Specialist journals and literature
At the Library Am Guisanplatz BiG, Federal Administration employees and Armed Forces staff have access to a wide range of online resources. This service includes access to many academic databases.

The following e-media are freely available online to employees of the Federal Administration and the Armed Forces. You do not need to register for this BiG service. You will be automatically authenticated with your work laptop (outside the federal network via VPN) and with your federal mobile phone/federal tablet via the "Secure Web" app. Use the links listed below for access. In case of access problems, content-related or technical questions, please contact e-medien@gs-vbs.admin.ch.
In case of access problems, please contact us by e-mail at e-medien@gs-vbs.admin.ch. Proposals for further resources can be submitted via the corresponding form.
The CAIRN journal database contains more than 500 French-language journals. Almost half of them concern economic and social science disciplines. Use the filter function to find the list of freely available content.
Under the heading Chercher you will find research tips.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) collects its publications (e-books, articles, working papers, statistics) in its iLibrary. The database also offers full-text access to the publications of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Transport Forum (ITF).
The documents can be searched by topic as well as by country. You can also subscribe to a personalised newsletter. You will find further information under the heading Help.
The database of the Taylor & Francis publishing group provides access to over 1400 journal titles (from 1997) in the field of social sciences and humanities (Social Science and Humanities SSH) and over 530 journal titles in the field of science and technology (Science and Technology S&T). A wide range of scientific disciplines and topics are covered - from agriculture to geography, information sciences and economics, biology, chemistry, technology, mathematics, statistics, physics, sports sciences, medicine, politics, law, tourism or environmental sciences.
Publications can be searched by free entry and predefined subject areas. See Taylor & Francis Online Help Center for additional information.
In the WISO database of the GBI-Genios, employees of the Federal Administration and the Armed Forces have free access to more than 550 economic and social science journals, most of which are in German (list of activated contents sorted by topic via the menu journals or alphabetically via the list of sources).
In addition to a simple input mask, the database offers numerous differentiated search and filter functions. On the homepage you will find video tutorials as well as a reference to the printed research tips under the heading Help. With your e-mail address you can create a personal account and thus be informed about new publications.
The WTO iLibrary provides full-text access to the publications of the World Trade Organization (WTO). These cover a wide range of trade-related topics. In addition to the approximately 700 e-book titles, a large number of individual chapters, working papers and statistics are also available.
The documents can be searched by topic as well as by country, among other things. The user manual, which can be found under the Help heading, provides an introduction.
The DACH Information database contains 800 full-text German-language journals, magazines and specialist publications on a wide range of subject areas including business and economics, management, marketing, communication, psychology and social sciences.
You can find the list of journals here.
Information on creating search alerts is available here.
The International Security & Counter-Terrorism Reference Center database contains articles, news feeds, reports, books and summaries on regional conflicts, terrorism, domestic security and risk management options, providing an up-to-date overview of the latest developments in the international political, military, economic, social and technical fields.
The database contains 2,400 full-text resources. You can find the list here.
Information on creating search alerts is available here.
Papiermühlestrasse 21a
CH-3003 Bern
Library Am Guisanplatz
E-media
Papiermühlestrasse 21a
CH-3003 Bern
Search in Alexandria search portal:
Useful links
- Access EBSCO Essentials at any time to search for and use freely available content
- Journal archives of the publishing houses De Gruyter, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Springer
- Nexis Uni - Full texts from journals in the fields of politics, economics, technology, natural sciences and medicine