In the absence of library budget increases in the past four years, it’s tempting to think the Dana Medical Library doesn’t make changes in subscriptions to journals, databases, and other materials. The truth is, we are constantly assessing and adjusting our holdings to make sure we’re getting the best value for our funds, and that we’re acquiring the things our users want and need for education, research and clinical care.

For example, we’ve had multiple requests for The Journal of Hospital Medicine and we were able to add that for 2019.  We managed this by carefully monitoring the usage of all our journal titles for several years to identify ones that weren’t performing as well as they should be. When a title can be identified as having relatively low, or declining use, it’s a good sign that needs of users have changed.  We also examine other metrics, such as impact factors and ranking of relative importance of journal titles within a subject grouping. Recommendations and requests from faculty and students weigh heavily in our decisions, as well.

If there is a resource you believe the Dana Medical Library really needs to add to its collection, please don’t hesitate to request it.  Even if we can’t immediately accommodate your request, we will always work hard to try to make it happen! Request forms for adding a book, etc. can be found on our website.

Similarly, feel free to contact us with questions, comments, or requests.