Library customers must have a SWITCH edu-ID account to use the swisscovery services. You can register here.

Please note: 

• If you do not yet have a SWITCH edu-ID account, you can create one during registration. 
• For help with the registration, please see SLSP's help page. 

After you register with SLSP, you can use your SWITCH edu-ID account for all swisscovery libraries. 

Personal details can only be adjusted by you independently. To do so, log in to your SWITCH edu-ID and adjust the desired data there. The adjusted data will then be automatically transferred to the library account. Please note that correct personal details are required for correspondence with us. The library team cannot make any changes to your library account.

In your SWITCH edu-ID, you can see your preferred e-mail address under Contact address. If you have added additional e-mail addresses, you can change your preferred e-mail address by clicking on the star symbol. The postal address can be adjusted accordingly in the "Personal data" section. If you have entered a residential and a business address, you can select the preferred postal address in swisscovery Administration Library Cards and Administration. If you move, please adjust the postal address so that any correspondence is sent to the correct postal address.

Users without a Swiss postal address can also create a SWITCH edu-ID account. Please note that depending on your place of residence you might have limited services offered to you by the SLSP libraries.

You can see your borrowings in your account in the swisscovery portal. Please note that loans are only displayed per pick-up institution in your account. Go to "My Loans" via your customer account and select an institution on the left side of the account to see the loans from that institution.

No, that is no longer necessary. Your mobile phone number is verified upon registration.

Unfortunately, migration of reservations and borrowing histories to the new system is not possible due to technical and privacy policy reasons. You will be able to start reserving documents in swisscovery from Monday, 7 December 2020.

After completing your studies, you do not have to open a new account, as your existing account will be adjusted automatically. The ZHAW CampusCard will be deactivated. If you wish, you can obtain a new library card at your library's lending desk.

You can continue to make on-site use of the library and also borrow media from the ZHAW University Library premises.

Leaving the ZHAW will result in the following changes in terms of services:

• Book deliveries from other libraries to your preferred library cost CHF 6 to 8 per ordered copy

Further fees will only be charged in the following cases:

• The initiation of services that are subject to a fee, such as the postal delivery of media to private or business addresses and orders for the digitisation of non-circulating items from the ZHAW libraries
• The incurrence of overdue fees upon the late return of borrowed media

An overview of the fees can also be found in our FAQs in the “Externals” column.

E-media:

• It is no longer possible to access e-media from off campus in the absence of ZHAW account login details and a VPN

Alternatively, e-media can be consulted free of charge on site at the ZHAW locations. Subject to copyright protection, it is generally possible to download and save documents on USB sticks that you bring with you.

All documents of the libraries participating in SLSP can be found via the swisscovery portal. Documents can usually be borrowed on site in the libraries. A large number of the documents can be ordered from the libraries' own or other libraries.

SLSP courier connects academic libraries from all over Switzerland. With SLSP courier it is possible for you to have books delivered from one library to another within three working days for a fee of CHF 6 to 8 per ordered document. These fees are waived for ZHAW staff and students.

You can find out which libraries are participating in SLSP courier during the ordering process.

• 100 borrowable documents per institution
• Usually 28 days loan period
• 5 automatic renewals (if the document is not reserved by another person)

Fees for SLSP Courier, postal delivery, digitization requests and InterLibrary Loan along the SLSP pricing.

A fee is charged for every reminder that needs to be sent. The fees are cumulative.

The timing of the reminders depends on the loan period of the respective item.

In your user account you will find a summary of your chargeable services on swisscovery and, if applicable, library reminders. Active fees can be paid directly by cash at the information desk in the ZHAW library in Winterthur. Transferred fees will be invoiced via SLSP.

SLSP operates the swisscovery platform on behalf of 490 libraries in Switzerland and handles billing on their behalf.

For transferred fees, a monthly invoice is issued by SLSP. These refer to the fee-based services you received on swisscovery in the month before last (e.g. in May for March).

