Engineering and Computer Science Library Biel/Bienne

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.

IEEE Xplore

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

SNV-Connect

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:

• 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.

VSS

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.

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

Download Lean Library

1. leanlibrary.com/download 
2. Install browser extension
3. Select the library: Berner Fachhochschule
4. Begin your search for academic literature. The Lean Library pop-ups lead directly to the full-text.

For best results, always activate the VPN.

Lean Library is available for

• Firefox
• Chrome
• Safari
• Opera
• Microsoft Edge

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 

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
• If you wish to search the swisscovery library system using a specific search term, click on the desired search term with the right mouse button on any website and select "search@BFH".

Highlight and Search

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, please contact your BFH library.

Moodle course on literature researching

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

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 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.

Finding journal article 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.

Literature management

Using literature management programmes, you can 

• enter your literature references,
• organize them,
• import references from swisscovery and specialised catalogues,
• export references in your texts.

In the Moodle course Literature Management, BFH students and employees of the BFH will find instructions and training data about the following management programmes 

• Citavi
• EndNote
• Mendeley
• Zotero