Access and registration
Free access to the reading room
Access to the library and the reading rooms is available to all users, internal and external, free of charge. The only services subject to charges are requests for documents from other libraries. These charges vary, depending on the type of user.
Searches of the library collections and bibliographical searches in art and architecture can be carried out using the catalogue, which includes not only the book collection but also other documentary and electronic resources in these disciplines owned and suitably curated by the Academy of Architecture Library.
The library catalogue also offers access to swisscovery, a research platform that aggregates the collections of 500 academic libraries across Switzerland. Through the inter-library loan service using the swisscovery courier we provide swift access to the entire stock of academic documents kept in libraries throughout Switzerland: over 40 million books and periodicals, and more than 3 billion electronic articles.
Registration for the services
To use all the library’s services (loans and access to swisscovery), you are required to register.
To register for swisscovery you need to have a SWITCH edu-ID account.
If you already own a SWITCH edu-ID account, you can go directly to the swisscovery registration platform.
If you do not yet have a SWITCH edu-ID account, you need to click on “Create an account” on the swisscovery registration platform, or visit the SWITCH edu-ID page to create an account.
USI students, teaching staff or collaborators are invited to visit www.desk.usi.ch first in order to create a new SWITCH edu-id account or to check if their existing account is connected to USI. On the swisscovery registration page it is possible to add and/or change the library card number.
Registration is free of charge for everyone.
To help you with this process, we have created a pdf file with instructions.
