Medical Campus Library

The Alumni Medical Library, occupying 30,000 square feet on the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth floors of the Boston University Medical Campus (BUMC) Instructional Building (L), serves the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM), Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine (CAMED), School of Public Health (SPH), Graduate Medical Sciences programs (GMS), and Boston Medical Center (BMC).

Reference

Reference and research assistance is available on a drop-in basis, by appointment, or via email at refquest@bu.edu. The reference queue is staffed by librarians Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Reference librarians also provide support for Systematic Reviews, citation management software, and Bibliometrics Requests.

Access

Access Services staff provide access to circulating collection, course reserves, interlibrary loan articles and books, and 3-D anatomical models. Students, faculty, and staff may access licensed online resources 24/7 on- or off-campus via the library website, using their BU username and password. Alumni Medical Library collections may be accessed through the Library Catalog, 250+ databases, and 50+ online subject guides and consists of thousands of books in the circulating collection, course reserves stacks, bound print journals in medical campus storage, e-journals, and e-books.

Additional Resources

In addition to the resources of the Alumni Medical Library, GSDM students, faculty, and staff have access to the BU Libraries’ collections, of which electronic resources can be accessed online at any time or place. GSDM personnel may request any book, book chapter, article, or other item not in the BU collection free of charge via an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Request. Fill out the ILL Request Form with your contact information and the citation information of the material you need, and we will get it to you within a few business days.

GSDM Library Education Program

The Alumni Medical Library Education Team works collaboratively with GSDM faculty to plan and develop a comprehensive, curriculum-integrated, longitudinal library education program for DMD I, DMD III, AS I, AS II, and postdoctoral students. Courses focus on Evidence-Based Dentistry (EBD), research skills, and critical evaluation of information. The GMS Introduction to Biomedical Information course prepares Oral Health Sciences students undertaking the required master’s capstone and/or thesis. Librarians have also created several online tutorials for remote learning on various subjects. Finally, DMD students must email their thesis or dissertation to gsdmlib@bu.edu to have the formatting reviewed and approved by a librarian before they will be able to graduate.

Library Facilities

The Alumni Medical Library offers hundreds of seats in a variety of options for studying. These seating options are equipped with power connections, ethernet connections, and excellent Wi-Fi connection. Many student computers are available for use if you do not have your laptop with you. Laser printers, scanners, and photocopiers are available on every floor of the library, as well as in the L Building basement. MyPrint, a BU ID-based system, provides a print allotment per semester to students of 500 sheets for black and white printing, and to faculty and staff of 100 sheets.

L-12, which is a Quiet Study floor, is predominantly used as student study space, with large study tables, individual study carrels, computers, printers, scanners, soft seating, book stacks, and the Access Desk. The library’s L-13 Silent Study floor provides hundreds more student study seats, including reservable group and individual use study rooms. The 2019 renovation provided new HVAC system, lighting, flooring, furniture, as well as increased and disability accessible restroom facilities, including a gender-neutral restroom.

The dual-purpose L-1101 Testing Center is a 220-seat testing center and study space. L-11 also houses the BUMC IT Office. BUMC IT staff support courses requiring technology integration and provide student laptop software installation, VPN client configuration, Windows and Mac updates, virus scanning software updates, loaner laptops, and removal of viruses and spyware.