Alexandria search portal
The collections held at the Library Am Guisanplatz BiG are listed in the Alexandria search portal. Alexandria is integrated into the national search platform swisscovery, where collections from around 500 Swiss libraries are available.
The Alexandria research portal provides access to the collections held at the BiG and other libraries within the Alexandria Library Network.
These libraries are also part of the Swiss Library Service Platform (SLSP). The national library platform swisscovery enables the SLSP to access collections from around 500 Swiss libraries. You can search for specific BiG resources using the appropriate filters.
There are four search options available for the BiG’s collections:
- Alexandria (including CDI): Search in all network library collections, including the Central Discovery Index
- Alexandria (by library): Network library collections with option to filter by library
- swisscovery: Collections from around 500 Swiss libraries, excluding the Central Discovery Index
- swisscovery plus: swisscovery and Renouvaud collections, including the Central Discovery Index
Useful tips for searching in Alexandria
- Physical media: The search portal shows you locations and signatures. To view only the BiG’s collections, use the ‘Library’ filter.
- Availability: ‘Status’ shows you whether a resource is available. You can reserve resources that are on loan or being transferred between locations. Further information can be found here.
- Electronic resources: Alexandria contains links to full texts as e-resources. Further information can be found here.
- BiG collections: Here you can access digitised official publications, special collections, BiG publications and bibliographies on key topics.
- Special collections: Some documents from the special collections can only be viewed on-site and are not listed in Alexandria.
Acquisition suggestions
Is there a publication or e-resource missing from the BiG’s collection? Let us know! We will check whether the suggested resource is appropriate for our library and whether we can acquire it.
- Please first check in the Alexandria search portal that the item you are seeking is not already available, ordered or being processed.
- Provide as comprehensive bibliographic details as possible. If the item fits our acquisition profile and the acquisition costs can be met by the library budget, we will try to obtain it.
- You can reserve the item in advance if you wish to do so.
Documentation requests
Do you need help with your research? Please contact our information specialists.
Contact BiG
Papiermühlestrasse 21a
CH - 3003 Bern