The Cologne University Catalogueis the central search interface covering the entire spectrum of the University's collections and resources.

You can use Free Search or Advanced Search.

Free Search allows you to search for items by the following fields: Author, Title, Subtitle, Subject, Year, ISBN, ISSN, and Call Number (Shelf Mark).
You can narrow your search results by using the filters on the left side of the screen.

Advanced search gives you more control over your search results. Specify what type of search you want, what type of material you are looking for, what language, publication date, etc.

A couple of search tips:

• Truncate words with an asterisk (*) to find several terms in one search (e.g. Histor* for Historian, Historians, History, Histories).
• Consider searching for abbreviations (TV/Television) and synonyms (U.S./America).
• Omit articles, prepositions, and conjunctions in your search.
• Use quotation marks to search for your terms as an exact phrase (e.g., "Black Lives Matter").
• Consider using terms in different languages.
• Search for Keywords and Subject terms. Keywords (Geman: Stichworte) are words anywhere in the title or subtitle of a book. The title of a publication does not necessarily say anything about its content. Accordingly, you may not find important literature on a topic with a simple keyword search. A subject term (German: Schlagwort) is defined as the most specific word that captures the essence of the subject of a book, article or online resource. Subject terms are different from keywords in that they are standarized terms assigned to a certain topic. They do not necessarily appear in the title or subtitle of a publication.
• Be aware that typing errors will not be automatically corrected and no alternative spelling will be included in your search. So please check your spelling if you don't receive any search results.

If you only want to search the holdings of the library for North Americanhistory, you can use our catalogue.

Please be aware that we haven't been able to catalog our complete holdings yet.
For research in the following subject areas we recommend using the card index for a comprehensive search:

British, Irish, and Canadian history (DDC numbers 941, 942, 971)

The card index is located on the mid-level in the library for North American History. Please ask at the information desk if you have trouble finding it.

Find books using Free Search or Advanced Search via the Cologne University Catalogue or the Catalogue for North American History.

Under the tab Books & More (above the search bar) use the filter Type of Media to narrow your search results to materials in hardcopy (Monographien), e-books (Digital), theses (Hochschulschrift), exhibition catalogs (Ausstellungskatalog), and more.

For books located in the library for North American History use the filter Print Location and choose "Historisches Institut, Abteilung für Nordamerikanische Geschichte". Our books are lendable for two weeks despite being labeled as "Präzensbestand" or "nur einsehbar".

Finding book chapters can be surprisingly difficult since they are not systematically cataloged.

If you know the title of the book in which a known chapter is published, search for the title in the Cologne University Catalogue using the search strategies mentioned in "Books".

If you are searching for chapters written by a known author you can try searching for the author in the keyword field in Worlcat or checking if the author has a publication list online and then search for the title of book in the Cologne University Catalogue.

Finding book chapters on topic can be more difficult.

Find them in the Cologne University Catalogue using Free Search:

• Tab Books & more (above the search bar): filter your search results by Type of MediaAufsatz
• Tab Articles & more (above the search bar): filter your search results by Type of MediaBooks

Find them in the Cologne University Catalogue using Advanced Search:

• Enter search terms and choose Type Aufsatz

Some other strategies that can be used are:

• Search Worldcat. Worldcat includes book chapters for some books but certainly not all. Try using the keyword field when searching by topic or chapter title.
• Search databases that might offer book chapters. Databases likely to offer book chapters include those that offer e-books and some indexing databases (for example Project Muse).
• Consult publisher websites. Some post their new books' table of contents.
• Search Google Books and Amazon. These resources offer some full text material that is searchable. Also, if the book allows a preview, you can often find table of contents.

Find journals on the University campus via the Cologne University Catalogue or the Catalogue for North American History using

• Free Search: Under the tab Books & More (above the search bar) you can filter your search results by Type of MediaZeitschrift/Serie (Journal/Series)
• Advanced Search: Enter search terms and choose TypeZeitschrift/Serie

Use quotation marks to search for the exact title of a journal.

Search for journals that offer electronic access on the website of the Electronic Journals Library (EZB). The traffic light system shows whether you have full text access.

Via the Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB) - Union Catalog of Serials - you can search for every journal (print and digital) owned by a library in Germany and check whether you have access in one of the libraries on the University's campus.

You can search for journal articles in the UCL-Portal by using

• Free Search: Choose the tab Articles & more and filter your search results by Type of MediaAcademic Journals
• Advanced Search: Enter search terms and choose TypeZeitschrift/Serie

For comprehensive research you also have to do research in databases specific to your area of study. Go to UCL-Portal and choose the button Databases for a complete list of databases you have access to here in Cologne.

You can search for newspaper articles in the Cologne University Catalogue by using

• Free Search: Choose the tab Articles & more and filter your search results by Type of MediaNews.

For comprehensive research you have to do research in databases specific to your area of study. Go to Cologne University Catalogue and choose the button Databases and then Type of DatabaseZeitung or follow this link.

To get full text access free of charge to newspapers and magazines still in print is rather difficult. Start by searching the internet for the title of the newspaper or magazine. Try Google Books and Google Scholar for the title of an article.
Many Newspapers and magazines offer a trial subscription which allows access to their archive or you can buy single articles from their archive.

Please check the list of Internet resources on our website for a selection of newspapers and magazines.

You can recognize a primary source if the word "Quelle" (source) appears as a subject term. That word and certain others, especially when searched as a subject term, will help narrow your search results to primary sources.
Alternative terms are: Tagebuch (Diary, Notes, Report, Reflections), Schriften (Papers), Autobiografie (Autobiography), Briefsammlung (Letters), Reisebeschreibung (Description of travels), Erlebnisbericht (Eyewitness Account/Report).

Look for key words like Memoirs (Memoiren), Correspondence (Briefwechsel), Diary/Diaries or Journal/Journals (Tagebuch), Speeches (Reden), and Reminiscences (Erinnerungen) if you want to find sources about certain people. Search for words like Records, Files, Dossier/s (Akten and Unterlagen), Report/s (Bericht), or Papers (Schriften) to find sources on institutions.

Most primary sources in our library are marked with a green tape on the spine.
They are non circulating but you can scan parts of it on our computers or make copies on the Xerox machines in the foyer of the Philosphikum.

We also have a large collection of sources on microfiche and microfilm. Please contact our librarian, Katharina Kloock, if you would like to use them.

A list of primary source databases available at the University of Cologne can be found here.

For a list of primary source databases free on the Internet, please see our website. Databases are sorted by period, geography, and subject.

Click on Databases on the homepage of the catalog (below the search bar) to view a list of every database available within the University's system.
On the right of the page you can search for individual titles of databases or you can use filters to view a list sorted by subject (e.g. History or Anglistik/Amerikanistik) or type (full text, bibliographic information, journals, newspapers, visual materials, etc.)

Our books are located on the ground floor and the middle level. Books from our collection of British and Irish history are located on the middle level. You can recognize them by the red tape on the spine. The books are marked by an E in the call number to distinguish them from our general collection.

Directional signs on the shelves and maps on the walls will help you find materials. If you need help, please ask the person at the information desk.

To find an item on the shelf you need to know the call number. The call number is like the address of a book.

The call number is preceded by the library code. Every library in the University's system has a number. Ours is 422.

Our call numbers consist of numbers and letters.
The numbers represent topics (Dewey Decimal Classification) and the letters represent the author's name and title.

For books marked AGuF please contact the student assistant of the AGuF.

Journals have two locations: current issues can be found on a shelf opposite the entrance to the reading room, older issues are located on the upper level.

Please stop by at the librarian's office for these materials.