It’s Not Your Parents’ Library

Need an article on canine parvovirus sent to your local library? Or how about a database search of periodicals or academic journals?

Did you know the Merck Veterinary Manual is freely available online, or that you could have the table of contents delivered to you via email each time there’s a new issue of your favorite journals?

The veterinary center’s William E. Brock Memorial Library offers just such resources and services to alumni and local practitioners.

“We’re here to help,” says Heather K. Moberly, professor and head librarian with the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. “We can help you navigate through the ‘information jungle’ to find the most up-to-date information for your practice and patients.”

In addition to the library’s books, journals, videos, radiographs and slides, tens of thousands of resources are available online through personal subscription and professional association memberships, Moberly says.

“We can help you get the most out of the freely available resources on the Internet.”

The library also has an interlibrary loan agreement with other libraries, which means if the state owns the material, they can send it to any library in the nation, she says. Although any of the library’s resources are available to users, publications owned by another entity are unavailable for interlibrary loan. But the library staff can show users where to find that information.

“The question we are most frequently asked by alumni and local practitioners is ‘how can I get access to all your materials,’ and the answer is ‘to visit us in person,’” Moberly says.

“It’s not just that we have lots of books and people should visit in person to use them. We may have said that 20 years ago, but the concept of ‘library as place’ has changed dramatically in the recent past. And we’ve certainly evolved with it.

“We’re not just a place that buys books and journals. We’re a training resource,” she says. “We offer training and advice to help search and find the items you need.”

For more information on services, hours of operation and use, go to www.library. okstate.edu/vetmed Users can also make requests online through the site.