How to Access the E-Library Off-Campus

Within the UZH network you have access to all licensed electronic journals and articles of the UB and ZB. If you are working outside the UZH network, you will either need a VPN connection to access them, or you can retrieve the articles individually from the various portals and databases.  

There are several ways to access licensed UZH content externally:

In swisscovery and many other databases, a button or icon Download, Full text, PDF or similar appears next to the article you are looking for. Clicking on it will automatically take you to a login window where you can enter your Switch edu-ID and then download the publication.

•  UZH members select University of Zurich.
•  USZ members select University Hospital Zurich.
•  Balgrist members (teaching & research only) select Balgrist University Hospital.

Make sure that your Switch-edu ID is linked to your institutional account (required once):

•  Link to the UZH
•  Link to the USZ (only works within the USZ network)

In various specialist databases, the Find it@UZH/ZB button automatically redirects you to the login window where you can enter your Switch edu-ID and then download the publication.

Important: The Find it@UZH/ZB button is only visible if you access the databases via our

• subject information pages (in the relevant subject area under "Information Resources") or via
• swisscovery database search

Login Window

• UZH members select University of Zurich.
•  USZ members select University Hospital Zurich.
•  Balgrist members (teaching & research only) select Balgrist University Hospital.

Make sure that your Switch edu-ID is linked to your institutional account (required once):

•  Link to the UZH
•  Link to the USZ (only possible in the USZ network)

If you search via Google, you will usually not be able to tell whether an article or e-book is licensed by UZH - and therefore accessible to you free of charge. This is where the free browser extension Lean Library can help you.

When searching the internet, Lean Library recognizes whether a provider's articles or e-books are licensed for UZH - even outside the UZH network. If this is the case, a pop-up window will appear and take you directly to the UZH login page:

Install Lean Library

The browser extension is free and available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and Safari. We recommend it for members of the PhF, WWF, ReF and ThF. 

• Go to Download Lean Library 
•  Select "Universität Zürich / Zentralbibliothek Zürich" under Select your library
•  You can switch the pop-up off and on again as required in your browser settings.

You can find detailed instructions for Lean Library on the ZB website.

When you search in Web of Science, Scopus or PubMed, the browser extension recognizes content that is licensed for UZH and takes you directly to the full text.

The left button loads the PDF, the right button takes you to the entry in BrowZine. 

Install LibKey

The free LibKey Nomad browser extension is available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Brave and Vivaldi. We recommend it for members of MeF, MNF and Vetsuisse. 

•  Go to Download Libkey Nomad
•  Select "University of Zurich" as institution

You can remove the extension at any time in your browser settings.