Frequently Asked Questions

Get it for me is an interlibrary loan (ILL) service provided by the Baylor Health Sciences Library, allowing users to obtain books and/or articles that may not be part of the Library’s collection. The service is free to Library Affiliates, which includes faculty, students, staff, and clinicians at Texas A&M College of Dentistry and Baylor Scott & White Health – North.

First-time users must create a Get it for me account. College of Dentistry users can register by logging in here. BSWH – North must use this registration form.

Once an account is created, a request can be entered manually within the account, or directly from the Library’s databases (when full-text is requested). The Library fills Get it for me requests by sending PDFs to this account.

When accessed from the Baylor Health Sciences Library website, databases, such as PubMed, provide full-text links from each citation/abstract to the Library’s subscriptions using this button:

On the Library’s subscription access page, a link to Get it for me is provided in the REQUEST THE DOC section. Clicking on the Request article through Get it for me link begins the process of obtaining the full-text version from another library through Interlibrary Loan and automatically fills out several required fields in the request form.

Patrons may fill out a Literature Search Request online or at the Circulation Desk.  Additionally, users may contact the Library through the Ask-A-Librarian service or by calling (214) 828-8151 or (214) 820-2377 and requesting to speak with a librarian.

Individual or group training classes for library resources may be requested online.  Once redirected to the online form, be sure to select ‘Request a class’ from the drop-down menu under Reason for Contact.  You may also contact the Library directly through Ask-A-Librarian or by calling (214) 828-8151 or (214) 820-2377.

Patrons interested in scheduling an appointment with a librarian may do so by contacting the Library through the Ask-A-Librarian service or by calling (214) 828-8151 or (214) 820-2377.

OpenAthens is a single sign on (SSO) solution that allows access the library’s resources for users both on and off campus. OpenAthens allows users to login to resources using their local network authentication systems (SecureAuth for BSWH, and Shibboleth for CoD) providing seamless access from any location.

Accessing electronic resources through the library’s web site will now route users through their institution’s network login method (Shibboleth for College of Dentistry patrons and SecureAuth for BSWH patrons.)

In addition, many of our provider’s web sites are “OpenAthens” aware, providing patrons with the ability to login via OpenAthens directly from their web sites (i.e. without going first going to the BHSL web site). Typically the link will say “institutional login”, “openathens login”, or “shibboleth login”. Logging in directly at sites that are OpenAthens aware means that users with “reader” apps (QxMD, ReadCube, Kopernio, etc.) can now access articles at those sites using this login method. Please see http://bhslibrary.tamhsc.edu/oa-changes/ for an step-by-step example of logging in to the New England Journal of Medicine via their OpenAthens aware login link.

After a transition period of 2-3 months all of the library’s electronic resources will be accessible to all patrons via OpenAthens whether the patron is on or off campus. This will provide a consistent access method for all users no matter their location.

Once all resources have been transitioned to OpenAthens, the Off Campus Access link is no longer necessary for patrons to be able to access resources while off campus. However, the Primo All Search tool has the ability to display only those electronic resources that are accessible to patrons based on their institutional affiliation (BSWH or Texas A&M College of Dentistry). As costs rise, more and more eResources are being purchased by the library for access by patrons of only one or the other institution.

While ON campus, Primo All Search can use the patron’s IP address to determine what eResources they have access to. But when off campus users will need to login to Primo All Search in order for Primo know with which institution they are affiliated.

The Baylor Health Sciences Library services the educational, research and clinical programs of Texas A&M College of Dentistry, The Texas A&M Health Science Center and Baylor Scott & White Health – North. However, members of the general public are welcome to use the Library’s collection in house.

There is no limit to the number of books you may check out. Most books can be checked out for two weeks.

The Library accepts donations, however, once received, the item becomes the sole property of Baylor Health Sciences Library.  As such, the Library reserves the right to decide whether or not to add the item to the collection based upon its relevancy and usefulness to the collection, completeness of the volume or set, and currency of the information. The Library accepts only current textbooks, medical or dental books published within the past 5 years, or books of historical value published before 1950.