Reference Policy for Visitors - BML

The UCSD Biomedical Library is staffed and funded to serve the scholarly needs of the University of California faculty, students, and staff. Priority is given to UCSD faculty, students, and staff. Services to visitors are provided subject to availability of staff and resources.

Services available to visitors include:

• Assistance using the online catalogs
• Access to many library resources on a self-help basis
• Brief answers to user reference queries (for queries that require extensive research, please see suggestions below)
• Assistance in locating appropriate collections and services
• Limited telephone and email assistance. Telephone and e-mail requests will be handled along with in-person requests in the order received, for quick information queries only. In depth questions cannot be handled via phone or email unless referred to the PLUS Information Service staff, which charges a fee (see below).

For more extensive service than UCSD Biomedical Library staff can provide, visitors should consult their own institutions' libraries or their public libraries.

The UCSD Biomedical Library has a limited consumer health collection. Library materials and online databases may be used within the library or photocopied using the library's self-service copiers. Community members are referred to their local public library or the National Library of Medicine's Loansome Doc service ( see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/loansomedoc/loansome_home.html for details) to obtain materials that are not in the Library collection.

As another option, the UCSD Libraries have established a fee-based service for community users, PLUS Information Services (858-534-8622). This service offers specialized reference assistance, interlibrary loan, and other services on a cost-recovery basis.

Last updated: 5/1/2007