Main Library of Warsaw University of Technology - Circulation

Online requests

Key information about the Main Library's collections can be found in the library catalogue.

Most books available at WUT Main Library can be requested online by logging into your library account. For copies where this option is available, the ‘Request’ button will be visible after selecting location.

The ‘Request’ option is also active for books currently on loan to other users. In this case, when requesting a borrowed copy, you join the queue (this also applies to books in the Open Stacks location).

The ‘Request’ button is not visible to users who have reached their borrowing limit (check out: User authorisation levels) or whose library account has been blocked.

Pickup time

The requested book is ready for pickup when the message ‘On Hold Shelf until [pick-up date]’ appears in the ‘Requests’ tab of the user's library account. The requested material can be picked up within 4 working days from the date of its completion, or within 12 days in the case of extramural and postgraduate students.

Pickup location

To pick up your requested book, please go to the location indicated in the library catalogue as the pickup location. It is also visible in your library account in the “Requests” tab.

Loan period

The loan period for books is specified for each copy in the library catalogue after selecting the location, visible as ‘Available (…) for [specified period]’. After borrowing a book, the due date will appear in your library account under the ‘Loans’ tab. In justified cases, the library may request that the book be returned before the due date.

Borrowing limits

The status of individual user groups, borrowing limits and the maximum single validity period of a library account are listed in the table on the User authorisation levels page.

The borrowing limit applies to all loans on the user's library account, regardless of their location (Main Library, branches, and faculty and institute libraries). Other WUT libraries (faculty and institute libraries) may apply additional restrictions on loans from their collections.

BiblioWawa inter-university library loans

The Main Library of Warsaw University of Technology participates in BiblioWawa Warsaw Reciprocal Borrowing Programme, under which registered users from WUT can borrow library materials from affiliated libraries. Register at Student Lending Room (Main Building, ground floor, room 71). More information about BiblioWawa

• The loan period depends on the regulations of the participating libraries
• Borrowing limit: 3 books at a time per user in each participating library

Renewal won’t be possible in the following cases:

• the book has been reserved by another user
• your library account has been blocked (check out: library account)
• you have reached the maximum number of renewals

Overdue books

If a borrowed book is not returned by the due date, the library account will be automatically blocked and a fee will be charged (PLN 0.3 per day). For more information about account blocking, check out: library account.
See also: Regulations and fees

Loss or damage of a book

If a borrowed book is lost or damaged, the user is required to provide the library with an identical copy. If it is not possible to purchase an identical copy, the librarian will indicate another book of similar value to the damaged/lost book.

Diploma, doctoral and habilitation theses

BSc, BA, and MSc theses that are not classified, were defended after 1 July 2021, and for which the author has granted the Warsaw University of Technology a licence to make them available in a closed library system, are available in electronic form on terminals in: Open Stacks (2nd floor, room 242a); South Campus Library (room 206); Main Library Branch in Płock (room 32); faculty libraries (Architecture, Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering, Chemical and Process Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electronic and Information Technology, Environmental Engineering, Mechatronics, Physics, Power and Aeronautical Engineering, Transport).

Other theses are stored at the faculties (Faculty and Institute Libraries or dean's offices). To determine whether these theses are available for inspection, please contact the relevant unit.

Doctoral theses (paper versions) defended at WUT are available in Open Stacks, 3rd floor. They can only be used on site, after placing an order with the librarian. Doctoral theses are made available under special conditions and may not be copied.

Doctoral theses from some faculties, including Architecture, Civil Engineering, Mechanics and Petrochemistry in Płock, are only available on site in faculty libraries.

Doctoral theses from 1990 onwards, included in WUT Base of Knowledge, are available in electronic form on terminals in: Open Stacks (2nd floor, room 242a); South Campus Library (room 206); Main Library Branch in Płock (room 32); faculty libraries (Architecture, Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering, Chemical and Process Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electronic and Information Technology, Environmental Engineering, Mechatronics, Physics, Power and Aeronautical Engineering, Transport). The chronological scope of doctoral theses available in WUT Base of Knowledge will be gradually expanded.

