John Gallagher's blog

As part of a larger reimagining of the Cushing Center, we’d like to share our new mission statement: The mission of the Cushing Center is to inspire wonder about the human brain and its disorders, to educate visitors about the history of modern neurosurgery, and to respectfully steward the remains of patients contained within the Cushing Brain Tumor Registry. The Cushing Center will be closed January 8-9, 2024. Starting January 10, 2024 access will change:  Yale students, faculty, and staff may request swipe access to the Cushing Center by registering on this Qualtrics form. Please allow 2 business days for your request to be processed. YNHH employees must register on this Qualtrics form and pick up a pass at the circulation desk. Members of the public are invited to visit the Cushing Center by guided tour only. Tours are available Fridays at 10am and 2pm and by request.   During your visit, please demonstrate respect for the patients and the specimens on display. Photography is not permitted.

Associate Director Holly Grossetta Nardini has been selected as a Fellow in the 2022/2023 NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program. Selection for participation in this program is highly competitive and a testament to Holly’s experience, talent, and recognized potential for future leadership within health sciences librarianship.  The NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program prepares emerging leaders for director positions in academic health sciences libraries. The jointly sponsored program matches fellows and mentors in a one-year leadership development program. Since the program began in 2002, over 52 percent of fellow graduates have assumed director positions.  The program provides a combination of in-person and virtual learning experiences for fellows and offers the opportunity to work collaboratively with a cohort of participants. Fellows are paired with mentors who are academic health sciences library directors. Mentors work closely with their fellows throughout the year and host their fellow’s visit to their library. Congratulations Holly!

*UPDATE: Beginning November 25, all Yale libraries will be closed to library users. We are happy to announce that we reopened the medical library on Monday, August 24. Our hours of service are: Mon-Fri:             7:30AM - 6:00PM Sat-Sun:           10:00AM – 6:00PM Building access is limited to Yale and YNHH users authorized to be on campus. Visitors will notice many changes to both our on-site services and facilities. Here's what to expect: Visiting Visitors must wear a mask at all times, maintain 6ft distance from others, and adhere to posted signage.   Seating capacity has been significantly reduced throughout the library, and the furniture layout in classrooms, meeting rooms, and study spaces has been intentionally adjusted to comply with Environmental Health and Safety recommendations and should not be moved.   Room reservations have resumed with considerably decreased seating capacities.   The Cushing Center will remain closed until further notice.   While custodial staff will be thoroughly cleaning public spaces daily, surfaces and workspaces must be disinfected by visitors before and after use with the provided cleaning materials. Using, Borrowing, and Returning Print Materials Visitors may browse and retrieve materials they wish to borrow from open stacks. Books and journals used in the library should be left in specified locations for quarantine.   To return borrowed items, please use the book depository located near the entrance of the library.   Print reserves are not available this semester but staff have worked to enhance access to content via online course reserves. Computers & Technology 20 computers are available for use throughout the library and the the 24/7 room. Visitors must clean workstations and equipment before and after use with the provided disinfectants.  Contactless printing has been enabled at printer stations for Yale ID holders. Visitors may also print directly from their laptop via Web Print or from their mobile device (instructions for iOS or Android). The Faculty Video Production Studio is available (reservations required). Special Collections Access to special collections materials is by appointment only for those authorized to be on campus. Please use this link to make an appointment. Please request items at least 2 days in advance. Digitization of materials continues for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 courses, and support for online sessions using Medical Historical Library materials. Continuing Online Research and Education Support We continue to provide many library services online including consultations, instruction, reference, and research support.   Please reach out to your personal or departmental librarian via email.  We're here to support you and we encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We're excited to welcome visitors back to the library and are relying on everyone to do their part to minimize risk for themselves and others.

The financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is being felt in many areas of the university, and the library is no exception. For fiscal year 2021, the library must reduce its general collection expenditures by around 10%. To achieve this target, we have compiled a list of journal titles and databases for cancellation. Each item on this list has been carefully assessed prior to being selected for cancellation.  Your feedback is an essential part of this process and we welcome your input. Please also let us know if the cancellation of a specific title will significantly impact your work, so that we can consider whether a different title can be cancelled in its place. See the list and learn more about our methodology here While it’s necessary to reduce our collection expenditures, we continue to offer a variety of services to minimize the impact of these cancellations on your research, teaching and practice:  Our interlibrary loan department stands ready to help you access articles in journals that we do not subscribe to, at no charge to you.  Your librarian can work with you to identify available resources that may be of interest. While we cannot commit to new subscriptions at this time, we will gladly take recommendations for potential future purchases.  The current financial situation is evolving, and the elimination of additional subscriptions may be necessary at a later time. Please let us know if you have any feedback, questions or concerns. We are here to support you in this uncertain time.