Library of the Faculty of Economics - Universitätsbibliothek Bochum (EN)

Faculty Library of Management and Economics

Welcome to the website of the Faculty Library of Management and Economics

We offer you access to electronic and printed specialist literature as well as expert advice:

approx. 110,000 monographs
approx. 100 current journals
400 study desks
7 group study rooms
Access to leading economics databases
Research courses
Help with literature searches

Opening hours

Monday to Friday: 8 am to 10 pm

Latest news

10.2.2025 - Changes to our group rooms and introduction of break times

Due to a change in the booking modalities for our group rooms, bookings are currently only possible up to and including Friday 14 February

On Monday, 17 February, the group rooms will be closed and appointments can be booked from 14:00 onwards.

Please note that the following rules apply to future bookings:

a) A user account with our booking service SuperSaas, created with a RUB email address, is required to make a booking. Existing user accounts will be deleted in the course of next Monday to ensure that all accounts comply with this rule.

b) Use of the group study rooms is only possible for a maximum of 3 hours per day!

As before, this also applies to any group combinations, i.e. anyone who has already used the room booked by another person for 3 hours that day cannot book it themselves for a further 3 hours!

A maximum of two open bookings per group are still possible and a further booking can only be made after the start of the first session.

c) In future, the booking system will automatically allow a break of 15 minutes between two bookings. Please note that the information desk team will check the room for damage and soiling during this time, for which the presence of the person who booked the room is required.

d) When booking, the names of all other group members must be entered in full (first name and surname) in the appropriate field. Bookings that do not contain any other names or only first names will be cancelled!

e) The rooms will be closed at 17:45!

We understand that these rules are a deterioration compared to the previous conditions, but this is the only way to ensure that all students have the opportunity to use clean rooms with functioning technology for their group work.

We ask for your understanding.

2. Introduction of a break clock system

In the GD Library, reserving workstations is generally not permitted in order to offer all users the same opportunity to work. In order to ensure fair use of workstations, we have introduced break time clocks.

How the break clock works:

The break clock can be used to keep your workstation free for a short break of a maximum of one hour.

You will already find the break timer at all workstations, otherwise you can obtain a new break timer from the information desk.
Set the break timer accordingly when you leave your desk for a break. Your seat will then be reserved for you for the specified time.
At the end of the break, the space can be occupied or vacated by other users or library staff, regardless of your personal belongings.
Important notes:

Break clocks are not permitted at tables that are reserved for specific tasks (e.g. exam papers, Bachelor's or Master's theses) as these reservations take priority.
Reserving seats for longer periods of time or for other users is not permitted.
It is also not permitted to ‘pass on’ the break clock or use the clock for longer breaks.
Please note:

Clear your space as soon as you no longer need it, thus allowing others to use it.
The purpose of the break clock is solely to support fair use of space and to help ensure that everyone has enough room to work.
Thank you for your understanding and your help!

Your GD Library team

RUB Primo Catalogue

In our RUB Primo Catalog you will find the holdings of the RUB libraries with the location details for print media or the link to the full texts of the electronic resources.

Book group study room

Book a room

- There are 7 group study rooms available within the library. A room can be booked for a maximum of 6 hours per day. Bookings can be made up to 14 days in advance.
- Please note the rules for using the group study rooms.
- At the start of your booked time slot, please come to the information desk, where you can then collect the key for the room against a deposit. You can also borrow whiteboard markers and HDMI cables from the counter.
- As the group rooms are in high demand, we recommend that you book them several days in advance. Alternatively, you can check the booking page to see if anything has become available spontaneously.

Using the library

Lending: Lending is only possible for a short period of time. For this you need a RUB library account and the RUB Bib App.
Theses: For students of the Faculty of Management and Economics who are currently writing their Bachelor's or Master's thesis (written proof from the chair or examination office required), it is possible to reserve a study desk in the GD library.
Lockers: Lockers can be borrowed for the day from the information desk on presentation of your student ID or for a deposit. You can also take bags and jackets into the library.
Book scanners: On floor 04 and floor 06 you will find a total of three book scanners by the stairs, which you can use to scan sections from books/magazines (within the scope of copyright law). Please bring your own USB flash drive!

Notes on use

We would also like to point out that eating and drinking (except for water in transparent plastic bottles) are not permitted in the library!
We therefore ask you to leave food and drinks in your bag or lock them in the lockers provided.
Here you'll find our terms of use: Terms of use (Available in German only).

Where to find what: Information about the library

General information

In our library you will currently find around 110,000 books on economic topics as well as around 17,000 bound volumes of older journals. In addition, there are 100 current journal subscriptions and access to many thousands of electronic journals in full text. You can find an overview of our complete holdings in the RUB Primo Catalogue, which you can search using the search field at the top of this page.

More detailed information on the structure of our book holdings can be found in our classification system (Available in German only). This is also the basis for the placement of the books within the library.

Floor plans, showing where which subject areas are located within the library, can be found in our flyer.

