HAFL Library

E-Learning "The basics of national and international standardization"

Free access – Using a case study, this course covers what standards are, what added value standards create, how standards are established and how to be involved, and which are the main national and international standards organizations. Duration approx. 30 minutes.

ETSI

Free access – Standards in the field of telecommunications, broadcasting and other electronic communications networks and services developed by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), a European standardisation organisation. ETSI standards can be downloaded free of charge in PDF format.

IEEE Xplore

IEEE standards are international technical standards for electrical engineering, electronics, information and communication technology and computer science.

SNV-Connect

In addition to references, it contains the full texts of all ISO standards as well as current Swiss standards:

• SWISSMEM
• Electrosuisse
• INB Interdisciplinary standards section (SNV)
• SIA

The full texts can be saved and printed as PDF. They may not be passed on to third parties. Log in with your SWITCH edu-ID.

SNV-Connect also offers the Standards compendium 2022 (read only).

VSS Standards

Standards of the Swiss association of road and transportation experts.

Students can register free of charge. This gives them access to the complete digital body of VSS standards and publications.

e-newspaperarchives.ch

Free access – e-newspaperarchives.ch provides access to titles digitized by the Swiss National Library and its cantonal Partners.

Factiva

A database for press, corporate and business information offered by Dow Jones. It contains up-to-date sources from 200 countries in 32 languages, including newspapers, news agencies, industry publications, websites, company reports in full text.

Orbis

Orbis contains comprehensive information on companies worldwide. Use it to research individual companies, search for companies by profile and analyse companies. Also contains market research reports from Marketline.

Searching in Orbis is generally possible without a login. With the BFH login, you can create a personal user account if required and save search and filter settings, for example.

Regional Business News

Contains regional business publications from the United States and Canada.

Swissdox

Swissdox contains Swiss daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and journals, press agencies, online media as well as newspapers that are no longer published from 1780 until today.

Swissdox is updated daily. You can display all articles from a current newspaper edition by

• leaving the search field for search terms empty
• selecting "Today" in the next field using the drop-down menu or entering the exact date of the desired day, e.g. 2022-09-08 to 2022-09-08
• "Select newspaper"
• clicking on the red "Search" button.

Search platform swisscovery short course

swisscovery is the national search platform of academic libraries in Switzerland.

In our short course you will learn ...

• ... how to use swisscovery efficiently
• ... how to borrow books and how to download e-books.

Dates

• Thursday, 22 January 2026, 4.30 pm (German) (cancelled due to illness)
• Tuesday, 3 February 2026, 12 noon (French)
• Tuesday, 24 February 2026, 12 noon (German)
• Monday, 23 March 2026, 4:30 p.m. (German)
• Tuesday, 31 March 2026, 12 noon (French)
• Tuesday, 28 April 2026, 12 noon (German)
• Friday, 8 May 2026, 12 noon (French)
• Friday, 29 May 2026, 12 noon (German)
• Tuesday, 30 June 2026, 12 noon (German)

Info on the short courses

• Duration: 30 minutes
• Registration: not necessary
• The short training sessions will take place via MS Teams. 

Information about swisscovery can be found at bfh.ch/slsp
If you have any questions, please contact bibliothek@bfh.ch

Contact us if you would like to have a short course on a different date or in English.

Note on data protection

You can participate in the training, which takes place virtually via MS Teams, using the link above. Only your dial-in and registration data will be transmitted via MS Teams. Sound and image data will only be processed if you allow this in your settings (microphone, camera). The Bern University of Applied Sciences does not store any personal data that can be seen from the event; in particular, no recording is made. In addition, the BFH has chosen MS Teams, a program for which compliance with the standards required by data protection law is assured. The responsibility for the operation of the software lies with the provider. Details on the processing of personal data can be found in the provider's data protection information. By participating, you consent to the processing of your personal data.

The browser extension Lean Library leads you directly to electronic full-text content offered by your BFH library.

Download Lean Library

1. Open leanlibrary.com/products/lean-library-extension 
2. Install browser extension
3. In the settings select the library: Berner Fachhochschule
4. Begin your search for scientific literature (activate the VPN!). The Lean Library pop-ups lead directly to the full-text.

For best results, always activate the VPN.

Try Lean Library after download 

• If the article you are looking for can be found on different platforms, Lean Library will take you to where you have direct access. >> test link
• If the e-book you are looking for is offered by the BFH libraries, Lean Library will take you directly to the free download. >> test link
• If you need a password to access a source, Lean Library will inform you accordingly. >> test link

Search directly in swisscovery with Lean Library

Lean Library enables you to initiate a search on the swisscovery search platform from any website:

• highlight one or more terms 
• right-click with your mouse
• choose “Search@BFH” in the drop-down menu
• proceed to search in swisscovery

If you have any questions, contact us: bibliothek@bfh.ch

The Moodle course BFH Literature Search gives BFH students an introduction to researching scientific literature.

