View our collections

  • Pre-registration: For materials which can't be ordered via swisscovery RZS, please register a few days before your visit. The requested documents will be ready for you on the day of your visit.
  • Opening hours: Special Collections' reading room. You can view your order in our reading room from Monday to Saturday, 12.00 to 18.00 (except public holidays). See also our special opening hours (at ZHB Sempacherstrasse).
  • Registration: When you visit us for the first time you will need to bring an official photo ID
  • Work files and papers: Please only bring what you need in order to do your work: something to write with (pencil), your laptop and work material. Outdoor-jackets, coats, bags, food and beverages are not allowed.
  • Access to documents: Generally you have free access to materials in the Special Collections. However, there may be some restrictions in place due to copyright, privacy laws or conservation requirements.

Borrow

Items from the Special Collections cannot be borrowed by private individuals. However, they can be viewed in our special reading room at our library at ZHB Sempacherstrasse.

We can loan documents to public institutions for cultural and scientific exhibitions. Please send your loan request at least three months before the exhibition starts.

Reproductions

  • Under certain conditions you may take photos of them on site, but WITHOUT using flash.
  • Only our staff have permission to make copies of the documents in the Special Collections.
  • Whether a document can be copied depends on its conservation status; the relevant specialist will make a case-by-case decision.
  • You are responsible for the protection of copyright and personal rights in connection with Special Collections materials.
  • When using digital copies of the ZHB Special Collections, the correct image credits must be provided, but at least the indication of origin: "ZHB Special Collections".
  • In case of publications in print form, please send a specimen copy free of charge to the ZHB Special Collections.

Prices for reproductions of visual materials

As part of its Open Science Policy, the ZHB makes the digital and digitised cultural heritage in its holdings - as far as possible - accessible free of charge. Therefore, scans of images (photos, prints, etc.) will not be charged. However, the ZHB Special Collections reserve the right to set a quantitative limit for large orders. In the spirit of good scholarly practice, it is also expected that a correct indication of source and origin is given when digital copies are used.

Prices for reproductions of text material

A processing fee is charged for scanning/copying orders from text collections:

PDF file (300 dpi, via mail or file exchange, b/w or four-colour)

  • 1–10 pages: CHF 10.00
  • Each additional page: CHF 1.00

Paper copies A4/A3 (by mail)

  • 1–10 pages: CHF 10.00
  • Each additional page: CHF 1.00
  • Shipping costs: Switzerland CHF 2.00, foreign states CHF 5.00

Paper copies can also be picked up on site (at the information desk of our library at Sempacherstrasse). The fee is CHF 1.00 per page, shipping costs do not apply.