FAQ

Students of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences are automatically activated for library use after enrolment and mailing of the CampusCard. The CampusCard is also the library card. The user number for the library can be found on the back of the CampusCard under the barcode. The right to use the library always runs for one year and should be renewed in good time. To renew your CampusCard, please come to the service counter in one of our libraries.

Employees of the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences should have their CampusCard and ID ready; the CampusCard will also be activated as the library card free-of-charge.

Even external visitors have the opportunity to apply for permission upon presentation of their identity card. The prerequisite is a registered residence in Germany. The card costs a one-time fee of €5.00; this fee is to be paid without cash using an EC debit card.

By entering the library, you acknowledge the Terms of Use Regulations (document only available in German). All usage charges can be obtained from the fee schedule (document only available in German).

In your library account you will find a list of the titles you have borrowed or reserved, as well as information on any charges incurred. You can access it via our website under My Library Account.

Login data:

Number = ID card number (see below)

Password = your date of birth, 6 digits (DDMMYY).

You will receive the following information:

Details

Under the menu item "Details" you will find information about yourself, e.g. address data as well as information about the validity of your library card.

Loans (here also extension of loan periods)

Here you get a list of your borrowed media with the corresponding loan period end date. At this point you can extend the loan periods: Mark the desired titles and confirm with the button "Extend". There is also an option to filter by renewable and non-renewable media.

In the following cases, the loan period cannot be extended:

• for media that have already been reserved
• for media whose loan period has already been extended 12 times
• if a medium borrowed by you has already been reminded in the 3rd reminder level
• if you have reached a fee amount of € 20,- in your receivables account.
• if the user authorization has expired

Reservations

Under the menu item "Reservations" you can see the media you have reserved.

Costs

Here you will find an overview of fees incurred. Please pay the fees cashless (with a loaded CampusCard or EC card) at one of our cash machines or transfer the amount to the university's account. You can find more information here.

For legal reasons, the university library is obliged to keep personal data up to date or to delete it when it is no longer required. The validity of the library card is therefore checked annually.
 

The authorisation to use the library is valid for one year and can be renewed free of charge for a further year at the service counters upon presentation of the CampusCard or the library card. Any outstanding overdue fines must be paid before renewal.

If you lose the CampusCard, it is important to immediately report the loss to the university via the ServiceDesk servicedesk@hs-osnabrueck.de and cancel the card. There you will also learn how to get a new CampusCard. If your library card is lost, directly contact the circulation staff, so that your library card can be canceled so that no one can borrow media in your name. The issuance of a new library card costs €5.00.

All library locations are available via elevators and have wheelchair-accessible restrooms. The self-checkout terminals for borrowing and returning media are height-adjustable or fully disabled-accessible. Various study areas are available for your use.

Library staff are on site during all opening hours and are happy to assist if needed.

Westerberg

The library on the Westerberg campus is equipped with automatic entrance doors.

Research computers at seat height are available on all floors.

A wheelchair-accessible study room is located on the 2nd floor. In the foyer, there is a tactile guidance system for people with visual impairments. For people with hearing impairments, induction loops are available in the training room and at the service counter.

Haste

The library on the Haste campus is located on the 1st and 2nd floors of the HR building. The entrance to the library is on the 1st floor.

The entrance to the HR building is equipped with automatic doors leading to the foyer. The doors to the library do not open automatically, but library staff can be contacted via an Intercom system if needed.

Research computers at seat height are available on all floors.

Lingen

Accessible entrances to Hall I/II, where the library is located, can be found at the entrances (on the right-hand side) by the university parking lot and coming from the direction of the cafeteria. The library on the Lingen campus has an automatic entrance door.

On the ground floor, there is a research computer at seat height.

You can reserve individual or group study rooms at the Westerberg and Lingen campus libraries by using our room reservation system, “zeitwart.”

The individual study cubicles are fitted with PCs or support the “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD)¹ system.

Some of the group study rooms are furnished with PCs, whiteboards, projectors, flipcharts, and smartboards. The necessary accessories (e.g., pens, projector remote controls) are available at the service counter in exchange for a deposit (usually the CampusCard).

All study rooms in the Westerberg and Lingen campus libraries can be booked by students and employees of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences via the room booking program “zeitwart.” The room’s amenities are also listed there.

Printers, copiers, and scanning facilities are available at all library locations.

¹Here, you can connect your own devices to available monitors or keyboards, and more.

You can use daily and rental storage cabinets or lockers at all locations.

Daily Storage Cabinets

You can use daily storage cabinets every day during our opening hours. To open and close the locker, please press the lock or unlock button using your CampusCard, which has been initialized for this purpose. 

Rental Lockers

Rental lockers are also available at all locations.

You can only rent one locker at a time.

You are allowed to rent a locker for a period of up to 30 days. Rental is handled at the service counters. 

If you have not cleared out your daily/rental locker by the due date, please contact our staff at the service counter. Lockers that have not been cleared out may be emptied by us.  

