Documentary and digital resources
Discover the essential support the University of Bordeaux provides its PhD students to better utilise documentary and digital resources.
Preparing your thesis: the university’s resource materials
All the University of Bordeaux locations and campuses have one or more libraries or resource centres, organised by subject area.
- Law, Political Science
- Economics, Management
- Human and Social Sciences
- Life Science and Health
- Science & Technology
You can access the following services free of charge:
- Loan of documents, thanks to the Aquipass card;
- Loan extensions and online reservations: on the digital work environment (ENT) via the Babord+ Click & Collect app, which can be found on your personal account.
Contact : doc-bibliotheque@u-bordeaux.fr
Documenting your thesis, online resources
Using the ENT and your digital identity (Idnum), you can view from the Library tab:
Online resources related to specific fields → Application “Digital collections/selection by theme”
The ENT also provides access to third-party websites where you can view:
- Any type of document (online or a physical copy) → Babord+
- Old documents that have been digitised → BabordNum
- News headlines and current affairs → Europresse and Factiva
- Open-access scientific publications → OSKAR Bordeaux, institutional repository of scientific publications, Open U Journals, open-access journal platform, Hal, multidisciplinary open archive.
Receive assistance from library staff
- PhD students with teaching contracts can take part in workshops on how to use documentary materials in lessons;
- Library staff can also train you in information management and control, they can also show you around the libraries;
- Library staff provide support for your research: they can assist you in open-access publishing and distribution, provide documentary support for calls for projects and research contracts, help you with open science issues (publications, research data).
Individual appointments can be set up to meet the staff.
Resources to write and print your thesis
Writing a thesis is an important step that needs to be planned from the outset. To help you better plan for the various phases, the Graduate Research School and the Documentation Department have made several tools available:
Format: The Documentation Department provides a short summary of the main recommendations and templates for the title page and front matter for theses with and without co-supervision. You can find all resources on the University of Bordeaux libraries website.
Language: A French thesis must be written in French. In the cases of a co-supervised thesis written in English, the thesis must include a summary in French describing the context of the research, the approach used and the results obtained.
Managing and formatting the bibliography: PhD Students are advised to use a reference management tool to collect, organise, save and format references. To master these aspects when writing your thesis, the Documentation Department provides training for the free open-source reference management tool, Zotero.
Digital preservation: When submitting a thesis digitally, one version must be archived at the Centre Informatique de l’Enseignement Supérieur (Higher Education Computer Centre, CINES). The thesis division of the Documentation Department will ensure that the file is suitable for archiving or, if needed, will carry out the necessary format changes.
Printing: The University of Bordeaux's print shops can print your thesis. For further information, check the Printing Department website.
Additional resources: In addition to the university's digital resources, you can consult the French self-training website of the Abes (Agence bibliographique de l'enseignement supérieur). This website provides free online courses, webinars and toolboxes to help you throughout your PhD, especially to write and format your thesis.
Your digital resources at the university
Whether you are at the university, at home or even anywhere around the world, the University of Bordeaux provides a modern and powerful digital work environment.
Your digital work environment (ENT) gives you access to many resources: student file, email, directory, teaching platforms, course materials, documentary resources…
Digital identity IDNUM
To access the digital services, and in particular the digital work environment (ENT), you have a digital identity called “IDNUM University of Bordeaux”. As a new arrival, your digital identity is created automatically during your administrative enrollment. Once you have received your certificate of enrollment, you can activate your IDNUM via the activation interface. If you have any questions about the activation of your IDNUM, visit the dedicated webpage.
Electronic messaging
ZIMBRA is the collaborative messaging system used at the university. It allows you to synchronise your email, calendar and address book with your smartphone. No earlier than 24 hours after your administrative enrollment, you will have a digital identity and an email address with the following format: name.surname@u-bordeaux.fr. If you have any questions, a user guide is available on ZIMBRA in the “Help” tab.
Wifi
The university provides Wi-Fi coverage on its campuses. The Eduroam Wi-Fi network provides secure wireless access to the Internet for anyone (students, staff) with an IDNUM digital identity.