To pay the fee, refer to the QR bill sent to you via e-mail. You can pay the QR bill using your mobile banking app or via e-banking. The QR code contains all of the relevant information needed for the payment process. When entering payment data manually, please note that the reference number must be provided. Payments for which no reference number is stated cannot be assigned and have to be refunded, meaning your bill remains unpaid.

Alternatively, you can pay open fee-based services and incurred library reminder fees from swisscovery directly by cash at the information desk on the first floor in the ZHAW University Library Winterthur before receiving an invoice.

The QR code for mobile banking and e-banking represents an additional function on the bill. However, the bill still works like a conventional payment slip. It contains all of the information required for the payment, including the payment recipient, account, reference number, currency and amount. This means that the bill can also be settled using existing payment methods. If you don’t have mobile banking or e-banking, the bill can be paid at the counter of a Swiss Post branch or by issuing your bank a payment order in an envelope.

At the ZHAW University Library Winterthur it is possible to pay on site. At the Zurich and Wädenswil locations, open fees cannot be paid. In some cases it is possible to pay on site in other libraries. Please enquire in advance whether this service is still offered. However, fees that have already been billed by SLSP can no longer be settled on site and must be paid using the QR bill. The libraries only have access to the university platform and cannot access the central SLSP billing system.

Should you have any questions about individual items listed on your bill, please contact the library stated on the bill directly for the relevant items. Complaints will only be accepted by the responsible library within 30 days of the bill being dispatched.

SLSP issues a collective bill for services subject to a fee provided by libraries affiliated to swisscovery. The bill shows at which library each service was used. It may be the case, however, that individual library services are not listed on the bill, as these are not part of swisscovery and/or are billed directly by the respective libraries.

You have to change your personal details (e.g. postal address, e-mail address for billing) directly in your SWITCH-edu-ID account. Libraries are unable to update your personal details. Bills are issued via e-mail and also include your preferred postal address, which you can adjust on the registration platform and where you can choose whether you would like to use your business or private address as your preferred postal address (swisscovery – Library Card Management and Settings).

Your preferred postal address is printed on it, which you can adjust on the registration platform.

If SLSP does not receive a payment from you by the payment deadline, you will receive a reminder from SLSP. Should you ignore the payment reminder, you will be sent a final reminder after 30 days. If payment is still not received, the library at which the charges were incurred reserves the right to temporarily block your access to swisscovery until the payment is made. Should you be unable to pay the outstanding amount by the final deadline, please contact the specified library directly.

In swisscovery, you can view the fees related to your account under: My account > Fees. Fees that have been billed and/or already paid are no longer shown, as these fees are transferred to the SLSP financial management system and processed further from there.

SLSP recommends making transfers in Swiss francs, as the net outstanding amount is owed in Swiss francs. Fees relating to international payments will be borne by you in full. To ensure that SLSP and the library receive the full amount and your bill is settled correctly, the details provided on the bill (incl. the reference number) must be entered exactly as they are stated. If you are unable to transfer the amount in Swiss francs, please contact the library where the fees were incurred. As an alternative to expensive international payments, SLSP recommends paying bills in Switzerland at a branch of Swiss Post, the country’s national postal operator. QR bills can be paid easily there.

To receive a new bill, please send an e-mail to  with your contact details. Please make sure in advance that the billing e-mail sent by SLSP is not in your spam folder.

On registration, SLSP imports your personal data (names, addresses, telephone numbers, etc.) from your SWITCH edu-ID account into the swisscovery research portal. You will be asked during the registration process to consent to your data being passed on to SLSP.

You can change your personal data or affiliated institution/university at any time in your SWITCH edu-ID account. The changes are automatically transmitted to swisscovery. Library specific data such as borrowed media, orders and fees are recorded directly in swisscovery.

You can delete your user account at any time provided that there are no open transactions (borrowed media or fees). To delete your user account, either delete your SWITCH edu-ID account or contact SLSP by email: swisscovery@slsp.ch

Transaction data is regularly anonymised and accounts in swisscovery are erased after 10 years of inactivity.

For more information on the privacy policy and data protection, please see the SLSP website.