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National Library Week (April 3 - 9, 2022) celebrates our nation's libraries and library workers' contributions, and promotes library use and support. This year’s theme is Connect With Your Library!

Connect with Your Library poster, ALA

National Library Week was created by the American Library Association in 1958 to promote reading. Research in the mid 50’s documented the rising popularity of radio and television and librarians and book publishers feared they would displace books and reading as leisure activities. Today social media, gaming, streaming television and other electronic media are an even greater threat to reading. From 2003 to 2018, the average amount of time Americans spent reading for personal interest per day fell by six minutes, to less than 16 minutes per day (American Academy of Arts and Sciences). But there is also evidence that suggests the pandemic fueled a resurgence in reading. The American Time Use Survey by the Department of Labor found a 25% increase in reading among American adults in the second half of 2020. And Publisher’s Weekly reported an 8.9% rise in print book sales in 2021, with the biggest increases in fiction books, especially young adult fiction.

At Himmelfarb Library, the Consortium Loan Service supports the lending of books from any Washington Research Libraries Consortium (WRLC) library to our users for free. This opens a vast world of literature and non-fiction to all our library users. To search for books owned by all the WRLC libraries, use Health Information @ Himmelfarb and change the search scope to Articles + GW & Consortium as shown below.

Screenshot of Health Information @ Himmelfarb search box
Then search for any book title desired and if located at a WRLC library, you can place a Consortium Loan Service Request. CLS service usually delivers the item by courier to Himmelfarb Library in 2-5 days. You’ll be contacted when the book is available for pickup. You can view a brief instructional video on placing CLS requests on our YouTube channel.

Did you know that Himmelfarb has a Humanities and Health collection with novels and popular non-fiction titles? The collection is housed on the first floor in the nook area. Books have a 3 week checkout period and can be renewed up to two times. We’ve also recently introduced a free little library leave one/take one shelf in the same area.

Beyond CLS and our collections, we encourage our users to support the public libraries in their community. The DC region has many excellent public library systems and these days public libraries offer much more than just print books. You can loan books for your ereader with services like Overdrive or even get audio books! DC Public Libraries offers streaming audio services and Arlington County Public Libraries has a digital magazine service. Montgomery County Public Library’s Hoopla provides access to ebooks, audio books, TV, comics and more. Visit your local library’s website to find out about all the services being offered.

Image source: unsplash.com

We hope you all had a safe and relaxing Winter Break. We look forward to seeing you in the spring semester. Our current access policy and hours of operation are the same as Fall 2021.  Please see below for more information and also for descriptions of and links to our core resources and services.

Onsite Access

We look forward to seeing you if you plan to visit Himmelfarb onsite! But first, please check that you are in compliance with the library’s entry requirements:

  1. All affiliates must present a valid GWorld card upon Himmelfarb Library entry.
  2. All affiliates must have the required COVID vaccine documentation uploaded into the health portal
  3. All affiliates must follow GW's current testing schedule.

Library hours

Visit the Himmelfarb Library website for our current hours of operation. Our daily hours are always posted and updated on the Himmelfarb Library website. Presently we are open:

Mondays - Thursdays: 8am - 11pm

Fridays: 8am - 8pm

Saturdays: 12pm - 8pm

Sundays: 12pm - 11pm 

We hope to return to 24/7 hours of operation on Wednesday, January 19. Please continue to check our website for updated information.

Circulation Desk

Can’t find the book you need on the shelf? Do you want to know if we own a particular book title? The staff at the first floor Circulation Desk are here to help! The Circulation Desk is staffed during all hours of operation. For questions about our services, please email mlbcir@gwu.edu or call us at (202) 994-2962.

Reference Services

Need help with formatting citations, searching databases, or finding information? Himmelfarb Library provides reference assistance Mondays – Fridays from 8am to 5pm. Stop by the first floor Reference Desk for a consultation, use our Chat service to message with Reference staff, or visit our web page to discover the additional ways you can reach a Reference librarian, whether you are on- or off-campus.

Classes

We can demystify APA citation format for you! We’ll introduce you to the systematic review process! Explore Himmelfarb’s listing of online classes that can help you with your research —  and, registration is free!

Consortium Loan Service and Interlibrary Loan

Would you like to borrow books or order articles that we don’t have in our collection? No problem! We offer two ways to bring those items to you.

