User Regulations & Fee Statutes

(1) The university library is a central academic institution of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (§ 95, paragraph 1 of the Brandenburg University Act). It comprises the entire stock of literature available for the fulfilment of its tasks, with the exception of working materials such as standard sheets.

(2) The university library consists of the university library centre and, if applicable, the sub-libraries.

(1) The university library has the following tasks:

a) Collecting, preserving and maintaining the literature and other information resources required for teaching, research and study at the University of Applied Sciences,
b) Cataloguing and indexing the holdings,
c) Making the holdings available in accordance with the regulations for use,
d) Instructing, advising and supporting users,
e) Managing the budgetary resources allocated to the university library.

(1) The university library shall be managed according to uniform library principles by a full-time director who must be qualified for senior library service. He*She shall be responsible for the fulfilment of the tasks of the university library. The director shall be the superior of all staff assigned to the university library.

(2) The Head of the University Library shall be responsible in particular for the following tasks:
a) Deciding on the use of the posts and budget funds allocated to the University Library in consultation with the Library Commission,
b) Taking into account the suggestions of the library representatives (§ 4) and users (§ 15 (4)),
c) Regulation of the internal organisation and care for economic efficiency in the use of staff and material resources,
d) Drawing up the budget applications,
e) Informing the Senate and the Library Commission about all fundamental matters,
f) Preparing an annual report on the development of the university library,
g) Representing the university library vis-à-vis the committees and bodies of the university of applied sciences.

Each department appoints a professor as library representative. The library representative is responsible for coordinating the literature acquisition requests of his*her department. He*She has the right to propose the literature selection for his*her department.

(1) The Library Commission of the Senate shall be composed of one representative of each department, two student representatives as voting members and the Head of the Library in an advisory capacity.

(2) The Library Commission advises the Senate, the library management and the departments on all fundamental university library matters. In particular, it shall make recommendations on
a) The use of the literature procurement funds available to the University of Applied Sciences,
b) The procedure for the selection of literature,
c) For amending or supplementing the administrative and user regulations of the University Library,
d) The filling of the position of head of the university library,
e) The preparation of the equipment plan for the university library.

The university library fulfils its tasks vis-à-vis the users by
a) Making its holdings available for use on its premises,
b) Lending some of its holdings for use outside the premises of the University Library,
c) Providing equipment for the production of reproductions as far as possible,
d) Provides literature from other libraries which is not available on the premises within the framework of external lending transactions,
e) Provides information from its catalogues, bibliographies, etc. provides information.

(1) Anyone wishing to use the library must be admitted. A user relationship under public law is established between the library and the users, the content of which is regulated by the user regulations.

(2) All members (§ 76 of the Brandenburg University Act) of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam as well as members of other universities in Potsdam are admitted as users. Other persons may be admitted upon application to the library.

(3) The admission of members (§ 76 of the Brandenburg University Act) is based on an application with proof of their affiliation to the university.

(4) The admission of other persons is based on an application.

(5) Registration and application are to be made in person upon presentation of a valid identity card or a passport with certificate of registration, which must not be older than 6 months. Students must also present their student ID.

(6) The data collected from the user upon admission and within the framework of the further user relationship will only be stored in accordance with the relevant legal regulations.

(7) Admission is effected by issuing a user card and creating a user account. The user card is non-transferable and remains the property of the library. The library must be notified immediately of any loss.

(8) Changes of address and name of the user must be reported immediately to the library branch from which works have been borrowed. The user is liable for costs and disadvantages incurred by the library in the event of non-compliance with this regulation.

(9) Minors belonging to the group of persons mentioned in para. 4 require the written consent of their legal representatives for the application for admission. The legal representative hereby undertakes to be liable for claims arising from the user relationship (e. g. fees, damages).

(10) The library may require persons named in para. 4 to provide a directly enforceable guarantee. Library staff shall not be accepted as guarantors. Furthermore, the library may refuse to accept guarantors who appear unsuitable. Instead of the provision of a guarantor, the library may demand a deposit at its discretion.

(11) Admission may be limited in time and to individual sub-libraries or forms of use.

(12) The user recognises the library regulations as binding with his*her signature upon admission.

(13) The obligations arising from the user relationship shall continue to exist even after its termination.

(1) Anyone admitted to use the library is entitled to the services specified in these Library Regulations.

(2) In the interest of all users, the greatest consideration must be shown. Disturbances are to be avoided.

(3) The instructions of the library staff are to be followed.

(4) Every user is obliged to identify himself*herself at the request of the library staff.

(5) Smoking, eating and drinking are not permitted in the library. Animals may not be brought into the library.

(6) Excess clothing, bags, umbrellas, luggage, etc. may not be brought into the library.

(7) The library staff is entitled to inspect bags, etc. that are being taken into the library. All media carried must be clearly presented to the supervisor upon entry to the university library.

(8) The use of the lockers is limited to the opening hours of the library. The library is entitled to clear lockers that have not been cleared in due time. The removed items are treated as lost property. Printed matter found in other libraries or public collections may be returned to them.

(9) The University of Applied Sciences is not liable for the loss of or damage to items brought into the library by a user, nor for damage caused by incorrect, incomplete, omitted or delayed use.

(1) Use of the university library is free of charge.

(2) The charging of fees and the reimbursement of special expenses shall be governed by the Fee Statutes (§ 3 para. 5 of the Brandenburg University Act) as amended from time to time.

(3) The collection of fees and charges shall be governed by the administrative regulations of the Land Brandenburg as amended from time to time.