We assume no liability for the loss or damage of personal items or valuables you bring with you.

The Campus Westerberg Library has a fully equipped music studio. The music studio offers the opportunity to

• produce audio, vocal, and electric piano recordings (plus other instruments)
• create your own arrangements using Logic Pro or Ableton Live
• and access additional hardware and software for music production.

Using the music studio requires prior technical knowledge and is available to students and employees of the university under the following conditions:

• All producing students at the IfM (Institute of Music) can freely book the music studio via the “zeitwart” room reservation system.
• Transponders are issued at the service counter of the Campus Westerberg Library.
  All other interested parties (students and employees of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences) have the opportunity to work in the Music Carrel by working with a tutor.

Please contact us at musikcarrel@hs-osnabrueck.de

Westerberg

Room 96/E12 on the ground floor of the library is available as a family room. In addition to a workspace and a quiet corner, the family room also offers an area with toys and picture books for you and your child. A changing table is located inside the accessible restroom in 96/E10.

Please contact the service counter if you would like to use the family room.

Haste

At the Haste Campus Library, a family room is available for parents with children on the ground floor of the HR building. The key to the family room is available at the service counter. The family room is equipped with a seating and resting area. A sink is also available. Inside the library itself, there is a play area for children with various toys and children’s books.

Lingen

In the Learn&Lounge area of the Campus Lingen Library, there is a play area for children on the 1st floor with a selection of toys, games, and picture books. There is also a well-equipped changing room.

Westerberg

On the ground floor of the library, behind the cloakroom, is a cafeteria with vending machines and plenty of tables and chairs—the perfect spot to take a break with a hot or cold drink and a variety of snacks. You can also take a break at any time in the cafeteria, which is located right next to the library (Library / "Frosch" / Cafeteria). Use our daily lockers on the 2nd floor to store your personal belongings and work materials during your break.

Haste

In the library’s entrance area, you’ll find a coffee and tea machine. Here, you can make yourself a hot drink for your break at any time. On the ground floor of the HR building, you’ll also find additional vending machines with hot and cold drinks as well as snacks. The cafeteria is about a 3-minute walk away, so you can also grab lunch or a sandwich to refuel.

Lingen

The cafeteria is located right next to the library, so you can buy something to eat or drink there and take a break. In the student building KH, across the library, are beverage and snack vending machines as well as plenty of seats. Access is only possible with a university CampusCard.

You can find information about the cafeteria offerings for all locations here.

You need a valid library card or your valid CampusCard from Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. Take the media you wish to borrow from the open-access shelves and borrow them either independently at our self-checkout terminals or at the service counter. In order to borrow sheet music, you will need to do so at the service counter.    

The loan period for books, sheet music, audio CDs, and CD-ROMs is 28 days for students and external users; for psychological tests, it is 14 days. Teachers and employees of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences can borrow books, sheet music, audio CDs, and CD-ROMs for 120 days. The loan period for psychological tests is also 14 days for university staff.

Your library card / campus card is not transferable. You can give another person permission to borrow items for you. To prevent abuse, we ask you to fill out a power of attorney form for this person with a personal signature. This must be presented together with your library card and is valid for one loan transaction. The power of attorney remains in the library. 

The loan period for printed media is usually 28 days. You can extend loans up to 12 times for an additional 4 weeks each time. Find the option to extend loans in your library account under “Loans.” 

The new loan period is always calculated from the date of renewal and is not based on any prior due date. Books that have already been reserved by another user or are in the third reminder stage cannot be renewed. Electronic media (e.g., e-books) have no loan period and therefore do not need to be renewed.

There may be various reasons for this: if loan periods have already been extended 12 times, you cannot extend them any further. In such a case, you need to return the items on time.

An extension is also no longer possible if your account already shows late fees of at least €20 or if one of the borrowed media is in the third reminder stage. 

It is possible that your membership has expired, which you must renew once a year by presenting your CampusCard or ID card.

No further renewals are possible for reserved media. You must return the title when the loan period expires.

As a rule, you can return media from the university library at any location, regardless of where you borrowed them. However, sheet music, interlibrary loan media, and psychological tests can only be returned via the service desk of the borrowing library.

The following return options are available:

In collaboration with the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, the wireless LAN access  to the university network was established for university members. Get a detailed guide for setting up the eduroam network here here (website only available in German).

For questions about the network, please contact the ServiceDesk Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. 

The VPN service enables access to licensed library products (such as databases, electronic journals and e-books) from a home computer workstation. This service is provided in cooperation with the Computer Centre of the University of Osnabrück and is freely available to all members of the University of Osnabrück.  

With the help of the VPN service, members of the university can log in from any computer with their university ID. They are then virtually on campus and can use the library's electronic services.   

Access is via a locally installed VPN client. This locally installed client has the advantage that it is independent of the browser used and is also available for Mac OS and Android, for example.  

You can find more information about the VPN service on the universitys website.