In the RUB Primo Catalogue you will find the shelf marks for all our printed books, usually with the location ‘(GD 04/220) Bibliothek’. This information generally refers to the library entrance. You can then use the floor plans to check on which floor you will find the book. The majority of our books are located on floor 05, which you can reach via the stairs or the lift within the library.

If the location is labeled with other information, such as ‘Ausleihtheke’ or ‘L 05’, this is a special location. Books with the location ‘Ausleihtheke’ can be requested from the information desk for use in the library against a deposit. Books with locations such as ‘L 05’, ‘L 18’ etc. are available at a departmental library. You will find these copies directly at the corresponding chair, whose office you can find in this list of chair abbreviations.

The library is located in the GD building with the entrance on floor 04 (GD 04/220).

It extends over three floors, on which the WLAN network eduroam and LAN ports are available.

Floor 04

Holdings of shelfmark group A and holdings of the Social Sciences and the Central Law Seminar.
Unbound journal issues (shelfmark group B) on the journal shelf (current year)
Information desk
5 Internet PCs
2 book scanners
Loose-leaf collections
New acquisitions
Study desks

Floor 05

Holdings of shelfmark groups C-X
7 group study rooms
Silentium (Internet PCs and workshops)
5 Internet PCs
Study desks
Toilets

Floor 06

Bound journal volumes (shelfmark group B)
1 book scanner

Research courses and research tips specifically for economics

Book a course via the Cituro service

We would like to support you in further developing your information retrieval skills. To this end, we regularly offer research courses in which we want to show you the basics of searching for economics articles and books.

These courses mainly take place in the library's training room (Silentium, GD 05/163, near the toilets), but we also occasionally offer appointments via Zoom.

(If it is a Zoom appointment, you will receive the access link by e-mail the day before/morning of the appointment).

Our research courses are held in German, if you require a course in English, please send an e-mail to wiwi-bibl@rub.de.

Course 1: Thematic search in economics databases (basics)

Aim:
Introduction to the thematic search for German and English-language, specialized economic literature (WISO and Business Source Premier)
Please register by 3:45 pm the day before at the latest.
Download the course script for course 1 (as of 2024)

Course 2: Finding specialized economic information on the Internet (builds on course 1!)

Aim:
To become familiar with economics research platforms and other databases and search engines, e.g. Google Scholar, Econbiz, citation analyses, etc.
Internet research for specialized information: working papers, dissertations
Please register by 3:45 pm the day before at the latest.
Download the course script for course 2 (as of 2024)

Please register for course 1 or course 2 via the following link:

Book a course via the Cituro service

Research tips specifically for the field of economics

When searching for information on economics, it is best to use the specialized databases licensed by the RUB. These can be found in the header of this page under ‘Search & Find’ -> ‘Databases’.

You can find a direct link to specialized economic databases here: Specialized information on economics

For articles and books that you have found in a database, it is often possible to check directly in the database whether we have them in electronic or printed form at RUB. To do this, look out for a button labeled ‘Find it’:

Clicking on it will take you to our Primo catalogue, where you may be able to see the shelf mark(s) in the RUB libraries or a download link to the electronic version.

However, this system is not error-free. If you do not get a hit, you should look again manually in various catalogues:

1. Primo Catalogue: This catalogue displays you all books and eBooks of the RUB libraries.
2. HBZ Catalogue: This supra-regional catalogue for university libraries in North Rhine-Westphalia displays books in universities of applied sciences and universities in Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, Cologne etc. - you may find a visit there quicker than requesting an interlibrary loan.
3. Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB): This catalogue is especially suitable for searching for journals and is also supra-regional.

When using the supra-regional catalogues, please always check via the link to the catalogue of the corresponding library (in the HBZ) or via the ‘Holdings’ button (in the ZDB) whether the desired books or journal volumes are actually available there!

Journal rankings

You can assess the quality of a journal article using various journal rankings:

Management

With the ‘VHB Rating 2024 for Publication Media’, the German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB) publishes a quality ranking of many business administration journals in which the academic quality of these journals is assessed by experts.

Unlike the JourQual 3 rating from 2015, this new ranking no longer provides an overall list, as journals can have different scores in individual subject areas.

You can find the partial ratings under this link:

Partial ratings / VHB rating 2024 for publication media

Economics

In 2013, the Handelsblatt published a ranking specifically for economics journals.

You can find an extended version of this, including our holdings and links to the electronic version, here:

Handelsblatt VWL-Ranking 2013

Create filter lists

Using these quality rankings, you can create a filter list for articles from journals with a high rating (A+ and A rating) in various databases.

We have already done this for you for the Business Source Premier and Web of Science databases using the VHB Rating 2024.

You can find these ready-made search strings here:

Journal rankings filter list VHB 2024 (in German)

You can insert these search strings into the search field in a database and send this search query. Using the search history, you then have the option of combining this search for journals with a high rating with another thematic search query. In this way, only results that a) match your topic and b) come from an A+ or A-rated journal will be displayed.
If you have any further questions on this or other research topics, please contact us at the information desk or attend one of our research courses. We are happy to help!

The library team