How to order

Orders in approved standard formats

• <Online order form> (fast, no surcharge)
• <Fax form>
• <Super Express order form> for urgent orders

Orders in non-standard formats
(4 euro surcharge applied to each order)

• By post
• By fax: +49 (0)221 478 7124
• By e-mail: bestellung@zbmed.de

Information we need to ensure a reliable service

Your details

We can only accept your order if you provide us with the following details:

• Surname, name of the person ordering the item
• Postal address (address of institute where applicable)
• Phone number
• Fax number (if fax is your chosen method of delivery
• E-mail address (if you have selected electronic delivery)

Payment

When you send an order by post, fax or electronic means, you automatically agree to accept the ZB MED's general terms and conditions and information on fees and charges. By submitting your order, you confirm that you will pay in full all the fees and charges that become due as a result of us filling your order (including expenses, bank charges, etc.).

Please note that you will still be liable to pay all fees and charges in the event that you receive a document which does not meet your requirements as a result of you providing us with erroneous or incomplete details. All invoices are sent by post, so we can only accept orders with a valid postal address.

Billing

You will receive a monthly invoice and are required to pay the amount specified on the invoice in full within four weeks.
Any objections you wish to raise against the invoice must be asserted in writing or verbally (for transcription) within four weeks of delivery of the invoice.

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Speed of delivery

There are three types of delivery: Standard, Express and Super Express.

Standard Delivery

• Standard orders will be processed within three working days.

Express Delivery

• Express orders will be processed within 24 hours of their receipt by us on working days (excluding Saturdays). This 24-hour processing time does not include the time required for shipping.

Super Express Delivery

• Super Express orders for non-returnable documents will be processed and sent to you within three hours on working days (excluding Saturdays) if we receive your order before 2 p.m.

If you do not specify which type of delivery you prefer, your order will be treated as a Standard Delivery.

When does the order processing period begin?

The order processing period begins when your order arrives and ends when we send your item by post, fax or e-mail. The ZB MED shall not be liable for any postal delays or fax/e-mail delivery failures.

How can I make sure my order arrives safely?

• For postal deliveries: Check that the postal address you have given us is correct.
• For fax deliveries: Make sure that your fax machine is working properly and ready to receive documents.
• For e-mail deliveries: Make sure you have given us a valid e-mail address and that your mailbox has enough capacity to receive digital documents, which can sometimes be quite large.

Disclaimer 

We cannot accept any liability for problems in receiving e-mails.

If the attempt to send an e-mail is unsuccessful, you can choose to receive a paper copy by post subject to the corresponding charges.

If delivery of an express order is delayed for reasons that do not fall within the ZB MED's sphere of responsibility, you will still be liable to pay the fee for an express order without deduction.

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Delivery methods

Non-returnable documents

are sent or made available in the form of copies by post, by fax or electronically by e-mail or FTP.

Please make sure you clearly indicate your desired method of delivery. If you do not specify a preferred method of delivery, we will deliver the item by post as a paper copy.

Note that if an item cannot be delivered by electronic means, it will automatically be sent by post.

All postal deliveries include a delivery note. In the case of electronic or fax deliveries, the delivery note will be included with the items either electronically or by fax. Invoices are sent separately.

Returnable items  

are sent by the ZB MED in the form of a package. The loan period is generally four weeks from the date of shipment. The library can reduce the loan period if this becomes necessary in the course of library services or for any other reasons.
Once you have finished with an item, you must return it by package post. Note that you are liable for the cost of postage. For peace of mind, we recommend that you request a certificate of posting to avoid liability in case of loss. Liability in the case of loss generally comprises the cost of replacing the lost item and a handling fee as stipulated in the Higher Education Act of North Rhine Westphalia (‘GebO-IKM NRW’). The same terms and conditions apply to the use of the document delivery service SUBITO.3.

Arrangements can be made with industry clients, commercial customers and libraries allowing a maximum of 50 books to be taken out on loan simultaneously, and introducing the option of reservations.