Through our Consortium Loan Service, you may request books from other academic libraries in the DC Metro area, including Gelman Library. All requested books are delivered to Himmelfarb within a few days. You will be notified when books have been delivered, and then you can come to our Circulation Desk to check them out. (We will also return the books for you when you bring them back.) If you live out-of-town and require shipping, we can accommodate you.

If no local consortium libraries have what you’re looking for, or you need a journal article that's not in our collections, then our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service will find it for you! Students receive up to 15 free ILL requests (books or articles) per semester. Requested articles usually take 2-3 days to arrive in your inbox, and books usually take 7-10 days to be shipped to Himmelfarb for checkout.

GW Writing Center

Great news for you if you’d like a little help with the papers you’re writing. GW’s Writing Center will begin offering weekly in-person consultations at Himmelfarb later this month. You’ll soon be able to schedule appointments to meet with a member of the Writing Center team. Stay tuned for further details!

Study Room Reservations

We have plenty of study rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors (and a few on the B1 level!). Remember to make an online reservation prior to using a study room.

3D Printing

We invite you to explore our 3D printing services, Find a model you’d like and we’ll print it for you at a cost of ten cents per gram, with a $1 minimum charge. (If you’re interested in printing scientific models, the NID 3D Print Exchange is a great place to explore.)

Your research is important, and we are here to help. What if Himmelfarb does not have the book or article you are looking for? The good news is that we have services designed to help you should these situations arise. 

ILL. CLS. Interlibrary Loan. Consortium Loan Service. Have you heard these terms before? If you have, awesome! If not, let us introduce you to them! We understand that the acronyms may be confusing, and want to take the time to share more about what these two library services can offer you.

Borrowing from other libraries

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and Consortium Loan Service (CLS) provide materials that Himmelfarb does not currently have access to such as articles, book chapters, and books.  These services are available to our GW SMHS, SON, and SPH students, staff and faculty members. We understand that your research is important, and will do everything that we can to provide the books and articles that you need for your studies and research. 

Consortium Loan Service (CLS)

Consortium Loan Service, or CLS for short, is a service that allows our users to request books that are available within our local library consortium, the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC). What this means is that if Georgetown has a book that you would like to borrow, CLS makes it possible to borrow their copy. One benefit of borrowing books through CLS is that this is the fastest way for us to borrow books from other libraries within the D.C. area as materials arrive usually within 2-3 days. We rely on a courier service for the expedited delivery of books within 2-3 business days. For detailed information about our CLS service, check out our Consortium Loan Service Guide!

How do I place a CLS request? 

  1. Search for the book you are looking for in the Himmelfarb catalog advanced search. Make sure that Articles + GW & Consortium Catalog is selected.
  2. Under “How to get it” click Sign In. Use your GW Net ID & password to login.
  3. Under “How to get it” click “Consortium Loan Service Request”
  4. Specify where you would like to pick the book up - e.g. at Himmelfarb library or the VSTC library. You will be notified when your book is ready to be picked up at the designated library.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

If you are looking for an article or book that is not available in our catalog or through CLS, Interlibrary Loan (ILL), is a great option! Through ILL, we can request books and articles from libraries across the country on your behalf. Articles are normally delivered within 24-72 hours. Books may take longer depending on how far away the lending library is from D.C. For detailed information about our ILL service, check out our Interlibrary Loan and Documents2Go guide!

To make an Interlibrary Loan request, you will need to access our Documents2Go (Docs2Go) portal. 

  1. Log in using your GW Net ID & password. Make sure to leave out any ‘@gwu.edu’ part of your net ID. You will not be able to access your account if you include it.
  2. To make a request:
    1. Find the “Make a new request” menu item. 
    2. Select the type of resource you want to request : article, book, or book chapter.
    3. Please be as detailed as possible in order  to help us find the exact resource you need. Include the journal title, article title, page number, volume, or year, and author.
    4. Click the ‘Submit Request’ when you are ready to place your request.
  3. Once you’ve placed your request, we will do our best to find the resource from another library. 
  4. Once we receive a PDF of the requested article, or book chapter, you will receive an email notification informing you that you can access your article through your Documents2Go portal. Keep in mind, these articles disappear after 30 days on your account, so download it if you want permanent access to the material!
    1. If the item you requested is a physical book, once we receive the item, you will receive a notification informing you that the item is available for pick up at the Himmelfarb Circulation Desk, or at the Ashburn Library.

Does it cost money? 

