You can also consult our video tutorials (in French).
Your account
Thanks to your Renouvaud account, you can:
- view your current loans
- request documents
- renew your loans
- make an interlibrary loan request
- save searches and titles
- update your personal information
To log in, go to the Sign in button in the main menu:
You can use your library card number, the email address you have registered with or your Switch Edu-ID credentials.
Once connected, access your account by clicking on your name at the top, then go to My Account. From there, you can access all your account information.
Loans and loan history
Under the Loan tab, you can view your active loans. You can also view your previous loans, by selecting this option in the drop down menu.
Renewing your loans
Your loans can be renewed either one at a time, by using the "Renew" button on each line. The button "Renew all" allows you to renew all loans at the same time. It is also possible to only select some documents.
Note : The message "Selected loans have been successfully renewed" displays with the new return date. You may get the message "Not Renewable" if it is not possible to renew the item.
Consulting the status of your requests
You can check the list of your requests and their status. The small arrow on the right of a request lets you view more details. A confirmation email is sent when the item is ready for pickup.
A request can also be cancelled.
Changing your password
Your password must have at least 8 characters and can contain numbers, letters and special characters. It can be changed under "Update your password" in the Personal Details tab.
Searching and finding documents
Simple search
Enter your keywords in the search box. All search terms are searched for, except articles and stop words (except if the search is for an exact phrase). You can ignore capital letters and accents.
Choose in which search profile you wish to perform your search. By default, the search is done for All resources, which includes print and online resources.
The dropdown menu lets you select other search profiles, for example to limit your seach to online resources only.
Students from Higher Education libraries can select a search profile for their school library only.
Filtering the results
After performing your search, you can sort and filter the results using facets. There are different filter options, such as Availability, Resource type, Library, Subject etc. Those allow you to limit your search to produce more relevant results.
For example, after performing an initial search, you may want to filter to specific types of resources, only books, or journals and articles. You may also want to filter to a specific library, a certain author or specific publication dates. You can select several filters at the same time, using the selection boxes and the Apply filters button:
Filters can be combined, remembered for further searches or can be reset, one at a time or all together.
Using the search options
You can combine keywords and get more relevant results. The following options can be used:
Boolean operators
Those must be written in capital letters: AND (used by default), OR and NOT (to exclude words).
Wildcards
The question mark sign ? replaces one letter. For example wom?n finds woman and women.
The asterisk * replaces several characters. For example, sociolog* searches the word in French and in English : sociologie, sociology, as well as sociologue, sociologique.
Expressions
The use of inverted commas allows to search for a phrase and get a more precise result. For example: « Traité de Paris ».
Advanced search
For a more detailed search, you can use the advanced search that gives you targeted search field options.
As with a simple search, the default search profile is for All resources but others can be selected. Several search criteria can be entered in specific fields, for example we can search for a word or a phrase in "Any field" with a search for a precise author, select one or more languages, the material type and publication dates.
Displaying the results
Search results display as a list. For each title, we can already access some information such as: title, publishing information, resource type and availability.
Clicking on the title takes to a detailed page with more information on the resource and its availability status or online access options. To view full information, it is necessary to log into your account.
The small icons which can be found on each line of results, as well as at the bottom of the detailed title page, provide additional options, such as extracting the citation, exporting the information about the resource, printing etc.
Discovery collections
The discovery collections group resources on a same subject. They are curated by librarians. It is possible to access these via the main menu:
The detailed page of a title that is included in a collection displays other titles part of the same collection:
Requesting and reserving documents (books, DVD, CD…)
Some documents are accessible on open shelves and can be fetched and borrowed directly, either at the loan desk or the self-check machine. Make a note of the call number to find the document you wish to borrow. The LOCATE button also provides further information on its location.
To request a document that is not on open shelves, that is already on loan or comes from a different site, you need to log into your account to see what your loan options are. If a document is available for loan, the Request button can be used to access the booking form, on which you can specify the pickup library. If the item is on loan, you can view the return date.
Saving search results
Adding favourites
Once logged in, you can save the items you are interested in by adding them to your Favourites. From the search results, select the titles you wish to keep and go to the pin icon to save them.
Titles that were already saved are shown with a different background colour. When you add new titles, you can add labels to organise your favourites. If labels already exist, they are also listed.
You can manage your Favourites in your account: add titles and labels, remove an item or a complete list of items by using the crossed-off pin icon, send your favourites in an email etc. Several email addresses can be added, with a comma to separate them. Note that the action of removing items cannot be undone!
Saving your search
It is possible to save a search in a similar way. In this case, select the Save query link at the top of the search results.
To access your saved searches, use the same links as for favourites explained above, then go to "Saved searches". It is possible to save an alert for the search in order to receive an email every time a new title is added in the search. The search can be run again, by clicking on it.
