have to provide compensation.
By doing that, you save yourself from the trouble of a charge collection procedure and possibly a suspension of your library account.
All members of FAU have to report a change of address themselves via the IdM homepage and there assign one address to the University Library.
Please bear in mind that the e-mail address used for e-mail exchange is by default your FAU e-mail address. If you wish to have your e-mail sent to another, private e-mail address, please add the new one to your User Data in the catalogue.
If you are an external user or do not own a FAUcard, please inform our staff immediately about a change of address. To do so, please contact our staff at the Information Desks or send us a message via an online inquiry.
In case you have lost your FAUcard, you can lock it online via the IdM homepage (or unlock it again if needed). Issuing of substitute cards is done by the FAUcard Service Counter. To issue a new card, please first request a substitute online via the IdM homepage.
Other library users have to notify a loss immediately at a information desk, so abuse by third persons can be prevented. After finding your library card again, we will gladly unlock your library account again.
For a fee of 5,00 €, we will also issue a new library card for you if needed.
For locking and unlocking the payment function of the FAUcard, an additional e-mail containing the FPM-ID of your FAUcard has to be provided to info@werkswelt.de. To be able to do so, we recommend making a note or a photo of the FPM number, which is located on the backside of the card, after issuing.
It is possible to return borrowed media by snail mail under special conditions:
- Please announce the return via snail mail calling in the libray location where you borrowed the media (for telephone numbers and addresses see Locations).
- Send the media to the branch library or departmental library where you borrowed them.
- Pack the media in such a way that they do not suffer any damage, as you are liable for any damage or loss.
- Enclose an informal letter with your name, your library card number (or UB-ID) and the clearly visible keyword “book return”.
- Add the department “Lending” to the addressee’s name.
- We recommend that you return the book by parcel, so that the shipment is insured and can be tracked.
- Please allow sufficient time for postal dispatch to avoid exceeding the loan period. Postal dispatch has no suspensive effect with regard to reminders with costs. The time of return is the arrival of the parcel at the respective loan desk.
- Please check your library account in the catalogue whether the return was successful.