Introduction

• The catalogue does not contain a large number of Dutch journal articles. To find articles in Dutch, it is advisable to consult the subject guide Searching Dutch Articles (only available in Dutch).
• To find more journal articles, also search subject specific databases, available through ‘Find Databases’. More information can be found in the subject guide for databases.

Performing simple searches

The easiest way to search the catalogue is to type one or more keywords and click the Search button. When searching for an article, choose All Content; when searching for a book from our collections, choose Leiden Collections. The catalogue searches for items regardless of capitalization.

What am I searching?

All Content is searched by default, here you will find: (e)-books, (e)-journals, (digital) articles, audiovisual material and Special Collections. You will find the contents of Leiden Collections and Special Collections, but also digital articles from databases and the Leiden repository.

In Leiden Collections you will find both digital and physical materials available at Leiden University Libraries and the Special Collections. You will not find individual articles here, however. You can choose to either search in all library locations or in a library location of your choice.

In Special Collections you will exclusively find the rare materials in the Special Collections department of Leiden University, such as manuscripts, early printed books, prints, drawings, letters, archives, photos and maps.

Advanced search

Use the Advanced Search option to search commonly-used fields, combine search options or limit your search by material type, language, or publication date. For instance, use the field Author/Creator in comination with is (exact) to find all available sources by a specific author.

More specific searches

Searching for a phrase
To search the catalogue for a specific phrase, place quotation marks around the phrase. Use the double quote marks, not the single ones. For example: if you search for "global warming" you will only find publications that contain both these words in this exact order.

Combining search terms
OR: Use to search for items that contain at least one of the words or phrases you typed in the search box. For example: Irish OR Celtic will find items that only contain the word Celtic, only contain the word Irish or that contain both words.

NOT: combining search terms with the NOT operator narrows the search by excluding unwanted terms. For example: Celtic NOT Irish will find items that contain the word Celtic, but exclude items that contain the word Irish.

Note: To use OR and NOT, type them in all caps.

Include records with no full text access
By default, this filter is unchecked, and can be found among the filters after searching. When it is checked, you will also receive titles in your results that are not available via the Leiden University collection and of which only the bibliographic information is available. These titles may be available in other libraries. To request material that is not available in our libraries, see the webpage: Can’t find it at UBL.

Searching for printed items

If you only wish to search for printed items, please filter your search results: under refine my results > availability, choose Physical Items.

Requesting material

Material can only be requested when you are logged into the catalogue. You can log in using your ULCN- (library)account. Click the Request-button and choose your pick-up location. Please find more information on our webpages on borrowing.

When under Loan Policy the catalogue lists library use only, reference only or not loanable, the item can only be read within the library.

Books in the reading rooms

Part of the collection is located in the reading rooms. These items are not loanable. Click the Locate button to find in what reading room the item is shelved.

Renewing and returning

You can return borrowed books at any of the UBL library locations. Books will be renewed automatically for a certain period of time, unless someone else reserves them. Please find all information and policies on our webpage on renewing and returning.

Remote access to digital material

Anyone can search the catalogue to consult which material is accessible through Leiden University Libraries anywhere. Login is not required for this.

Only Leiden University and LUMC students and staff have worldwide access to full-text articles, after logging in. Guest users and Leiden University alumni only have access to full-text digital material within the university network. Alumni can access some of our databases via the Leiden Alumni Databases website.

Notable exception to this rule are e-books hosted by ProQuest, which are only accessible to Leiden University students and staff, regardless of the location.  

E-books

Most of the e-books Leiden University Libraries gives access to can be found by their title in the catalogue. You can refine your search results to only show e-books: under Availability, select online access, then select (e-)books under Resource Type. 

More information: how to use e-books.

E-Journals

When searching an e-journal in the catalogue, you can filter your results by choosing Journals under Resource Type, then choose online access under Availability.

You can also use the Browzine app to keep up with your favorite journals. After making an account, this app offers Leiden University staff and students access to most available e-journals.

Databases

Find the available databases via Find Databases. For each database there is an information icon, that, when clicked, will provide more information about the database and its scope and contents. More information can be found in the subject guide for databases.

Why should I sign in?

When you sign into the catalogue, you can:

• Use physical library services such as requesting, reserving, and renewing library materials.
• Add items you found and queries you submitted permanently to your favorites (see the paragraph Favorites)
• Set alerts for your queries (see the paragraph Favorites)
• View your search history from this as well as earlier sessions conducted while logged in (see the paragraph History)

Results lists

The results list displays all the items that match your search query. For each item you will find basic bibliographic information, as well as information about how to access it (if possible).

