About the Library
Overview of the UAMS Library
The UAMS Library serves the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences campus and the statewide healthcare system. The Library’s FY 20-21 budget of $3,758,871 funds resources, services, and personnel to support the education, research, service, and patient care missions of UAMS on the main campus in Little Rock, the Northwest campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and the Regional Centers located throughout Arkansas. Library services, resources, and information are accessed through the library website, and onsite in the physical library space.
The Library is a section of the Academic Affairs Division of UAMS. Outside of UAMS, the Library maintains strong relationships with libraries in Arkansas as a participating member of ARKLink, a consortium of fifty-two Arkansas college and academic libraries. The UAMS Library organized the Arkansas Health Information Professionals (ARHIP), an informal group that has networked librarians throughout Arkansas who support health sciences programs on college campuses and in hospitals. On a larger scale, the Library is also a member of the South Central Academic Medical Libraries Consortium (SCAMeL) composed of libraries serving medical schools in the five state region of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. These relationships facilitate cooperation between libraries through consortial purchasing of resources and encouraging partnerships between and among libraries.
LIBRARY PERSONNEL, FACILITY, AND RESOURCE INFORMATION
PERSONNEL
The Library is staffed by 11 professional librarians, one Public Historian (Archivist), 7 paraprofessionals and technical staff and 5 part-time positions. Personnel costs for the FY 20-21 were $1,638,050.00.
*Zoom in or click the link above for a clearer image of the organizational chart
LIBRARY FACILITY
The Library occupies 44,000 square feet on three and one-half floors of the Education II Building. Older materials and specifically archived items and collections are housed in a 2,400 square foot space storage facility on the UAMS campus. The Library includes the following:
- Total seating capacity of over 700
- 52 computers available for students, faculty, and staff use
- Wi-Fi wireless connectivity throughout the Library
- Active Learning Center (capacity 196 seats) configured with 8 large monitors throughout the room for team-based group work
- After-hours access space for students and residents which includes 1st floor study areas and the vending room
- A lounge located on 1st floor equipped with vending machines and a hot/cold water dispenser
- A student lounge located on 3rd floor South
- 3 conference rooms with monitors for group work (seating from 8 to 14)
- 10 group rooms with white boards
- Silent study space
- Whiteboards on wheels available throughout the Library
- Historical Research Center and UAMS Archives
- Watson Room features an exhibit honoring Arkansas’ pioneering neurosurgeon, Robert Watson, M.D.
The Library shares space with other Academic Affairs service offices supporting student learning and success. Located on the Library 3rd floor, the Educational and Student Success Center (ESSC) provides student learning specialists, a laptop support specialist, a Writing Center, and the Testing Center.
The Title IX/ADA Office is located on the Library’s 2nd floor and is the central point of contact for services and resources for students with disabilities and for addressing issues related to harassment, discrimination and violence.
HOURS
The Library is open Monday through Sunday, and is staffed 86.5 hours a week. Students and residents may access the after-hours areas 24/7 via badge swipe. Library hours during holidays and breaks are posted in advance in the Library, on the Library’s website and via the Library’s social media accounts.
Regular library hours are:
Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Sunday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
LIBRARY RESOURCES AND WEBSITE ACCESS
The UAMS Library website serves as the gateway linking users to the library’s online resources such as bibliographic databases, evidence-based medicine and clinical summary tools, electronic journals, electronic books (including a variety of medical specialty textbooks), various electronic reference and research materials. UAMS employees and students access the library’s licensed electronic resources and collections on-campus and off-campus by using their UAMS domain account and password. Many materials are also openly available through the website and do not require campus domain access off-campus. In FY 20-21, the Library committed $2,142,000.00 to provide access to 118 research and clinical databases, 17,616 electronic journal titles, 1,640 electronic books.
The Library’s Online Catalog includes records for books, journals, computer-based instruction programs as well as records for materials in the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Library, and the Regional Center Libraries. While most resources are accessible electronically, the Library still maintains a print collection of 46,323 books and monographs. The catalog also contains the records for the Historical Research Center archives. The Center’s digital collection of photographs, documents, and other materials is also linked from the website.
EDUCATION AND RESEARCH SERVICES (E&RS)
The Library’s Education & Research Services Department incudes seven librarians/informationists faculty members providing service in five critical support areas: education, specialized research assistance, clinical librarian services, liaison connections, and outreach.
EDUCATION
The Library’s Education & Research Services Department faculty members provide a wide range of educational services for individuals or small groups. Curriculum-based instruction is provided via classes to support faculty driven requests for their courses and curriculum needs. E&RS faculty present as guest lecturers for these courses. The classes may be taught in person and virtually. E&RS office a wide variety of educational topics including assessment and use of biomedical information resources and services, basic and advanced literature searching, scholarly publishing, NIH Public Access Policy Compliance, copyright, plagiarism, and citation management tools.
