FY 22 Annual Report
Health Sciences Library System
Resources
The current economic climate necessitates that HSLS build and manage our collections in the most cost-effective way. Subscription costs have risen over the years at rates far above typical general inflation. In response to the changing information needs of our diverse user population, HSLS carefully analyzes usage statistics, publication patterns and other metrics to identify materials to be discontinued and new items to be added.
Online Collections
HSLS’s forward-thinking collection management process supports a robust online collection of e-journals, e-books, databases, and specialized software.
The successful e-book acquisitions method patron-driven acquisition (PDA) was used to purchase nearly 40 e-books triggered by patron use.
Library users have access to:
11,600 e-journals
6,800 e-books
122 databases and full-text information collections
13 commercial bioinformatics software titles
The UPMC Collection
HSLS’s UPMC Health Sciences Digital Library continues to provide a high-quality interface that streamlines discovery and use of HSLS’s clinical and point-of-care resources, to address UPMC’s patient-centered clinical and research information needs. Additional enhancements to the website continue to be developed for the UPMC community, to support enhanced functionality and to provide digital collaboration spaces for UPMC libraries and information professionals.
UPMC Health Sciences Digital Library Collection in FY 22 includes:
9,200 e-journals
6,500 e-books
Read and Publish from Cambridge University Press
With the University Library System, HSLS renewed the Cambridge University Press Journals package under their “Read & Publish Agreement,” which provides both traditional “read” access to the journals and free open-access publishing to Pitt and UPMC authors.
The following is a selection of health sciences journals from CUP:
- British Journal of Nutrition
- CNS Spectrums
- Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine
- Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
- Journal of Clinical and Translational Science
- Journal of Laryngology & Otology
- Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics
- Palliative & Supportive Care
Physical Collections
In addition to the large online collection, Falk Library provides a print-based, 7,060-item circulating collection to enhance the overall library holdings or to provide materials that are unavailable in digital formats.
The HSLS Medical Humanities Collection continued to evolve in FY 22, with the addition of titles from HSLS’s previous General Collection. Due to ongoing Scaife Hall construction, a small amount of titles are currently available within the library, with plans for full collection reunification in FY 24.
HSLS continues to support the popular Leisure Reading Collection consisting of noteworthy titles and bestsellers. This collection offers our patrons a break from scholarly and academic reading, with its newly published general fiction and non-fiction books.
Scanning and Document Delivery
300 items scanned into Alma for Pitt access
7,000 articles and book chapters provided to libraries nationwide
In FY 22, HSLS began offering fulfillment services for the Pitt community via Alma, the integrated library system that powers PittCat. HSLS collection items were scanned and shared, creating a larger collection reach and impact.
For items not in our collection, HSLS continues to offer subsidized Document Delivery Service to support the information needs of health sciences faculty, students and staff. Between the HSLS collections and our subsidized Document Delivery Service, health sciences faculty, students and staff have quick access to virtually all high-quality domestic and foreign heath sciences publications produced during the past two centuries. HSLS shares items from our collection with other universities and health sciences centers via Docline and OCLC technologies.