(1) The opening hours of the university library shall be determined and announced by the senate in agreement with the library commission and the head of the university library within the limits of staffing possibilities.

(2) The Head of the University Library may close the library at short notice for good cause. The closures shall be announced in good time by means of notices.

(1) As a rule, the holdings of the university library are freely accessible.

(2) All freely accessible works may be taken from the shelves and used in the sub-libraries. After use, they shall be returned to the correct shelf location or deposited in specially designated places.

(1) All works available in the library which do not fall under the restriction of § 13 may be borrowed for use outside the library rooms. A valid user card must be presented each time a work is borrowed. Each user must identify himself/herself on request.

(2) The user must present the works he*she wishes to borrow at the circulation desk for accounting. The user must fill in pre-printed loan slips completely and legibly for works that are not booked. A separate loan slip must be filled out for each volume.

(3) The user is obliged to check the loan slips for correctness and completeness of the information.

(4) Works handed out for loan purposes under the presentation of a user card shall be deemed to have been lent by or for the holder of the user card.

(5) The works of the library as well as the works lent through external lending transactions (§ 16) shall be handled with care. The user is liable for any damage to borrowed media and for the return of these works, regardless of fault.

(6) Borrowed items must be returned to the same library branch from which they were borrowed.

7) Upon return, the user shall receive a return receipt. In his or her own interest, the user is obliged to check the return vouchers for correctness and completeness of the information.

(1) Excluded from lending are:
a) works marked as reference holdings,
b) parts of delivered works,
c) periodicals,
d) works from semester collections.

(2) The Head of the University Library shall have the right to exclude further works from borrowing or to restrict their borrowing if this appears to be in the interest of the users.

(3) The use of certain works shall be further restricted if legal regulations or the rights of third parties so require.

(4) The Head of the University Library shall decide on exceptions to the general lending restriction.

(5) The number of works that can be borrowed at the same time may be restricted. The loan stock for full-time academic staff shall be limited to 50 volumes and for non-academic staff to 30 volumes.

(1) As a rule, the loan period is 28 calendar days.

(2) In special cases, the head of the library may set different loan periods and extension options.

(3) The extension of the loan period can generally be excluded for certain works.

(4) The loan period may be extended up to three times. Requests must be submitted to the sub-library from which the work was borrowed before the loan period expires. Written requests are considered approved if they are not expressly rejected. Renewals by telephone are excluded. Renewal is excluded if the work is required by another party or if the user has not fulfilled his or her obligations under these user regulations.

(5) The group of persons mentioned in § 13 (5) shall be provided with borrowed books for one year. Extensions of six months are possible. Reserved books shall be returned for a period of one month as soon as a user has had a book at his or her disposal for at least one month.

(6) Works whose loan period has been extended shall be returned as soon as they are requested by another user.

(7) The library may also reclaim a work before the expiry of the loan period if it is required for official purposes, in particular for revision purposes.

(1) Borrowed works can be reserved for loan.

(2) Up to three reservations are accepted for one work.

(3) As soon as the pre-booked work is ready, the pre-booked person is notified. This work will be held in the circulation for up to seven calendar days after the date of notification.

(4) Works not available in the university library may be proposed for acquisition by any user in writing on the forms provided.

(1) The University Library procures literature from other libraries on the basis of the "Interlibrary Loan Regulations for German Libraries" in the currently valid version and under the special conditions of the lending library. Extraordinary costs (for insurance, extensive reproductions, foreign orders, etc.) will be charged to the user if they have been incurred with his/her consent.

(2) For these orders, a special loan slip must be filled out in typewritten form.

(3) Loans to foreign libraries are made within the framework of the German loan system.

Semester collections can be set up for courses on application to the head of the university library. As a rule, the literature collected in semester collections is set up separately for one semester.

(1) The catalogues, bibliographic aids and other reference works of the university library are available to the users for information and literature compilation.

(2) Based on these resources, oral and written information shall also be provided in accordance with the staffing and technical conditions, but only to the extent that the user cannot be expected to carry out his or her own research.

(3) With regard to fees, reference is made to § 9 (2).

(1) The information centre offers literature searches in databases. As a rule, pre-registration is required to make use of this service.

(2) The library reserves the right to refuse or cancel a search if it appears objectively necessary, in particular if the search is not justifiable for economic, technical or personnel reasons. There is no entitlement to access and use certain databases.

(3) The searches shall be carried out carefully and to the best of the Client's knowledge in accordance with the information provided by the Client. No guarantee is given for the completeness and quality of the result.

(4) With the handing over of the search result, the client is responsible for observing existing copyrights, conditions and regulations.

(5) With regard to the regulation of fees, reference is made to § 9 (2).

(1) The library is entitled to temporarily or permanently exclude a user from use or to restrict his*her use if he*she violates these library regulations or otherwise disturbs the order of the library.

(2) The person concerned must be heard beforehand.

(3) Obligations arising from the user relationship shall not be affected by the exclusion.

(4) An appeal against the exclusion may be lodged with the Head of the University Library within one month of notification of the decision. The objection has no suspensive effect.

The user relationship ends when the user leaves the university, in the case of other users when the admission period expires. At this point in time, no further obligations towards the university library may demonstrably exist. Claims of the university library arising from the user relationship shall continue to exist after its termination.

These administrative and usage regulations for the university library of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam come into effect on the day after their publication in the "Official Announcements of the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences".

Issued on the basis of the decision of the founding senate of the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences on 17 August 1992.

Potsdam, October 1992
(Prof. Dr. Helmut Knüppel) Founding Rector