Who is eligible to use the Library?

The Cushing/Whitney Medical Library serves the Yale New Haven Medical Center community, whose members are automatically eligible for all of its services. It also serves the health information needs of Yale University.

• Faculty, permanent staff and registered students from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health are provided library privileges at all Yale University Libraries.
• Patrons must present a permanent Yale University or a Yale New-Haven Hospital or Yale New-Haven Medical Center identification card for library privileges. Privileges are personal and individual. They may not be transferred to, or used on behalf of other individuals.

Premium Service

• Who gets premium service privileges?
  
  Premium service is provided to all members of the Yale University community and the Yale-New Haven Medical Center. Premium privileges are also extended to all Yale-New Haven Medical Center permanent staff including the Connecticut Mental Health Center, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Haskins Laboratory, and the J.B. Pierce Foundation. As a courtesy, Medical Library premium privileges excluding Interlibrary Loan are granted to the following institutions and their affiliated health professionals: the Fair Haven Health Clinic, and the Hill Health Center.
• What services are provided with premium privileges?
  
  Premium service entitles a user to the full use of the Library and its services including Interlibrary Loan and the use of MEDLINE and other electronic resources. Remote access to electronic resources is available via the Yale VPN or the Medical Library proxy server. Premium privileges may not be purchased.
  
  Yale-New Haven Hospital staff is entitled to premium services. All electronic resources can be accessed from the computer workstations in the Medical Library or from any computer on the hospital’s network, including YNHH Clinical Workstations and office computers. YNHH staff must present an YNHH ID at the Circulation Desk and complete a form to obtain a borrower’s card to borrow books and other circulating materials. This card is valid for the Medical Library only. Interlibrary Loan can provide library users with books and journal articles that are not held in our collection. Staff may access library resources from their home computer using their existing Internet service. An online application form is available at www.med.yale.edu/library/proxy.
  
  Book Paging: Books may be paged from the general collection to the Circulation Desk for patron pick-up. There is no fee for this service. Click on the Place Requests button while using Orbis (Yale University Library Catalog).
  

Basic Service

• Who gets basic service privileges?
  
  Basic service is provided to the spouses of Yale faculty, staff, and students, as well as health professionals from Connecticut Veterans Administration Hospital. Science Park employees receive basic service privileges upon registration at the Sterling Memorial Library Privileges Office. They are extended upon request to members of the New Haven Dental Association, the Apt Foundation, the Career High School, and the New Haven Health Department.
• Borrowing privileges are only available to casual or temporary employees if a faculty member acts as a proxy. Applications for proxy privileges are at the Circulation Desk. With the application, a letter on Yale letterhead must be submitted stating the reason and length of time proxy privileges are needed.
• Yale alumni are granted library access for occasional library use. Alumni wishing to make extended use of the Library may purchase borrowing privileges for a fee of $15.00 per month or $150.00 per year.
• Faculty and graduate students from Research Libraries Group (RLG) institutions may purchase borrowing privileges for a fee of $25.00 per month. Stack access is free of charge. Stack access is free of charge.
• Graduate students, health professionals in-training or those on rotation at the Yale New Haven Hospital are eligible for basic service. Non-matriculating Yale students must register at the Sterling Memorial Library Privileges Office.

For individuals not included in one of the groups above, the Circulation Desk at the Medical Library accepts applications for library privileges between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. For further information and assistance, please direct inquiries to the staff at the Circulation Desk or call (203) 785-5354 or send a message to circdesk@email.med.yale.edu.

Individuals with no Yale affiliation may purchase basic library privileges. The fee is $65.00 per month with a minimum of 3 months at $195.00 or $710.00 per year.

What services are provided with basic privileges?

Basic Service entitles a user to borrowing privileges, stack access, and collection use, as well as the use of Orbis, the Yale University Library Catalog, the Medical Library Web site, and the use of licensed electronic resources when accessed from library workstations. Remote access to licensed electronic resources is available only to members of the Yale community due to site license agreements.

The intent of these regulations is to ensure access to the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library for the members of the Yale community, and at the same time, to make its rich resources available to other qualified students and health care providers.

Other Services

• Interlibrary Loan
  
  Interlibrary Loan is a service for Yale affiliated users to obtain material not available in the Medical Library. This service is not extended to basic service users, alumni, spouses and non-affiliated users. Interlibrary Loan services may not be purchased.
• Document Delivery
  
  Individuals with no Yale affiliation may use the Loansome Doc document delivery service to request a photocopy of an article or to borrow a book from the Medical Library. There is a fee for this service. For additional information or to register for the Loansome Doc service, please call (203) 785-5358. Requests for materials not available in the Medical Library may be forwarded to another medical library.

Stack Access

Stack access provides a user access to the Library book and journal collection. The stack access fee is $30.00 per month or $360.00 per year.

Stack access is granted without charge to the following categories of users:

• Medical Library Associates
• Clergy in the greater New Haven area who devote their full time to a parish, church or synagogue
• Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students from RLG institutions
• Federal officials stationed in the New Haven area for the official work of their agencies
• Matriculating undergraduate students rotating through Yale-New Haven Hospital
• State and local government officials
• Yale alumni
• Yale University and Yale-New Haven Medical Center casual or temporary employees and volunteers

A stack access card will be provided upon the presentation of a current identification card. Please contact the staff at the Circulation Desk to arrange for privileges.

Day Access

Day access provides a user access to the onsite Library book and journal collection for a short period of time. Day access is available to individuals with special needs related to health care.

• Adults in the New Haven area with needs related to health care may use the Library on a limited basis
• Non-Yale undergraduate students that wish to use the library on an occasional basis must furnish a letter from the librarian at their institution stating the reason they need to use the Medical Library. Please contact the staff at the Circulation Desk to register for a day pass.

Corporate Privileges

Corporations, businesses and law firms may purchase basic service privileges. Basic service provides individuals within an organization with borrowing privileges, stack access and onsite collection. Corporate member contributions benefit the Medical Library by providing additional funding for the development and maintenance of the collection and resources. The Medical Library Administration office accepts corporate applications Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. For further assistance, please direct inquiries to (203) 785-5352.