Departmental Orientation Programmes and
Information about Libraries and Computer Labs

 

1.  Orientation programmes and introductory courses
 

Apart from the official counseling services of the university, the departments offer a special orientation program for all students starting at the university. We strongly recommend you take part in these programs since they are the best opportunity to find out all the specific information about your course of study such as study and exam regulations, study schedules, etc. Also these orientation units are a terrific chance to get in touch with fellow freshmen and seniors.

Information about dates and places of these orientation programs and introductory courses are available at the ZAS or in the respective department.

All departments offer a study counseling service throughout the semester. Contact the study counselor of your department should you have questions concerning your specific field of study.

2.  Course Calendar
 

The most important information on the various courses and lectures offered at the Philipps-Universität can be found in the course calendar, of which two types are available:
 

• The detailed course calendar is published by every single department and lists the exact dates, times, and places of all lectures and classes. It also specifies which students are eligible to take part in the class, what preparations have to be made, and what literature needs to be read.

• The university‘s general course calendar gives an extensive survey of all lectures and classes of the various departments. The edition for spring semester contains only an enumeration of all classes and lectures. The winter semester edition includes a staff appendix, where you will find the assigned areas of competence, phone numbers, and addresses.

3.  Libraries
 

As a student you will often want to use the libraries. We recommend you take part in an introductory course on how to find your way through the libraries, since the applied systems of literature search at the computers and ordering books to borrow might seem quite complicated.

The most important libraries are the university library (UB) and the libraries of the departments.

For all fields of studies, especially for biomedical literature, the university library offers computer based literature search programs with access to several data pools. You also have the opportunity to look for literature yourself by using the available CD-ROM- data pools. At hand for example is the official register of all sold books (Verzeichnis der im Buchhandel lieferbaren Bücher VLB).
For further information please contact the university library at: 28-22116

The departmental libraries are sometimes split up into several sections located at different institutes of smaller fields of specialty. Although you have free access to all books at these libraries, it is not possible to borrow them, unless you are a staff member. Some libraries might offer a weekend service though, where you can borrow books from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.
For information on opening hours please contact your department or  the respective deans’ office.

Public libraries in Marburg:

                City Library
                John F. Kennedy-Haus
                Ketzerbach 1
                Phone: 20 1248

                German-American Library
                John F. Kennedy-Haus
                Ketzerbach 1
                Phone: 67 434

                Opening hours: Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri : 2pm-6:30pm
                Wed: 10am-1pm

The German-American Library is a public library offering a majority of books in the English language as well as a nice collection of American records. The origins of this library go back to the American military administration, which left its library to Marburg. The books and records can be borrowed by anyone who is registered in Marburg.
 

Libraries accommodating the special needs of visually impaired or blind students:

German Books-on-Tape Library for the Blind (Deutsche Blinden- Hörbücherei)
at the German School for the Blind ( deutsche Blindenstudienanstalt e.V.)
Am Schlag 2a
phone: 6060

Opening hours: daily 7.30am-11.30am, 12.30am-2.30pm

Fields of specialty: Law, Sociology, German, Education, Speech and Languages

The library offers a possibility of copying tapes.

Also located at the German School for the Blind:

Emil-Krückmann-Library
Am Schlag 8
phone: 6060

Opening hours: daily: 8am-4pm

Fields of specialty: scientific and fictional literature of all fields of studies; especially History, Political Science, Psychology, Theology, Education, Philosophy, and Law.

Also located in Marburg:

German Association of Visually Impaired and Blind in College and Profession (Deutsche Verein der Blinden und Sehbehinderten in Studium und Beruf e.V.)
Frauenbergstrasse 8
Phone: 48 1450, 481440

Opening hours: Mon: 1pm-4pm
  Tue-Thu: 9am-12am, 1pm-4pm
  Fri: 9am-12am

Fields of specialty: Law, Psychology, Computer Science, Social Science, Medicine
 

Apart from these special offers for the visually impaired and blind there a variety of collections and archives located in Marburg, such as:

Hessen’s State Archive Marburg ( Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg)
Friedrichsplatz 15
phone: 92 500

Opening hours of the library: Mon-Thu: 8.30am-1pm, 2pm-7pm
    Fri: 8.30am-1pm

Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Institute
Gisonenweg 5-7
phone: 1840

Opening hours: Mon-Thu: 8am-4.30pm
   Fri: 8am-3pm

Fields of speciality: History and Geography of Eastern Europe

The Universal Catalogue of Eastern Europe (Gesamtkatalog Ostmitteleuropas GKO) at the institute is the only of its kind concerning the geographic area of Eastern Europe in Germany. The catalogue contains the combined information of over 20 libraries, that collect literature on former German territories in Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic countries.
The Johann-Gottfried- Herder-Institute also has a press-media-archive of eastern European countries.
 

In addition Marburg offers a wide variety of libraries of religious and ecclesiastical institutions’ as well as libraries of hospitals and other health care facilities. Many associations and companies also offer access to their libraries.
A comprehensive index of all these libraries can be found in: ”Bibliotheken in Marburg, Adressen-und Bestandsverzeichnis” (”Libraries in Marburg, Addresses and Inventories”), 4th edition 1991, Schriften der Universitätsbibliothek,20 (Publications of the University Library, 20). This book is available at the University Library.
 

4.  Computer Labs
 

Computer labs, also equipped with printers, are open to all students and are located at the institutes, which is of great help in case you do not own a computer, but need to write a paper.

The 4 computer labs are located at:

a.) Savigny-Hall
      Universitätsstrasse 20
      5th floor
Here 30 computers are open to students. Opening hours are usually from 9am-9pm, though they might vary though depending on the schedules several computer science classes.

b.)  Computer lab at the Phil.Fak (institute of liberal arts)
      Wilhelm-Röpke-Strasse 6
..... located at the entrance to block D
Only a few computers are available in this lab. The opening hours are usually in the afternoons, depending on several computer science classes

c.)  Computer lab at the Uni-Lahnberge
      This lab has unconventional opening hours, which is a big help when working on your paper at the last minute.
      The opening hours can be found on the university homepage under ”Hochschulrechen -zentrum”

b.)  Computer lab in the catalogue hall of the university library
      Here you can research all literature available at the university library, including all magazines and journals. From 6pm on you  can also go on the Internet.
For opening hours please see ”Opening hours of the University Library”
 

E-mail accounts can be applied for upon registration. A fee of  €10 is charged per semester for each account.