Search history
The search history can be accessed in your account's menu.
Consulting electronic resources
Identifiying and accessing electronic resources
After performing a search, check the green text that displays under each search result: electronic resources can be identified if you see "Online access", "Available online" or "Check for online availability". By following the link, you will get more information about your access options. You may need to log in for full details.
Sometimes the link directly specifies who has access; for example: (Accès UNIL; CHUV; HEP Vaud; Sites BCUL) means that only users with access to the VPN of these institutions will be able to access the online document.
If you see a link with the word PDF, it provides direct access to the document without going through the publishing platform.
Some electronic documents are published in Open Access. Those can be identified with the OA logo (open orange padlock).
To limit results to online documents only, you can use the Availability filter after perfoming your search:
Resources under licence
Libraries from Lausanne University (UNIL), the CHUV and the specialised higher education schools (HES) buy electronic resources and make them available to anyone visiting the library on site. Remote access is limited to members of these institutions and is managed via their VPN, AAI account etc. To find out more information about this, follow the links below:
- The UNIL network ;
- The CHUV network ;
- The HEP Vaud network ;
- For the HES, please contact the library you registered with.
Resources under a national licence
Resources under national licenses are accessible to all in an authorised library or directly online via swisscovery. You will need to have a SWITCH edu-ID account. For more information and to create a SWITCH edu-ID account, please go to the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries.
Resources that require a login
Some electronic resources (eLectures, Pressreader) can be accessed by all but require you to register to their platform. After logging into your account, you may access the resources from anywhere and on any device. More information about those services is available on the BCUL website.
In summary, what do I have access to?
If you are not part of an academic institution
Full text resources are not accessible to everyone remotely, but you can access them onsite if the library subscribes to these resources.
Some electronic resources (eLectures, Pressreader or under national licences) require you to create an account that gives you remote access.
If you are a member of an academic institution
You have access on site and remotely via VPN or your AAI account to the resources that your library has subscribed to.
Other services to access electronic resources
Browzine
Browzine provides a pleasant and intuitive interface for browsing the electronic journals offered to you by Renouvaud.
You can access Browzine from the Renouvaud discovery service through the main menu. If you don't see it, click or tap on the 3 dots and find the link to Browzine.
It is also possible to use the Browzine app for a pleasant reading experience on your mobile device.
LibKey Nomad
LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that provides quick access to electronic articles that the Renouvaud libraries subscribe to, from external sites such as PubMed or Wikipedia (see the complete list). Access is based on the electronic resources licence parameters. These display when using the browser extension for the first time: enter "Renouvaud" in the box to select the organisation and choose the option that displays the institution you are affiliated with:
Example of LibKey Nomad access links displaying on PubMed:
LibKey.io
The LibKey.io service allows you to target an article search by DOI or PMID identifier based on the Renouvaud offer.
When visiting for the first time, enter "Renouvaud" in the organisation search box and select the option that corresponds to your access rights.
Accessing resources from Google Scholar
Google Scholar is Google's academic search tool. You can configure Google Scholar to display your Renouvaud access rights and find the link to the full text online. After logging into your account, go to Settings and find the Library links. You can then search for "Renouvaud", tick the box for Réseau Renouvaud S & P - Full Text@Renouvaud and save.
Google Scholar indexes scientific articles, books and more, and sometimes provides full text access to resources by connecting to your institution's VPN. You will find a direct link to the full text or to a resource under licence from the library's discovery service when you see "Full Text@Renouvaud".
ILL – Interlibrary Loan service
If the document you are looking for is not available at Renouvaud, is not part of the Renouvaud libraries' collections or is, for example, in a reference library that you cannot go to, you may be able to get the item from another Swiss or foreign library by placing an interlibrary loan. This is a fee-based service. View all information about costs.
The document exists at Renouvaud
If a document exists in one of the Renouvaud libraries but is not available, or it is available but for one reason or another, you cannot access it, it is possible to place an ILL request after logging into your account.
When displaying the detailed information about the title you are interested in, go to the section "Get it from a library outside Renouvaud". The "Request" button takes you to a form, in which you can select the pickup library and provide further information about the desired item.
This is a fee based service. The cost may vary, according to availability and provenance of the item.
The document does not exist at Renouvaud : search Renouvaud plus
Renouvaud plus searches the collections of partner libraries from the swisscovery network. You can access this service either by following the link after "Do you want to expand your search outside Renouvaud" displaying at the top of search results or by selecting the option "Renouvaud Plus" that displays under the search box, as you enter your search terms:
The document is not available in the "Renouvaud Plus" search
If no result is found, you can access a general ILL request form from the main menu.
Fill in the requested fields, select your pickup location at the bottom of the form and send your request.
Information on your account about the ILL requests