Locating Materials in the Health Sciences Library

Search the Memorial University Libraries Catalogue to find books, periodicals (or journals) and audio-visual materials.

The collection of books, multimedia and audio-visual materials in the Health Sciences Library is divided into a number of locations.
In each case, the materials are arranged in broad subject areas according to the National Library of Medicine classification scheme. A brief guide to the Subject Arrangement of Books/AV Materials is available.

Location	Description
BOOKSTACKS	Main circulating collection of books, multimedia and audio-visual materials
HISTORICAL	Collection consists of works relating to the history of the health sciences. It includes works in the health sciences published prior to World War II as well as recent materials dealing with the history of health sciences
MEDIA	Collection includes cd-roms shelved behind the Circulation Desk
OVERSIZE	Collection includes items too large to fit on the regular shelves
REFERENCE	Collection containing dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, government documents, statistics and general reference sources. These materials are for use in the Library. Special loans for some items may be permitted.
RESERVE	Collection, located behind the Circulation Desk, contains materials which are in high demand for one or more courses. The loan periods have been shortened to permit greater access to the information.

The periodicals (also known as journals, magazines, or serials) are shelved in the PERIODICALS section.
Note: Many journals are now available only in electronic format.

The periodicals are arranged alphabetically by their FULL name. Small words within the title can make a big difference, e.g. Journal of "the" American … is located in the J's section but in a different place than Journal of American …; and Journal "for" titles are shelved before Journal "of" titles. Ignore initial articles, e.g. The Lancet is shelved as Lancet.

Periodical abbreviations can be misleading: e.g. CLIN can stand both for CLINICAL as well as for CLINICS. There are standard guides to abbreviations, such as the List of Serials Indexed for Online Users, which is kept near the Information Desk. For futher assistance, please ask at the Information Desk.

Initialized or acronym-based periodical titles are shelved as words. For example, BMJ is located after the journal Blood Vessels and AORN Journal is shelved after the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. The order of the journals on the shelves matches the order produced when printing a sorted list of records from the Catalogue, Medline and other databases.

Wooden blocks are used to direct you to the proper shelving location. Periodical titles often change over time, and a block with a message such as "preceded by" or "continued by" indicates that earlier/later volumes of the periodical are shelved under the title indicated.


	Health Sciences Library Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's, NL Canada A1B 3V6 Phone: Contact Us Fax: 709-777-6866

August 4, 2008
Sue Fahey