In the reading rooms, literature is shelved by subject or topic. The media’s arrangement is based on our classification system, which allows browsing by subject, even at the shelf.

About 20 percent of the "Media and Cultural Studies" literature acquired by ULB can be found on the 1st floor of the Central Library in the subject "General" under the call number "Allgemeine Kulturpolitik und-pflege (alg e)".  Textbooks and multiple copies are placed in the textbook collection under the call number kul.

In almost all humanities subjects, there are subgroups that are also relevant to Media and Cultural Studies. The subject classifications for the relevant subjects can be found here. Please select the relevant subjects in the search slot:

• Media Sciences
• Sociology
• Theatre and Film Studies
• Philologies: German Studies, English Studies, Romance Studies, Literary Studies
• History

All holdings of a subject are always arranged from the general to the specific.

The classification system also determines the call number you will find on each book. Example:

alg e920.b219

alg - General

e - General cultural policy and care

920 - Media and culture, general

b219 –  surname of author or editor + cutter number

Various subject databases are available for literature search in Media and Cultural Sciences. Due to the high interdisciplinarity of the subject, it is often worthwhile to search in subject databases of Sociology, History or Philologies, which can be found in ULB’s Database Information System (DBIS).

In contrast to a search in library catalogues, you will also find academic articles from anthologies and journals in the databases. The individual articles are indexed by keywords, so that your search can be much more precise. To use the databases for your study/work from home,  you need to download the VPN client.

Some databases provide you with the full texts directly, which you can use to work further, e.g. Project Muse, JSTOR.

All electronic journals subscribed for Media and Cultural Sciences can be found in the Electronic Journals Library (EZB). Current issues of Media and Cultural Sciences journals are available in the journal displays in the PhilBib or in the reading room of the Central Library. The yearly bound journals are available under the call number alg z on the 1st floor of the Central Library or kul z in the PhilBib.

ULB also offers several full text databases containing journals relevant to Media and Cultural Sciences: JSTOR and Project Muse. Here you will find mainly journals from the Anglo-American area.