Electronic Resources

Google Scholar is a search engine which can be used to look up references from scientific literature of multiple disciplines.
Its advantages are its large database and an algorithm leading to a useful hit list.

The disadvantages are a poor filtering functionality and a lack of quality assessment regarding the listed items. It is difficult to narrow down search results to a specific academic discipline.

The hit list is generated automatically, using formal criteria only.

The academic search engine Google Scholar presents you articles from e-journals and printed media, both with and without a need to pay for access.
Through the linking service SFX, search results from Google Scholar are linked with licensed electronically available media from the University Library Erlangen-Nürnberg (UB), as well as printed media.

Google Scholar has to be set up and personalized for your use:
Access the subpoint „Settings“ via the menu symbol.
There, click on „Library links“.
Enter „Erlangen“ into the textbox.
Select „Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg SFX@UB_FAU“, then „save“ the selection.

• With articles from journals that the library has a license for, clicking the SFX button leads directly to the full text. This also works from home if you’ve identified yourself as a member of FAU via VPN.
• With books, clicking the SFX button (which can be hard to find at first) will lead directly to the catalogue of the UB.

During your literature research in the catalogue, you’ll find e-books the same you find printed editions. You can recognize e-books by this symbol .
If you would like to look for e-books specificly, select Electronic Resource as publication type from the Additional Search Options at the search mask.
If you are using a computer within the University Network, you’ll find a link to the full text at the book’s detailed viewpage. You can also access the ebook by clicking on the “Full Text”-button both at the catalogue’s result viewpage and on the medium‘s detail viewpage.

Further information regarding e-books can be found on the following page: https://ub.fau.de/en/searching/e-books/

Usually, the catalogue presents you links leading directly to the webpages of the books‘ publishers. If you as user are allowed to view the text, is determined through your IP address. This means you have to be within the University Network to access e-books.
As a member of Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), you can do so using a VPN client. After logging onto the VPN you can access the full text by clicking the link from the catalogue.

Alternatively, you can use the Database Information System (DBIS) to look for e-books. At DIBS, you can access e-books from outside the University Network by clicking the link written next to Weitere lizensierte Zugänge (Other licensed access). Log in using your UB-ID or library card number and your password.

In case you have downloaded a pdf document, but it did not open, then it may be a problem concerning the PDF reader of your browser (assumedly Firefox).
Please check the subpoint Applications in the Settings to see what Firefox usually does with a portable document file when it gets one. Set the setting to Use Adobe Reader.

• Have you entered everything correctly? Please check if you maybe have pressed capslock by accident.
• Have you recently requested a new password for the catalogue?
  If that is the case, you first have to log into the catalogue using your new password, before you can use it for external access to databases.
• Is your FAUcard, respectively your library card, still valid?
  Please mind the FAQ regarding the validity.
• Have you set a more-than-12-digit password by chance?
  The catalogue password needs to consist at least 8, and at most 12 characters.
  At login to the catalogue, you cannot enter a password with more than 12 characters. Entering more than this will result in the extra characters not being recognized. The external login screen, however, allows for more than 12 characters at login.
  If your passwort logging onto the server consists of 14 signs, it gets into conflict with the catalogue’s demand of an maximal 12 character long password, and will thus be declined.

Databases offer the possibility to look for information independently of the stack available at the University Library of Erlangen-Nürnberg (UB).
Depending on the database, you will find books, articles, and essays on different fields of study, when indicated also with access to the electronic full text.
If you look for books or journals available at the UB, it is best to use the catalogue.
If you look for literature concerning a certain topic independently of its availablity at a library, use a database.

Different kinds of access are indicating which database is to what degree available.
Every database has a corresponding symbol indicating to what degree access is possible, all depending on the specific license the University Library has acquired.
At the hitlist and the detailed viewpage, a click on the „+“ next to the symbol will show you further information (Java Script needs to be enabled).

Often, e-books can be saved and printed for personal use, teaching and researching.
Some publishers, however, may not permit this. Some allow to download a certain amount of pages, some allow to download a chapter, and some allow downloading the whole document.
Please take care to mind the publisher’s Terms of Usage and Copyright!

Distributing e-books to a third person, both electronically and in printed form, is prohibited.
Downloading complete e-books or large parts of them systematically, particularly through the use of bots, is also prohibited.

Detailed information on e-books can be found in this overview.

The possibilities of further processing the results of your research depend on where you want to continue your literature research:

• Using the library catalogue:
  Every hit from the list can be stored in a list by clicking Save in list you can see if you access the detail viewpage of a medium. You can print out this list, send it via e-mail, or save it as a list of interest with an individual file title to your account – after logging in.
  Items from the Primo Discovery can only to saved to a Temporary List.
• Using a database:
  Many databases offer the function to save research results, send them by e-mail, or save them to an account. Please follow the guidelines of the specific database for further information.
• Using CD-ROM databases:
  You can save results of your research, print them out, or have them sent to you via e-mail. A manual on how to export data from the CD-ROM server can be found here in German: https://ub.fau.de/wp-content/uploads/anleitungen/prometheus.pdf

Printing out the results of your research may not be possible at every location in the library.

• In the catalogue, you will find articles from many electronic ressources licensed by the library, as well as others. Access the tab Primo Discovery after having entered search terms into the catalogue.
• If you are looking for articles on a specific topic, we recommend to first start looking in databases and bibliographies.
  In case you have not researched in a database that provides full texts, you can look afterwards if a paper of a certain journal is available at the catalogue, or at the Electronic Journals Library (EZB). If the University Library (UB) owns a license to the respective journal, you should be able to access it from there.
• Are you looking for a certain paper from a certain journal and want to know if it is available at the UB?
  Start by looking at the catalogue or at the Electronic Journals Library (EZB) using the title of the journal to see if the UB owns the volume in question or has it licensed.

see What are my User ID and my password?

Using the following link: Databases – Database Information System (DBIS)
There you can find all the databases with descriptions, annotations for using and how to access them.

Often, databases do not provide full texts to read. Therefore, look for the respective medium in our catalogue afterwards or in the Electronic Journal Library (EZB).
Many databases are directly connected to the catalogue through the SFX button.

Please write an inquiry via “Ask a librarian“, in case you find such a medium.

E-journals are listed in the catalogue of the University Library (UB) and the Electronic Journal Library (EZB).

Researching the catalogue has the advantage of possibly also finding printed editions available at the UB as well. Only fully available e-journals at the UB are listed in the catalogue, the EZB also lists journals that are only partly accessable or not accessable. Oftentimes, you then can find a table of contents or an abstract.
Please keep in mind that in the catalogue, there are more than one URL listed. For ease of use, simply click on the button Volltext to access a journal.

The Electronic Journal Library (EZB) offers quick, structured and uniform access to scientific full text journals. To what degree you have access to the journals is marked through a system of traffic light symbols.
Titles the UB has a license for are marked yellow. Please also consult the respective readme in such a case. It will inform you how to access the electronic full texts.
Licensed journals are mostly only available within the network of the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg.

If you have questions or problems accessing a specific journal, ask a librarian.