Important:             

When logging in to eduVPN, you must first select the correct profile. There are two profiles to choose from:
- University + research library + secure Internet
- University only - optimised for Videocalls
The order of the displayed profiles is not always the same and may change. Please always select the ‘University + research library + secure Internet’ profile for research and access to e-media.

Some database vendors have expressly excluded the possibility of remote access in their license agreements; please understand that these products cannot be accessed from the home workstation. Information on the access conditions of individual databases can be found in our database information system (DBIS).

If access to electronic services from home does not work, this can have various causes.

Cause 1

Often the VPN service is not activated or not fully activated. Moreover, access via VPN is only available to members of the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. If you follow the routine below, you can check whether your VPN service is working:

1. Please restart your computer.
2. Start the VPN client.
3. After starting the VPN, your IP address must begin with 131.173. ....
4. Then start the browser.
5. Search via our search engine Scinos, the catalog or one of our databases and call up the e-medium.

If your IP address starts with 131.173. ... and you still do not have access, please contact the Library of the Osnabrück University of Applied Science. You can find out the IP address by using common search engines and entering "What is my IP".
If your IP address does not start with 131.173. ... despite an activated VPN, please contact the service desk at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences.

Cause 2

You have not selected the correct profile during eduVPN login. There are two profiles to choose from:
-  University + research library + secure Internet
-  University only - optimised for Videocalls
Please always select the "University + research library + secure Internet" profile for research and access to e-media and not the "University only - optimised for Videocalls" profile.

Yes, for the use of PCs in the library PC pools, you need your central university user name ID (OSCA). Students will find this on their student ID.

Yes, to print, you need a CampusCard. You can send your print jobs to the Pool PCs to one of the copiers and printers which are set up in the library.

Printing in the Westerberg central library

1. Log in to the computer with your personal university ID and start the print job from your application. For printing you have to log in again with user number (0959...) and password (university id).
2. For b/w printing, select the printer qpilotsw - for a color print, select qpilotcl. Confirm with Print.
3. For b/w-printing choose any public printer in the shared library building. For color prints, a color printer is available in the printer room in the ground floor. To print, insert your CampusCard into the terminal next to the printer. Please note that it will take a few minutes to retrieve the print. 
4. Press the F1 key on the printer terminal to switch to print mode. Your print jobs are displayed with the number of pages and the total cost. Start the print job with F3 or delete it with DEL. To end the process and get the CampusCard back, press END. Please refer to the notices in the printer rooms for the current print prices.

Printing in the branch libraries in Haste and Lingen

1. Log in to a computer in the library (e.g. in the PC pool) with your personal university ID and start the print job from your application. 
2. For b/w prints please select the printer "QPilot sw" and for colour prints the printer "QPilot Color". After submitting the print job, please enter your personal university ID again in the dialogue box. The print job is confirmed by closing the print job confirmation.
3. To start the printing process, the CampusCard must be inserted into the terminal connected to the printer.  To enter the print mode, press the F1 key. The previously sent print jobs are now displayed.  Press the F3 key to start and settle the print job. The selected print job can be deleted with DEL. The END key ends the operation and ejects the card. Print jobs that have not been deleted or printed are retained. For the current print prices, please refer to the notices.

You can only store data for a short time. When the PC is restarted, data will be destroyed. Therefore, it is advisable to store data on an external media carrier.

The e-mail service essentially includes two different features:

1. It informs users in advance of expiring loan periods free-of-charge
2. It allows our users to receive interlibrary loan and reservation alerts as well as as 1st to 3rd reminder via e-mail.

Students of the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück who have enrolled from winter semester 2020/2021 onwards will automatically be registered for the e-mail service with their university e-mail address (vorname.nachname@hs-osnabrueck.de) after enrolment and dispatch of the CampusCard. Starting in the winter semester 2020/2021, communication with all students at the university will be exclusively via the university e-mail address. All other e-mail addresses used so far have been changed to the university e-mail address.
As an external user or student of other universities/colleges please use our online form (online form only available in German) to register and read the terms of use carefully.

After you register using the online form and accept the terms and conditions, you will receive a confirmation e-mail from our system. To activate or confirm your e-mail address, please click on the WWW address marked with 'URL1' which is specified in this e-mail.

Important! Often, these e-mails land in the spam filters due to their automated form. If you have received an e-mail after registration, then please check your spam filter!

For university students there is no possibility to change the e-mail address. If necessary, you can redirect the incoming mails to another mail address.

For all others: To unsubscribe from the e-mail service, please click on the WWW address marked with 'URL2', which is specified in the e-mail sent to you after registration. If you no longer have this e-mail, please contact us using the change form (form only available in German).

To change an already confirmed e-mail address, first log off the service and then log on again. Unconfirmed or already registered e-mail addresses can be activated again by re-registration.

Important!  Typically, users who activate a deregistered e-mail address again, will no longer be asked by the system to confirm the address.