Access options

Online access
Online access displays items that may be available online. If the item has multiple entries, click an entry to display the item on a new page.

Available
Get It allows you to request physical items or place a hold request for materials currently on loan. Note that you have to sign in to make a request. See our webpage on borrowing for more information.

Multiple versions
If there is more than one version of an item you can click see all to explore the different access options.

Check holdings
This may be a series: after clicking the record, you will find yourself on the detail page of the record. Look under details to see if there is a link Individual volumes connected to this series. If there is, you can follow this link to find out about the individual volumes that are part of this series. If there is not, please contact the library information desk or reach out to us using Ask a librarian.

No online access
There is no access to this source. You may have checked the Include records with no full access filter. You may also have followed a GetIt@Leiden link: GetIt@Leiden is a service which assists in finding out whether Leiden has access to the source or not; it does not guarantee access.

In the case of no online access it can be useful to look up a source (or the publication it was written in, such as the journal an article was printed in) to see if the paper edition may be part of our collections.

Why use favorites?

Favorites allows you to save and organize items that you find during your search session. To access your favorites, choose 'Saved items' at the drop down menu next to your name at the top of the page.

Saving items to favorites

If you select the push pin icon for an item in the search results, the item is added to your favorites under saved records.  You can also save an entire query to your favorites by selecting save query directly underneath the search bar; this will then be saved under saved searches. This also allows you to subscribe to the query so you will be emailed when a new result is found for this query.

Note: you must sign in to save items to your favorites for future sessions.

Viewing and labelling favorites

To consult your saved records, saved searches and search history, choose 'Saved items' at the drop-down menu next to your name at the top of the page.

In order to keep your favorites sorted you can use labels. To add a label, select ‘add label’ or the pencil icon for the item, and type in the label that you would like to add. Alternatively, you can select the items you would like to tag and select add labels at the top of the page, tto add the same label to multiple items. View all items tagged with a certain label by finding and selecting that label.

Removing from favorites

You can remove an item from your favorites by selecting the push pin icon again.  You can also remove multiple items at the same time by going to your favorites, selecting the items to be removed, and clicking the push pin icon at the top of the page.

Logging in

By logging in before starting a search session, you ensure that it is added to your history. If you are not logged in, your history will only show the searches from your current session.

Search history

Your search history can be found by selecting 'Search history' from the drop-down menu in the top right corner, next to your name. Here, you will find the queries from your current session (if not logged in) and previous sessions (if logged in).

Loan history

You can view your loan history after signing in. Go to your account at the top right corner and select ‘loans’. By default this will show you your current loans. Change the menu to 'Loan history' to view previous loans.

On 9 August 2023, Leiden University Libraries’ catalogue will migrate to a new interface (PrimoVE). 

What changes will I encounter? 

The catalogue layout will remain largely the same. Two minor changes you may notice are the revamped ‘request’ button, and some additional information regarding catalogue items. 

During the update, searching for and finding databases will also be renewed. As of 9 August, you can use the catalogue to easily browse our databases. The Find Databases webpage will no longer be active. 

What preparations should I make? 

• Saved searches and search history 

  Do you have any saved searches, or would you like to keep your search history? These will not be migrated to the new interface. We recommend making a backup if you would like to keep them, and looking them up again after the update. Your saved items will be migrated. 

• Catalogue Links 

  Permalinks to publications in the catalogue - the links under the ‘share link’ option - will not change. Links taken directly from the address bar of your browser will likely change. Please replace them by permalinks, or replace them with the new links after 9 August. 

• Find Databases links 

  Have you saved or shared links to Find Databases? As the Find Databases webpage will no longer be active after 9 August, we recommend you replace your saved links with the new catalogue links after the update. 

Help 

Do you need any help, or do you have any questions about the interface changes? Please do not hesitate to contact us via Ask a Librarian. 

Tutorial

You can take our tutorial on how to use the catalogue to familiarize yourself with it. This tutorial teaches you how to request books, find publications and use our databases.

If the catalogue isn’t displaying correctly

If the catalogue isn’t displaying correctly, clearing your browser’s cache and cookies may solve the problem. This webpage shows you how to do this.

If you’re still experiencing problems, or you have feedback or other questions about the catalogue please contact us using Ask a librarian.