About the Library Collections
- Archives
- Bibliographic and Knowledge Databases
- Newspapers
- Print Indexes
- Software Packages
- Subject Guides
The circulating books are located on the 13th floor of the library. Included in these collections are approximately 20,000 textbooks on a variety of health care topics, dating from the 1960's to the present time.
All of these books can be checked out of the library for 28 days with an option to renew. Students, faculty and staff of the Boston University, the Boston Medical Center, and members of the Boston Library Consortium are eligible to check out books from the library. Click here for more information on the library's circulation services or to search the collections of the BU Libraries.
The library subscribes to over 7,168 electronic books. Available electronic books include AccessMedicine and STAT!-Ref, a collection of 30 current, clinical texts.
Electronic books can be accessed remotely via the Web, or searched from computers located on the 12th floor of the library and the 11th floor Learning Resources Center.
The History of Medicine collection is located on the 13th floor of the library. This collection is comprised of older, historically relevant texts as well as current texts on the history of medicine and healthcare. Many of the textbooks in the History of Medicine collection circulate outside the library. These are designated as "Medical History" in the Library Catalog. Those texts that are extremely fragile or valuable are part of the archival collection.
[See Archives, above]
Reference books are housed on the 12th floor of the library. They are identified by the "Medical Reference" designation in the Library Catalog. The reference area consists primarily of directories, indexes, encyclopedias, dictionaries and bibliographies. Reference books do not normally circulate outside the library, but patrons are welcome to use them in-house.
Books on Reserve are located behind the Circulation desk in the Reserve area. Reserve books are designated as "Medical Reserve" in the Library Catalog and do not normally circulate outside the library. The reserve collections include the most popular, current editions of clincial biomedical textbooks. Because reserve texts are so popular, use is limited to 2 hours per person.
More than 7,337 electronic journal titles are available through the library. Use this link for a complete list of available electronic journals.
[Patrons should note that electronic journal subscriptions are often restricted to faculty, staff and students of Boston University and the Boston University Medical Center. Please contact a reference librarian for information on subscription restrictions.]
Approximately 20 current journal subscriptions are housed on the 12th floor of the library, where recent issues are stored in the back room.
Older issues of both current and discontinued print subscriptions are shelved on the 13th floor. All journals are shelved alphabetically by title,
and can be identified in the Library Catalog by doing a "title" search for the journal title.
They are identified by the "Medical Library Journal"
designation in the Library Catalog. Journal collections include professional, health-related titles only.
Journals do not normally circulate outside the library, although patrons can make special arrangements to take out journal volumes if they need to have slides made.
Included in the archival collection are rare, valuable or fragile historical texts; and memorabilia such as photographs, graduation records, school catalogs, department newsletters, annual reports, medical instrumentation, and other materials representative of the Boston University Medical Center's activities and achievements. Archives are located in a secured area, and are available to the public by appointment only. Contact A'Llyn Ettien at (617) 638-4236 or aettien3@bu.edu for more information about archival materials.
A timeline of the hospital and Boston University Medical Center is available here.
The library provides access to 334 electronic databases. Access to a variety of databases such as PubMed, BIOSIS, ERIC, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and many others is available to eligible users. Use this link for a complete list of available Bibliographic and Knowledge Databases.
The Library provides access to a number of electronic newspapers, which can be accessed on the News Sources page.
The library owns a number of print indexes including Index Medicus and others. Indexes are located on the 13th floor of the library.
[See Bibliographic and Knowledge Databases, above, for information about electronic indexes.]The Computer Lab provides access to many software programs including Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Word, and a variety of computer-assisted instruction software. The lab also provides full Internet capabilities.