E&RS & Library faculty participate as facilitators in the UAMS Interprofessional Education (IPE) program. IPE learning experiences allow students from all colleges to work and collaborate in a supportive environment to improve patient care experience. This participation provides additional instruction experiences and opportunities for Library faculty to build successful collaborations throughout UAMS with colleagues in research, education, community outreach, and clinical practice.
SPECIALIZED RESEARCH ASSISTANCE
The Research & Clinical Search Services librarians provide specialized services such as research consultation and in-depth literature search assistance, including systematic reviews. The searches may range from the most basic topics to complex systematic reviews/meta-analyses in support of research on campus. Expert searchers are embedded on campus research teams to provide in-depth search services. E&RS faculty also provide specialized support for faculty on NIH Public Access Policy requirements, and assistance with copyright questions. https://libguides.uams.edu/ed-reference/rcss
CLINICAL LIBRARIAN SERVICES
Clinical librarians provide services exclusively to the clinical departments in the hospital and at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. In their embedded roles with clinical teams, the librarians attend patient rounds with one or more departments in the hospitals to provide real-time education to residents and students on the use of medical literature resources and applying evidence-based principles in patient care. https://libguides.uams.edu/ed-reference/clinical-services
LIAISON CONNECTIONS
Librarians and Informationists are assigned to colleges, departments, and clinical units as Library Liaisons. Included in these services are: consultations, specialized search strategy development, library orientations, tours, presentations, and customized training and curriculum-based guest lecturers. Library Liaisons nurture strong connections with the academic and clinical faculty and readily share Library information and resources that support the education and teaching mission. These relationships also provide librarians with valuable insight into the information needs of faculty and students, allowing the Library to make informed and supportive decisions when selecting and purchasing resources and materials that most effectively support these disciplines. https://libguides.uams.edu/liaisons
OUTREACH
The UAMS Library serves Arkansas as the main academic health sciences center library of the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM). Grant-funded projects from NNLM support outreach classes and projects for Arkansas health professionals, librarians, and members of the public that provide health care information, especially to underserved areas in Arkansas. https://libguides.uams.edu/ed-reference/outreach-services . The most recent grant received was for $8000 awarded by the NNLM through the National Institutes of Health. The Better Together grant
focused on assisting underrepresented communities in the Arkansas Delta in acquiring knowledge about COVID-18 vaccines through health information resources that are easy to use and understand. A short presentation explained the benefits of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine safety. Attendees were provided with a take-home booklet.
The Library maintains a strong social media presence through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the platforms to deliver weekly highlights of databases, new resources, UAMS history, and library news.
LIBRARY SUPPORT SERVICES
CHECKOUT OF PRINT MATERIALS
Faculty, students, and staff must present an active UAMS student or employee badge to register before checking out books from the print book and monograph collection. Reference materials in print are restricted to use in the Library. The Library no longer charges fines for overdue print materials. Students must return all Library materials and settle costs for lost or damaged materials in order to be cleared for graduation.
INTERLIBRARY LOANS
The interlibrary loan staff obtain needed materials not available through the UAMS Library electronic or print collections from other libraries and commercial document suppliers. Interlibrary loan requests are submitted electronically through the ILLiad linked on the Library website. Interlibrary loans are provided without charge for UAMS faculty, staff, and students unless copyright fees or other charges occur, in which event the borrower is notified about the charges before the material is ordered.
PRINTING & SCANNING
Printing and copying is available in the library through printers on the 1st floor. Black/white prints are $0.10 per page and color prints are $0.20 per page. Scanning may be done at the printers to convert prints into PDF documents that may be emailed to any email address. There is no charge for scanning.
THE HISTORICAL RESEARCH CENTER
The Historical Research Center acquires, preserves, and provides access to rare and archival materials that document the history of medicine, and is the state’s premier repository for medical history. The Center is the repository for over 7,000 rare History of Medicine books and significant archival collections of health professionals and organizations, including Joycelyn Elders,MD, who served as the United States Surgeon General during President Bill Clinton’s tenure; as well as the papers of Edith Irby Jones, MD, the first African-American admitted not only to UAMS but to any public, Southern medical school, and the records of the Arkansas Nurses Association. The Center provides assistance to researchers in its fifth floor reading room and provides presentations, as well as digital and physical exhibits on the history of the health sciences in Arkansas.
One exciting project in-progress is Women of Color in Arkansas Medicine, which seeks to document the contributions to the health sciences by women of color, who, historically, have been under-documented and understudied. The digital product will show the significant impacts of diverse health professionals with Arkansas connections. The Center works closely with the UAMS Society for the History of Medicine and Health Professions, which supports the mission of the Historical Research Center through
programming, acquisitions, and guidance. The Center and Society sponsor the monthly Stay-at-Home lectures on historical medical and health sciences Arkansas subjects. The virtual lecture series began in early 2020 to provide informative programs to the public in a safe environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 2023