If you are a registered user and cannot find the document you are looking for at the Swiss National Library (NL), you can order it via interlibrary loan. Other libraries in Switzerland or abroad can also request the loan of works held at the NL.
Interlibrary loans for NL users
As a registered user of the NL, you can order books and articles from periodicals located at other libraries in Switzerland or abroad.
Ordering and fees (including VAT)
Interlibrary loan
| Conditions of use | Pricing | |
| In Switzerland | Documents that are not available at the NL Loan for home use or consultation in the NL’s reading room |
Effective costs: fees set by lending libraries maximum CHF 12 |
| Abroad | Documents that are not available at any library in Switzerland Loan for home use or consultation in the NL’s reading room |
Effective costs: fees set by lending libraries minimum: CHF 15 per volume |
Not picked up loans
| Fees |
| Effective costs Fees set by lending libraries + CHF 10.- for administrative costs |
Copies : delivery by mail or e-mail
| In Switzerland | Up to 20 pages, flat rate | CHF 8.- |
| Each additional page A4 | CHF 0.20 | |
| Each additional page A3 | CHF 0.40 | |
| Abroad | Per article | Effective costs: fees set by lending libraries minimum: CHF 15 |
Please complete an order form for books or photocopies for each order.
For international loans, please tick “auch im Ausland” (in Switzerland and abroad) on the form under the heading “Bestelllung” (Order).
To ensure that your order can be processed quickly, please make the bibliographic description as precise and complete as possible.
You must pay the fees for books and photocopies directly at the circulation desk in the NL when you pick them up.
Delivery times
| Libraries in Switzerland | 2–4 days |
| Libraries outside Switzerland | 1 to 4 weeks or more, depending on the country |
Delivery
You will receive a letter or e-mail notifying you that the documents ordered have arrived at the NL’s circulation service. We do not offer home delivery of documents ordered via interlibrary loan.
Lending period and extension
| Lending period | Extension | |
| Libraries in Switzerland | 2–4 weeks (determined by the lending library) Loan for home use or consultation in the NL’s reading room |
Request at the circulation desk or via e-mail If the lending library refuses to grant an extension, the document must be returned on the agreed date. |
| Libraries outside Switzerland | 4 weeks Loan for home use or consultation in the NL’s reading room |
Request at the circulation desk or via e-mail If the lending library refuses to grant an extension, the document must be returned on the agreed date. |
Returns
Loaned documents can be returned by taking them to the circulation desk at the NL, placing them in the returns box or posting them in appropriate packaging. A charge will be made for any lost or damaged documents.
Interlibrary loans for libraries and documentation centres
Document lending
Lending conditions
- All libraries and documentation centres in Switzerland and abroad can borrow documents from the NL’s collections through interlibrary loans.
- Documents published more than 50 years ago may be borrowed by partner libraries, provided they guarantee that the documents will be consulted exclusively in the reading room.
- No documents published before 1900, valuable documents, non-books or large formats are available for interlibrary loans, but reproductions of these may be ordered.
- Documents on loan outside Switzerland must be consulted exclusively in the reading room.
Ordering
- Monographs and some periodicals may be borrowed directly via the NL’s online catalogue Helveticat. A user ID number corresponding to the International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations (ISIL) and a password can be obtained from the circulation service.
- Alternatively, the interlibrary loan order form can be used.
Lending period and extension
- The lending period is 28 days.
- Extensions are possible.
- Documents loaned abroad must be consulted exclusively in the reading room.
Cost
- For interlibrary loans within Switzerland, no cost applies to the borrowing library (postage is free for NL users).
- For international interlibrary loans, a charge of one IFLA voucher per volume applies.
Ordering photocopies
Ordering
- Please complete the form below to order photocopies (analogue or digital).
- Please contact the Photography and Reprography service for other forms of reproduction.
Pricing
- The rates stipulated in the Ordinance on fees charged by the Swiss National Library apply. A fee of CHF 10.- will be charged for administrative costs.
- Afin de limiter les coûts de facturation, il est recommandé d’utiliser comme moyen de paiement pour les commandes de photocopies (analogues ou digitales) : 1 Voucher IFLA par article jusqu’à 20 pages
Identifiers and accessibility codes for interlibrary loans within Switzerland
Library identifiers and addresses
The NL assigns each library a standardised alphanumeric identifier for interlibrary loans within Switzerland. The library identifiers and addresses used for interlibrary loans are managed by the NL and can be consulted in the ISplus/HelveticArchives database.
Accessibility codes
Libraries determine their own accessibility code for the delivery of documents under interlibrary loans. The following accessibility codes are available:
| A | Documents* delivered within 48 hours |
| B | Documents* delivered within one week |
| C | Documents* delivered only if no A or B location exists (specialist and private industry libraries) |
| E | Documents may be consulted on site (by prior appointment); articles may be photocopied only if no A, B or C location exists |
* Monographs and photocopies of articles from periodicals or monographs
Requesting an identifier and accessibility code
To request an identifier and accessibility code for your library, complete the form below and send it to the NL.
Identifier request form (in German) (PDF, 64 kB, 12.01.2015)Please complete the form and hand it in at the circulation desk or post it to us.
Last modification 24.11.2022