The Consortium Loan Service is always free, and for Interlibrary Loan, we offer 15 free requests to all GW SMHS, SON, and SPH students, staff, residents and faculty members from the dates of January 1st to July 1st. Afterwards, we offer another free 15 starting from July 1st, to the end of December. This amount resets each calendar year. Any additional requests over the initial 15 will incur an additional $10.00 charge. We will contact you to confirm any charges, so you’ll never accrue charges without knowing about it. Rush requests, which guarantees article delivery within 24 hours,  will cost an additional $10. In the event that we are unable to fulfill a rush request within 24 hours, you will not be charged. 

How long does it take to receive my article or book? 

In most cases, we should be able to provide an article to you within 3 to 6 days. Depending on availability and rarity of the article, it may take us longer to receive a PDF for your request. If a request is taking longer than expected to fulfill, we will contact you. 

Books generally take anywhere from one to two weeks to receive, depending on the library’s location that ships the book to us, and the shipping method they use. Because of the unpredictable nature of book requests, we would recommend using CLS whenever possible to ensure a more timely arrival of any book requests. 

My CLS request was cancelled, what should I do now? 

If the book you are looking for is not available through CLS, the request will be cancelled. When this happens, we recommend submitting your request through our Documents2Go portal.  

If you have additional questions, or want to better understand the difference between these two borrowing services that Himmelfarb has to offer, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at mlbdoc@gwu.edu. 

The Himmelfarb Search box is front and center on the Library’s home page, beckoning users to search here! Have you wondered what it is you’re actually searching when you use the Search Box? Or how you can get the most out of it? Here’s some answers and tips.

Himmelfarb Search Box

What Am I Searching?

The Himmelfarb Search Box is a comprehensive discovery tool for the library’s resources. It includes most of the library’s subscription content (journals and articles and online books) as well as records for the library’s physical collections (print books and journals, equipment, and physical media like DVDs).

But that’s not all. By switching the selection with the down arrow on the right side of the search box, you can change what you’re searching to just article content, just online content, or you can select to search the contents of all the libraries in the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC). Select Articles + GW & Consortium Catalog to include books and media at the other WRLC libraries, like Georgetown, American, and Howard.

Himmelfarb Search box search selections

How Do I Improve My Search Results?

The Search Box includes a lot of content.  It uses relevancy ranking, like Google, to try to bring the best search results to the top of the results page. But sometimes it needs a little help and guidance. You can help narrow results to the most relevant by using the Refine Results options on the left side of the search results page.

Refine results in Himmelfarb Search Box

You can narrow the date range of results, look for results using a particular subject heading, or look for things in a particular collection (for example, select CINAHL Complete to narrow to nursing-focused results), or select books or dissertations or Newspaper articles with Content Type.

Other tips for improving results is to use advanced search to search for multiple concepts at once or search a specific field like title or author. Click on Advanced Search next to the Search Box.

Advanced search button in Himmelfarb Search Box
Advanced search in Himmelfarb Search Box

Or use the Journal search option on the top menu if searching for a specific journal title.

Journal search in Himmelfarb Search Box

I Found What I Want, Now How Do I Get It?

In the results view, anything that has a green Available Online link has full-text available by clicking on the link or clicking the title to see the full record and selecting a specific online source in View Online. For many article results, you may also see a Download PDF link that allows you to directly download a PDF. For the most efficient linking to online content, see our Finding Full-Text Content Made Easy! tips.

Full-text linking options in Himmelfarb Search Box

For items like physical books, you can check the status of items on the shelves at Himmelfarb by looking at the How to Get It section of the full record displayed when you click the title in the results. If you can’t physically come into the library to get the item, you can use our courtyard pickup and delivery services. If the book you want is at Gelman or one of the WRLC libraries, click the Sign In option then scroll to the Get It area to find the Consortium Loan Service (CLS) request form; this will request delivery of the item from the owning library to Himmelfarb or the VSTC Library in Ashburn.

Sign in for CLS in full-text record in Himmelfarb Search Box
Links for CLS and Docs2Go in Himmelfarb Search Box

For articles for which there is no Available Online link, you can use the Docs2Go form which is also an option under Get It. A Docs2Go request will order a scan of the item from another library through our interlibrary loan services.

I Can’t Find What I Want, or I Just Need Help - What Do I Do Now?

Use our Ask Us Chat service to get help from a librarian. The Ask Us service is embedded in the Search tool in a blue tab on the right side of the screen. The Chat is staffed Monday through Thursday 8:30am-8pm and Friday 8:30am-5pm.  Or email a librarian or text us at 202-601-3525.

