You can access the UT Southwestern Library’s Website from the Services Tab on MyUTSW site, Education & Training Tab on the UT Southwestern website, UT Southwestern Clinical Portal, and Google Search by name.
The Library has 555,806 books in all formats in FY23(e.g., print, electronic, audiovisual, etc.).
The most popular Library class is Writing a Literature Review.
As an author, I can create profiles to manage my publications and scholarly activities in My Bibliography, ORCID, Scopus, and Web of Science.
The Library’s most popular point-of-care tool is UpToDate.
The Library subscribes to the following USMLE and Board Preparation resources: BoardVitals, StatPearls, and USMLE First Aid.
The Library’s most popular subject guide is About the Library.
Nine librarians staff the UT Southwestern Library.
Interlibrary loan, exam proctoring, and classroom reservations services are offered by the Library.
The Interlibrary Loan Unit filled 2285 article requests in 2022.
The Interlibrary Loan Unit borrowed 684 items from other institutions for our patrons in 2022.
There were 899 document delivery requests filled for patrons in 2022.
Our library ILL services invoices can be paid by check, interdepartmental request, and credit card.
The UT Southwestern Library was founded in 1943.
The oldest book in the Archives was published in the 16th century.
The temperature setting of the Archives in 63 degrees.
Violet Baird began the Archives for the University.
Dr. Edward H. Cary started Southwestern Medical College
Congratulations to our winner Katarina Yaros who received the top score!
Effective November 1, 2023, the Library’s Services & Partnership Unit resumes in-person service from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). We are excited to return to the physical space now that we are in a post-COVID environment and construction of the new O’Donnell School of Public Health is complete.
Your “Librarian on Duty” consult area is in room E2.304 located across from the O’Donnell School of Public Health’s Dean Suite. Directional signage will appear soon, and a librarian will circulate through the physical space throughout the day to connect with all our users.
As always, you can request assistance or services in the following other ways: – The Ask Us link. – Looking up common questions in our FAQs. – Calling 214-648-2001. – Searching though the vast educational support offerings contained in our Subject Guides.
Your librarians appreciate and support the work you do with our community and each other! Thank you!
Currently, there is a paralysis taking hold regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools including ChatGPT. Your librarians recognize this and are diligently working to provide information, education, and guidance about this topic. The primary challenge we are encountering is the rapid rate of changes occurring while developing supportive content for our users. In attempting to meet the education needs about AI, we quickly find that our content is outdated before we can get close to completion.
However, with the enormous efforts by the Library’s AI/Chat GPT Work Group, we are excited to announce the newly published Artificial Intelligence Guide. Additional thanks are directed to University of South Florida Libraries for allowing use of their content, as well as the many librarians on staff at UTSW who reviewed and edited the guide.
Several of our library leaders and librarians attended the South Central Chapter, South Chapter, and Medical Librarian Association Joint Meeting in New Orleans on September 21-26, 2023. During the meeting, it became clear we are not the only ones struggling to address the topic of AI and AI tools like ChatGPT. Recognizing the scope of the needs surrounding AI, a new collaborative effort formed called the AI Response Coalition (AIRC). This group is led by RaeAnna Jeffers, RN, BSN, MS-IS, Services & Partnerships Unit, UT Southwestern Health Sciences Digital Library.
Rae is soliciting multidisciplinary participation in AIRC from professionals with expertise in many domains of knowledge. The aim is to reduce duplication of efforts contributing to waste of resources, creation of educational content, and to organize a collective response to AI development and implementation. The AIRC welcomes your participation and expertise as we work toward better solutions. Those who are interested can provide their contact information on the AIRC Contact List. Questions can be directed to: airesponsecoalition@gmail.com
As educational content is developed, offerings from our librarians will appear in the Library Events and Classes Calendar and cross-posted in other communications. Thank you for your patience.
On April 1, 2023, Jill Whitfill returns to UT Southwestern as Research Librarian. Most recently, Jill was the Library Director and Medical Sciences Librarian at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee. She also serves as an Adjunct Instructor, Health Informatics Curriculum, at the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences. During her first time at UT Southwestern, Jill was in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. In her new role, Jill will provide and grow our library services by developing innovative information solutions to serve the faculty, staff, and students at the new University of Texas Southwestern School of Public Health as well as other areas of the University.
In fiscal year 2021, Library staff partnered with clients to discover and apply information for clinical, health care, educational, and research purposes, including:
Answering over 2,600 reference questions
Teaching 374 educational events attended by 1,799 clients
Processing over 4,800 interlibrary loans and document delivery requests
Thank you for using the UT Southwestern Health Sciences Library and Digital Learning Center!
