Services for private individuals
The ETH Library is a public library. Anyone 16 years of age or older is welcome to borrow books and documents, access all electronic media and use other library services.
ETH Library @ swisscovery
In external pageETH Library @ swisscovery you can search for books, documents and media in our holdings as well as in the holdings of external page490 scientific libraries. ETH Library @ swisscovery offers you a list of the results at a glance – books, newspapers, journals, photographs, maps and other media.
Borrowing media
Most of the holdings of the ETH Library are not freely accessible. Media from the ETH Library and the Zurich Central Library can be borrowed free of charge.
The following applies to all other libraries:
- Free collection at the library to which the media belong
- Courier delivery to one the libraries at ETH Zurich for a fee (list of fees)
All you need is a one-time registration for ETH Library @ swisscovery. You can then borrow the media immediate.
Have you not yet registered for ETH Library @ swisscovery? Do you not yet have a SWITCH edu-ID?
Four-step tutorial for Downloadnon-members of ETH Zurich (PDF, 560 KB)
If you would like to browse an openly accessible area on-site, please visit one of our special libraries:
- Architecture and Civil Engineering Library (architecture, urban and spatial planning; construction and geomancy; environment and traffic)
- Earth Sciences Library (earth sciences)
- GESS Library (humanities and social sciences; business, law and politics)
- Green Library (agricultural and environmental sciences)
Using media
You can access freely available electronic media from anywhere. You can use any databases, e-books and e-journals that are not free or are licensed by the ETH Library in the public spaces of the ETH Library. This requires a swisscovery login.
More information on using electronic media
Borrowing e-books (E-Lending)
The ETH Library has licensed a wide range of e-books in a variety of subjects (E-Lending). Your swisscovery login allows you to access more than 67,000 e-books and use them for free for up to eight days.
Ordering articles or chapters
You can order individual articles or chapters from documents from the holdings of the ETH Library either as a paper copy or as a PDF in ETH Library @ swisscovery. Please note that we charge a fee for this service. For electronic documents, we ask that you use interlibrary loan.
More information on document delivery
Interlibrary loan
If you can’t find what you’re looking for in ETH Library @ swisscovery, you can borrow books or order copies of articles from other libraries. Simply fill in the corresponding form. A fee will be charged for this service.