ILL. CLS. Interlibrary Loan. Consortium Loan Service. Have you heard these terms before? If you have, awesome! If not, let us introduce you to them! We understand that the acronyms may be confusing, and want to take the time to share more about what these two library services can offer you.

Borrowing from other libraries

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and Consortium Loan Service (CLS) provide materials that the library does not currently have access to such as medical articles, book chapters, and books to our GW medical, health sciences, nursing and public health students, staff and faculty members. We understand that your research is important, and will do everything that we can to provide the books and articles that you may need for your studies and research. 

Consortium Loan Service

Consortium Loan Service, or CLS for short, is a free service that allows our users to request books that are available within the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC). What this means is that if Georgetown (for example) has a book that you would like to borrow, CLS makes it possible to borrow their copy. One benefit of borrowing books through CLS is that this is the fastest way for us to borrow books from other libraries within the D.C. area as materials arrive usually within 2-3 days after the request has been placed. We rely on a courier service for the expedited delivery of books within business days. For detailed information about our CLS service, check out our Consortium Loan Service Guide!

How do I place a CLS request? 

  1. Search for the book you are looking for in the Himmelfarb catalog advanced search. Make sure that Articles + GW & Consortium Catalog is selected.
  2. Under “How to get it” click Sign In. Use your GW Net ID & password to login.
  3. Under “How to get it” click “Consortium Loan Service Request”
  4. Specify where you would like to pick the book up, at the Himmelfarb library, or at our Ashburn location.

Interlibrary Loan 

If you are looking for an article or book that is not available in our catalog or through CLS, Interlibrary Loan (ILL), is a great option! Through ILL, we can request books and articles from libraries across the country on your behalf. Articles normally take 24-72 hours to be delivered. Books may take longer depending on how far away the lending library is from D.C. For detailed information about our ILL service, check out our Interlibrary Loan and Documents2Go guide!

To make an Interlibrary Loan request, you will need to access our Documents2Go (Docs2Go) portal. 

  1. Log in using your GW Net ID & password. Make sure to leave out any ‘@gwu.edu’ part of your net ID. You will not be able to access your account if you include it.
  2. To make a request:
    1. Find the “Make a new request” menu item. 
    2. Select the type of resource you want to request : article, book, or book chapter.
    3. Please be as detailed as possible in order  to help us find the exact resource you need. Include the journal title, article title, page number, volume, or year, and author.
    4. Click the ‘Submit Request’ when you are ready to place your request.
  3. Once you’ve placed your request, we will do our best to find the resource from another library. 
  4. Once we receive a PDF of the requested article, or book chapter, you will receive an email notification informing you that you can access your article through your Documents2Go portal. Keep in mind, these articles disappear after 30 days on your account, so download it if you want permanent access to the material!
    1. If the item you requested is a physical book, once we receive the item, you will receive a notification informing you that the item is available for pick up at the Himmelfarb Circulation Desk, or at the Ashburn Library.

Does it cost money? 

CLS requests are free! As for ILL, we offer 15 requests for free to all GW medical, health sciences, nursing and public health students, staff and faculty members from the dates of January 1st to July 1st. Afterwards, we offer another free 15 starting from July 1st, to the end of December. This amount resets each calendar year. Any additional requests over the initial 15 will incur an additional $10.00 charge. We will contact you to confirm any charges, which you can deny or accept. Rush requests, which guarantees article delivery within 24 hours,  will cost an additional $10. In the event that we are unable to fulfill a rush request within 24 hours, you will not be charged. 

How long does it take to receive my article or book? 

In most cases, we should be able to provide an article to you within 3 to 6 days. Depending on availability and rarity of the article, it may take us longer to receive a PDF for your request. If a request is taking longer than expected to fulfill, we will contact you. 

Books generally take anywhere from one to two weeks to receive, depending on the library’s location that ships the book to us, and the shipping method they use. Because of the unpredictable nature of book requests, we would recommend using CLS whenever possible to ensure a more timely arrival of any book requests. 

My CLS request was cancelled, what should I do now? 

If the book you are looking for is not available through CLS, the request will be cancelled. When this happens, we recommend submitting your request through our Documents2Go portal.  

If you have additional questions, or want to better understand the difference between these two borrowing services that Himmelfarb has to offer, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at mlbdoc@gwu.edu

Network maintenance activities planned for this Saturday, April 3rd, 6-8am ET may cause brief disruptions in access to library electronic resources. 