The collection of doctoral theses, both in print and digital form, is not entirely complete, as not all copies are submitted to WUT Base of Knowledge. If you cannot find the doctoral thesis you are looking for, we recommend checking the faculty library. Habilitation theses that have been published in the form of a scientific journal are available in Open Stacks, 2nd floor. If they have been published in the form of a monograph (book), they are available under general rules (check the status and location of the copy in the library catalogue).

Check out: WUT Base of Knowledge

Journals

At least the last three volumes of each journal available on site are accessible in the Open Stacks section on the 2nd floor. Journal titles are arranged on shelves according to subject areas (check out: List of Divisions).

Older volumes of journals must be ordered electronically or from a librarian; they are brought from the stores for on-site viewing (delivery takes from 30 minutes to 4 working days, depending on the location).

Most current foreign journal titles are available only in electronic form. They can be accessed from any computer after logging into your library account.

Standards

On-site access – in the WUT Main Library reading rooms

• Standards Reading Room – Main Library, Open Stacks
  • Main Building, Pl. Politechniki 1, 2nd floor, room 242A
  • access: online + print
  • full access to standards online from computers in the Reading Room
  • printed standards available on site
  • availability information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Reading Room of the WUT Branch Library in Płock
  • ul. Łukasiewicza 17, room 32
  • access: online + print
  • full access to standards online from a computer in the Reading Room
  • printed standards available on site
  • availability information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Reading Room of the South Campus Library
  • ul. Narbutta 86, 2nd floor, room 206
  • access: print only
  • availability information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Note: some standards issued after 2013 can be found in the Primo catalogue.

Types of standards available in WUT libraries

• all Polish Standards (PN), including those harmonised with ISO, EN and IEC
• selected foreign standards, e.g. ASTM
• selected Industry Standards (BN)

Terms of use

• copying the entirety of Polish Standards and Standardisation Documents is prohibited
• reproduction of excerpts is only possible:
  • up to 5% of the volume – without the consent of the Polish Committee for Standardisation (PKN)
  • up to 30% of the volume (e.g. tables, drawings) – with the consent of PKN
• educational and scientific institutions may use fragments for teaching and research purposes (Articles 27–35 of the Copyright Act)
• for more information please consult: https://www.pkn.pl/en/na-skroty/faq

Online access from anywhere

The library also offers access to electronic databases containing standards and standardisation materials:

• PKN standards search engine – catalogue of the Polish Committee for Standardisation (search by number, status, description); no access to full versions of standards
• IEEE/IEE Electronic Library (IEEE Xplore) – IEEE standards and publications in the fields of engineering, electronics, telecommunications, energy, robotics and transport; access to the full versions of standards

Special collections

The Special Collections consist of: old prints (documents published before 1800), Polish publications published before 1945, foreign publications published before 1900, Polish journals published before 1950, cartographic and photographic collections. The collections are available for viewing only on site in the Special Collections Reading Room (Main Building, ground floor, room 70). For particularly valuable collections, the consent of the Head of the Special Collections Department is required.

As part of the project ‘Special collection on spatial management and urban planning in the collections of WUT libraries’, co-financed by the DUN programme (science dissemination activities), 1,300 photographs and 200 slides on sacral architecture and over 1,250 typescripts from the 1930s to the 1990s on architecture, urban planning, spatial management and environmental protection have been digitised. They form the Special Collections’ Digital Collection, which can be viewed on a terminal in Open Stacks, 2nd floor, room 242a. Some of the photographs and typescripts, that are in the public domain, are available online in WUT Digital Library in the Spatial Management and Housing Collection.

Before ordering a title included in the Special Collections, it is worth checking the availability of its digital copy in WUT Digital Library.