Failure to return an item by the due date shall cause overdue fines to be applied as stipulated in the Higher Education Act of North Rhine Westphalia (‘GebO-IKM NRW’).

Failure to pay overdue fines shall result in the ZB MED withdrawing your borrowing privileges.

All other borrowing terms and conditions are governed by the ZB MED's Library regulations. Exceptions to the borrowing arrangements are listed separately.

We will inform you as soon as possible if the ZB MED is unable to fill an order.

Postal delivery

Postal deliveries are handled by Deutsche Post.

Fax delivery

Make sure that your fax machine is ready to receive the document and that it contains enough paper. Your fax machine will need to conform to Class 3 fax standards; it is not possible to send documents to Class 2 devices for technical reasons.

Combined fax and postal delivery

For an extra charge of 5 euros, we will send a copy of the requested article by post after sending it by fax.

Super Express delivery

Please use our Super Express service for urgent orders:

• Orders received by 2 p.m. will be processed within three hours.
• Orders received after 2 p.m. will be processed by 10 a.m. the next working day.

Super Express orders are delivered by fax or e-mail.

Please use our <Super Express order form> in PDF format (4 euro surcharge) or our <Online order form>.

Delivery by e-mail

Due to changes in copyright law, items can only be delivered by e-mail in exceptional cases if prior approval has been granted. If we are not able to deliver the item using your preferred method of delivery, we will send it by fax (if you have provided a fax number) or by post at the standard charges.

For e-mail deliveries, the ordered articles are scanned in at a resolution of 200-300 dpi. As a rule, ZB MED sends items as PDF files. You will need to have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to open these files.

Please note that some Internet providers place limits on the size of e-mails, i.e. they do not permit the sending or receiving of large e-mails. Please check with your Internet provider before ordering.

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Charges

Fees depend on which user group you belong to, how fast you wish your order to be processed, and your chosen method of delivery. Copyright fees are included in the charges and are indicated separately in the table below. Charges are applied for each article from a journal or book and for each sent item.

User Group 1a:

School pupils, apprentices, students

User Group 1:

Members and staff of universities, of scientific/research institutions which are predominantly publicly funded, and of legal entities under public law; all national, state, university and regional libraries and university of applied science libraries, plus all public libraries or specialist libraries that are predominantly publicly funded (i.e. at least 51 percent publicly funded).

User Group 2:

Self-employed users and companies (i.e. all ‘commercial’ users)

User Group 3:

Private individuals

E-mail dispatch is only available in <exceptional cases> and must be assessed and approved on a case-by-case basis.

Additional surcharges

• The basic fee is charged a second time for items that exceed 100 pages.
•  Surcharges for orders submitted in data formats that are not compatible with the ZB MED's standard systems:

The charges listed above apply to orders that are submitted electronically in one of the standard electronic formats approved by the ZB MED. Any orders submitted in unstructured formats such as normal e-mails shall be subject to a surcharge of 4 euros per order.

• Surcharges for deliveries in different formats:

A surcharge of 5 euros shall be applied to orders that require delivery of the same document using more than one method of delivery (fax + post).

•  Surcharges for international postal delivery:

- For deliveries to European countries excluding Germany: 3.10   euros

- Deliveries to countries outside Europe: 10 euros

• Fees for international delivery services such as airmail, courier dispatch, insurance and  telecommunication charges shall be charged separately.

• Colour scans are subject to a surcharge of 5 euros.

• The production of microfiche copies is charged at the rate of 0.15 euros per page.

Making a complaint

If you have cause to make a complaint, please get in touch with us directly: dokulieferung@zbmed.de

We will need the following details:

• Bibliographic information on the ordered documen
• Order date
• Order number (where applicable)
• Order method / access system (where applicable)
• Customer's details

Please note that any complaints must be submitted within a maximum of 10 working days of the delivery or 14 working days after submitting the order being dispatched. Upon expiry of this period, any entitlement to subsequent deliveries shall no longer apply.