Further web services maintenance also planned for Saturday the 3rd, 10 to 11am ET may  impact user’s ability to sign into Health Information @ Himmelfarb, the library’s catalog.  Searching and linking to full-text should not be affected, but users may not be able to sign in for Consortium Loan Services requesting and library account services during a short window. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please contact us through our chat services or email himmelfarb@gwu.edu with any questions or concerns.

Attention School of Nursing students, staff, and faculty who primarily use the library at the Virginia Science and Technology Campus! You can now direct your Consortium Loan Service (CLS) delivery to the VSTC library on the CLS request form. Here’s how:

  1. Find the item you want to borrow from another Washington Research Library Consortium library by searching Health Information @ Himmelfarb using the Articles + GW & Consortium Catalog view.

2. Click the title in results to open the record and sign in with your NetID under How to Get It to see request options.

3. Select Consortium Loan Service Request.

4. On the CLS Request form, use the down arrow to change the Pickup Library from Himmelfarb to GW Virginia Science and Technology Campus Library Delivery.

That’s it!  Note that a pick up time must be scheduled with VSTC library staff when your item arrives. Check to be sure you are eligible to schedule pick up from the VSTC Library before designating delivery there.

If you have any questions about Consortium Loan or other document delivery services at Himmelfarb Library, contact mlbdoc@gwu.edu or call 202-994-2860 during business hours.

The Washington Research Libraries Consortium Loan Service (CLS) is back in service. CLS allows Himmelfarb users to borrow items at no cost from other DC area academic libraries. Loans are typically 5 weeks in length and can often be renewed if needed.

To request a book or other physical item from another library, use Health Information @ Himmelfarb and select the option to search Articles + GW Consortium Catalog as shown below:

Once you’ve found an item you’d like to borrow, click the title in the search results to open and check How to Get It (as shown below) to see if another library in the consortium has a copy available. Then sign in to see the option for the Consortium Loan Request form.

Use your NetID to sign in and then select Consortium Loan Service Request.


Fill out the form designating a date when you will no longer need the item if it is required within a certain amount of time.  Please note that while service has been restored, WRLC’s courier service is currently only running twice a week. This means items may take about a week for delivery. We anticipate that delivery times will improve as more libraries open and restore services.

You will receive a notification via email when your item arrives at Himmelfarb. If you currently do not have physical access to Himmelfarb Library, you may pick-up your items in the Ross Hall courtyard (9am - 7pm, Monday - Thursday, 9am - 5pm, Friday, and 1pm - 6pm, Saturday - Sunday).  Please contact the Circulation Desk at 202-994-2962 just before you arrive in the Ross Hall courtyard.  

Nursing students at VSTC can request to have their items shipped to the VSTC Library for pickup. Either contact Circulation staff or request VSTC delivery in the Comments section of the request form.

After Himmelfarb Library closed its physical space, we made changes to Health Information @ Himmelfarb to make searching for electronic content easier.  The default search mode was switched from Articles + Himmelfarb Catalog to Online Access.  The online access search limits items retrieved to those available full-text online. This includes article, book chapter, and e-book content, as well as some streaming media.

Online access search default image

Searchers can still search physical content by switching the search mode to any of the “catalog” options:

All search scopes image

Requesting holds on books and Consortium Loan request options are turned off until Himmelfarb and other Washington Research Library Consortium libraries reopen. Library users can continue to request items that can be sent digitally through our Documents2Go service.

Have you ever wanted to keep filters you applied in a search active throughout a search session, or easily remove all of them? Now you can! A new enhancement allows setting and keeping multiple filters active with “Remember all filters” or removing all with “Reset filters”. These options become available at the top of the left column menu whenever filters are applied.

Filter management image

If you have questions about Health Information @ Himmelfarb or need assistance with searching, contact Himmelfarb’s Information Desk staff!

In response to the University’s move to online classes and some student populations being off-campus during that time, Himmelfarb Library has extended due dates for print materials coming due March 14 through April 5th. Those materials are now due by end of day Monday, April 6th, 2020. Please contact the library’s circulation managers at 202-994-2962 or mlbcir@gwu.edu if you need to extend due dates beyond then or have other questions about borrowing physical materials.Himmelfarb Library Circulation Desk

We expect that Documents2Go interlibrary loan services for digital book chapters and articles will continue as normal. Delivery of some physical materials from other libraries may be delayed as they have closures or reductions in service. Contact document delivery staff at mlbdoc@gwu.edu or 202-994-2860 with any questions about borrowing materials from other libraries.

Himmelfarb Library will remain open 24/7 with service desks open regular hours until further notice.