In honor of American Archives Month, we are interviewing UT Southwestern’s University Archivist, Chianta Dorsey.
What are your principal duties as Archivist, and in which of these duties do you invest the majority of your energy?
My main mission is to collect, preserve, and provide access to the institutional history of UT Southwestern Medical Center. Most of my duties are devoted to physically preserving these materials but also to making them available to the UTSW community and external researchers. Accessibility is so important because, for all the work we put in to preserve materials, we want people to use them for education, instruction, and research.
What do you enjoy most about being an Archivist?
I enjoy the many people that I get to meet and the stories that they tell. There is this misconception that archivists only spend time with the materials, but I spend a lot of time engaging with people across UTSW’s campus and outside of it.
What are some unique or interesting items that you have in the UTSW Archives?
There are many, but I’ve found Edward Cary’s patient book, from his residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York during the 1890s, to be pretty interesting. Cary meticulously described his patient’s habits and symptoms and even drew charts and data that must have taken a lot of time to write. We have a book related to biomedical research performed during the Voskhod space flight that was led by the Soviet Union from 1964-1965. We have the only known copy since the others were ordered to be destroyed. Lastly, we have essays written by Donald Seldin during his time studying at New York University. It’s very interesting to see his interpretation on some classic works of literature.
What are some projects that the Archives is working on now?
We’re working to roll out our first archives management system. This will be an online portal where people will be able to search, find, and request our materials more easily. I’m also working to organize the Dean of the Medical School records, which provides a nuanced look into the first 40 years of UTSW’s history. While the records detail our immense growth in the fields of medicine and science, it also provides insight into how broader social issues penetrated the campus.
Are there any new directions in which you would like the Archives to go?
I hope to work more with instructors who teach medical humanities electives on campus. I’ve partnered with two medical humanities classes to present materials from the Archives related to the history of medicine, so I would like our role to expand in that area.
We’ve also been working to build our digital preservation program. Much of the materials being generated is born-digital so we want to ensure that we are able to preserve records and documents being created in various digital formats. Our COVID-19 collection, which documents the institution’s response to the pandemic, is our first complete born-digital collection. As of today, none of it consists of physical documents or materials.
How can materials in the Archives be accessed?
If someone would like to view materials in the Archives, they can make an appointment to access them. You can contact us through our email at archives@utsouthwestern.edu to set up an appointment or inquire about any of our materials.
As we welcome our UT Southwestern community back to the Health Sciences Digital Library & Learning Center space in May 2021, we’d like to reflect on what we have done to make it safer for you to come back over the last year. The Library Staff of 16 spent a combined total of over 2,250 hours on COVID-19 related projects in the past year. Our list of contributions is as follows:
Planned and implemented the closing of the physical North and South Libraries and then the opening of South Campus Library, including publishing the UT Southwestern Library Re-Opening Guide.
Planned and made necessary changes to workflows and staff remote set-ups to allow full continuation of research and instructional services.
Had multiple discussions and made decisions for additional resources related to COVID-19 for inclusion the Library Guide.
Learned and networked about handling COVID-19 in medical libraries via professional organizations, webinars, and conferences.
Bitty Babu, the Library’s Database Analyst, complied our COVID-19 service hours and provided the following visualizations for our efforts.
As the UT Southwestern campus transitions to Phase 3 on May 1, 2021, the Library is excited to welcome our UT Southwestern users back to the Health Sciences Digital Library & Learning Center!
Our ability to remain open depends on you – the users – following the new Phase 3 guidelines. These guidelines have been developed to protect the health and safety of you and others.
All Library spaces are individual study and by reservation only.
UT Southwestern continues to strongly encourage – but no longer require – the wearing of masks by students, faculty, staff, and guests in nonclinical areas of our campus.
Maintain the standard 6 feet of physical distance between yourself and others.
Practice hand hygiene.
Together we can safely transition to Phase 3 and remain open. Thank you for helping ensure the health and well-being of yourself and others.
The Health Sciences Digital Library and Learning Center wants to reaffirm our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as outlined by the UT Southwestern Office of Institutional Equity & Access, especially as we welcome new residents, fellows, and students to our campus. We strive to maintain a collection that embraces and supports these tenets and welcome your suggestions on additional resources to address these issues.
While the Library’s physical space remains closed, all Library digital resources and services are available 24/7. Library staff is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., via web forms or by phone at 214-648-2001. (Voicemail will be retrieved every two hours). For after-hours questions or to schedule individual training sessions, use the LibAsk form.