• Why Google is not enough
• From the research question to the search terms
• Scientific literature and its differences
• Tips for the search
• etc. 

You can decide based on various criteria whether or not you should use a resource when preparing your research paper. The following checklist provides a basis for decision making:

Depending on the type of publication, you can choose the appropriate search tool:

• You will find books and e-books using swisscovery. For e-books the section “Consult online” directs you to the full-text. The design of the button or link for downloading can vary greatly: “Full-text”, “PDF”, “Read”, etc.
• You can find periodical articles using specialized subject databases.
  The periodicals themselves can be accessed via swisscovery if the database does not include the full-text (see the paragraph “Finding periodical articles”)
• The library also provides search tools for norms, images, statistics, newspapers, etc.

Always look for the “search@BFH” button. It often leads directly to the text you are searching for.

Install LeanLibrary, a browser extension, to support your research.

Activate your BFH VPN, even when using Google or Google scholar, for ex., as this can in some cases lead directly to the full-text.

Searching in Subject Databases

Journal articles can be found primarily in subject databases. Many databases contain only bibliographic references (index information about literature) and abstracts, but not the complete text of an article (full-text).

Look within the bibliographic reference entries for download links with labels such as "Full Text", "PDF", "Read", etc. Sometimes the DOI (digital object identifier), the Lean Library box or the “search@bfh.ch” directs to the full-text.

Searching in swisscovery

If none of these routes direct you to the full-text, try using the swisscovery search platform.

Search in swisscovery using the title of the journal instead of the title of the article. Use the "Advanced Search", go to the heading "Resource Type", select "Journals" and stay in the "BFH" search profile.

If the electronic version of the journal is available, you will be directed to the journal full-text by clicking on the “View Online” link and you can then find and download the article PDF. In some cases, you may need to enter an additional password (BFH internal).

If the journal is only available in print, you can copy or scan the article at the library where it is located.

If the BFH Library does not have the journal you need in its collections, broaden your search to include all of swisscovery. You can then visit the library that holds the journal and download the article you want there. Please note: You do not have remote access to online resources held by libraries at universities other than the BFH.

Some swisscovery member libraries allow you to order copies or scans for a fee. Alternatively, use the service Orders for Copies at the University of Bern Library.

The many AI tools have a variety of different functions and therefore offer various possible ways of supporting an efficient search for literature. 

Learn in 90 minutes how you can employ AI in the context of literature research. 

The training course takes place via MS Teams. You can register via Moodle. You will receive an e-mail ahead of time, with instructions and the MS Teams link for participation. 

Training course dates

• Monday, 20 april 2026, 3pm - 4.30pm (German)
• Friday, 19 june 2026, 8.30am - 10am (German)

None of our training dates fit your schedule? Or would you like to explore a topic from the training in more depth? In our Moodle course, you will find background information and assistance on literature research with AI.

Zotero is a reference management programme for collecting, managing and citing a wide variety of sources. With Zotero, you can import citations from swisscovery and subject databases, create and manage citation lists, and export them into text documents, for example in Word.

Discover in 90 minutes how to make optimum use of Zotero. The training course is provided online via MS Teams. Registration is via Moodle. Shortly before the course you will receive an e-mail with instructions and the MS Teams link for participation.

Dates

• Monday, 24 August 2026. 4.30pm - 6pm (German)

• Monday, 28 September 2026. 4.30pm - 6pm  (German)
• Mittwoch, 21. Oktober 2026. 8.30am - 10am (German)
• Friday, 13 November 2026. 1.00pm - 2.30pm (German) 
• Wednesday, 16 December 2026. 8.30am - 10am (German)
• Wednesday, 20 January 2027. 8.30am - 10am (German) 
• Monday, 22 February 2027. 4.30pm - 6pm (German) 
• Friday, 19 March 2027. 1.00pm - 2.30pm (German) 
• Monday, 19 April 2027. 4.30pm - 6pm (German)
• Wednesday, 26 May 2027. 8.30am - 10am (German) 
• Friday 11 June 2027. 1pm - 2.30pm (German)

Moodle course on Zotero

None of our training dates fit your schedule? Or would you like to get started with literature management without a training course? In our Moodle course, you will find instructions (videos, etc.) and help, e.g. for migrating your literature collections from Citavi to Zotero.

Writing is not a question of talent. Writing is a question of practice. Especially when it comes to writing scientific texts.

In the Moodle course "Schreiben – écrire – writing" you can find instruction in the art of academic writing and helpful suggestions for getting started with the writing process.