Borrowing + access to online resources
With us you will find literature on
- Agricultural sciences
- Food sciences
- Forest sciences
The HAFL Library is part of the BFH library and a member of the Swiss Library Service Platform SLSP/swisscovery. It is open to the public.
Mon–Fri
9am–5pm
for HAFL members with BFHcard around the clock
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 2023:
Duration: 30 minutes
The short training sessions will take place via MS Teams. Registration is not necessary – one click and you are there!
Information about swisscovery can be found at bfh.ch/slsp
If you have any questions, please contact bibliothek@bfh.ch
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.
As a learning and information center, we offer assistance in searching for, acquiring and processing specialized information. We regularly offer courses for members of BFH.
We also teach scientific methods, information literacy, literature search and reference management on bachelor and on master level.
You can also contact us if you have any questions regarding the reference and information management tool Citavi at BFH: citavi.hafl@bfh.ch.
In swisscovery, the new acquisitions of the HAFL library can be displayed by month.
Example
For October 2022 enter in the search field: NELE71202210
2022 stands for the year, 10 for the month
With us you will find literature on
The physical media are generally freely accessible and can be borrowed (prerequisite: library card). They can be searched via swisscovery.bfh.ch.
Media can be returned via the return box in the lobby of the library.
The electronic media or online resources are accessible to students and employees of the BFH in the BFH network, i.e. in the WLAN bfh or via VPN. For other visitors, they are available at the research stations in the library.
Documents that cannot be ordered via swisscovery (SLSP Courier) can, for example, be ordered via the interlibrary loan service of the ETH-Bibliothek Zurich (service subject to a charge).
The collections of the BFH Library (books and ebooks, periodicals and ejournals, DVDs, etc.; except for the library of the Abegg Foundation) can be searched using swisscovery.bfh.ch.
The library team is happy to receive subject-relevant acquisition suggestions from staff and students: biblio.hafl@bfh.ch
Further journals can be searched via swisscovery.bfh.ch.
Further e-books can be searched via swisscovery.bfh.ch.
More reference works
IEEE standards are international technical standards for electrical engineering, electronics, information and communication technology and computer science.
Successor solution to the e-Norm database. In addition to references, it contains the full texts of all ISO standards as well as current Swiss standards:
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.
Standards of the Swiss association of road and transportation experts.
Students can register free of charge (Mitgliedschaft für Einzelpersonen > Beitrittsgesuch). This gives them access to the complete digital body of VSS standards and publications.
Archive access to over 100 Swiss newspapers. Not (completely) included are Der Bund, Die Berner Zeitung, Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Tagesanzeiger.
Newspapers and magazines worldwide, including several Swiss publications, as well as company information and press photographs. Alerts are not possible.
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.
Contient des publications commerciales régionales des États-Unis.
Swissdox is managed by SMD Schweizer Mediendatenbank. It is a media archive as well as a press database. 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.
The browser extension Lean Library leads you directly to electronic full-text content offered by your BFH library
For best results, always activate the VPN.
Lean Library is available for
For Internet Explorer, only a limited version is available. The download for Internet Explorer requires administrator rights.
Use on mobile devices:
iOS operating system from Apple: Academic Browser
Android from Google: under development
Lean Library enables you to initiate a search on the swisscovery search platform from any website:
If you have any questions, please contact your BFH library.
The Moodle course BFH Literature Search gives BFH students an introduction to researching scientific literature.
Depending on the type of publication, you can choose the appropriate search tool:
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.
Journal articles can be found primarily in bibliographic subject databases. You will often find direct access to full-text PDFs here as well. Depending on the database, the design of the download buttons or links can vary greatly: «Full Text», «PDF», «Read», etc.
Sometimes the DOI or «digital object identifier» directs to the full-text.
Also pay attention to the «search@bfh.ch» button, as this can also direct to full-text.
In some bibliographic databases you will find neither full-text access nor PDFs, only citations for the articles you need. In this case, go to the swisscovery search platform.
Search in swisscovery using the title of the journal instead of the title of the article. Then use «Tweak your results», go to the heading «Resource Type» and choose «Journals».
If the electronic version of the journal is available, you will be directed to the journal full-text by clicking on the “Available Online” link and you can then find and download the article PDF. In some cases, you may need to enter a password again (“Passwords”).
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, i.e. all member libraries (drop-down menu next to the search box). You can often order the journal issue for loan.
Some swisscovery member libraries allow you to order copies or scans for a fee. Alternatively, use the service "Orders for Copies" of the University Library of Bern.
Using literature management programmes, you can
In the Moodle course Literature Management, BFH students and employees of the BFH will find instructions and training information about the following citation management programmes
The HAFL Library is part of the BFH library.