144 · Representative Documents: Regional Accrediting Agency Reports
Texas A&M University
SACS Reaffirmation of Accreditation. Core Requirement 2.9
Section 2: Core Requirements Requirement 2.9, Page 7
Whenever an electronic version of a resource is not available, TAM HSC users can request that
articles or book chapters be scanned and posted to a time-limited website for their retrieval. This
“Get It for Me” service is tremendously popular [Get It for Me brochure]. Requests have risen
steadily since the inception of the service in 2003, and services have been expanded to include
retrieving books from the library stacks for users and sending them to faculty offices. Over the
past four years (2007-2010) the Medical Sciences Library has delivered 45,155 scanned articles
and retrieved 434 books for TAM HSC students and faculty—in addition to borrowing over
8,000 items from other libraries through regular interlibrary loan services. In addition to online
access to the Get It for Me service, TAM HSC users have online access to the library catalog,
course reserves, reference services via chat, subject guides, online tutorials and an Electronic
Resources HelpDesk service.
The MSL provides a rich and varied array of instructional programs and aids in the use of the
library and other learning/information resources to the TAM HSC, unaffiliated health care
providers and the general public of Central Texas. Types of instructional programs span library
orientations, open houses and information fairs, personalized one-on-one sessions, clinical point-
of-care focused instruction, customized group instruction, contribution of modules within Health
Science Center courses, and provision of Health Science Center for-credit courses. In addition,
library faculty create a variety of online guides and tutorials and provide point-of-need
instruction in the use of online resources and access problem resolution through an Electronic
Resources HelpDesk service. The following table documents that the productivity of the MSL
instructional program is above the national mean established by the Association of Academic
Health Science Libraries (AAHSL).
Table 2.9.4 2009 MSL Instructional Program Compared to AAHSL National Mean
Group
Presentations
Participants
in Group
Presentations
Online
Tutorials
Outreach
Programs
MSL 481 3,886 38 20
AAHSL Mean 211 2,654 26 25
A more complete discussion of instruction can be found in the report on Comprehensive
Standard 3.8.2, Instruction of Library Use [Comprehensive Standard 3.8. 2, Instruction of
Library Use].
The instruction offered through the MSL outreach program is made possible through a contract
with the National Library of Medicine (NLM) through its Regional Medical Library Program.
The intended audience for this instruction is not only unaffiliated health care providers but also
the general public of this Central Texas region. The goals of this instruction program are to
promote the awareness of the biomedical information resources of the NLM and to improve
access to both the professional and consumer information resources available from the NLM.
The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of care provided to the citizens of Texas and to enable
Texas health care consumers to make informed decisions about their health and health care these
instruction efforts specifically support the TAM HSC public service mission. MSL faculty
provide training on NLM databases and consumer health information to individual health care
providers, professional organizations and community groups. A more complete discussion of
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