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As you may be aware, the OHSU Library shares a catalog with the Western States Chiropractic College (WSCC) and the National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM). The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) plans to join soon. Why is this a good thing?
Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is on the rise. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, about 38 percent of adult Americans and about 12 percent of American children aged 17 and under are using CAM. Many OHSU researchers are studying CAM topics and OHSU clinicians are integrating CAM into their practice. Including the collections of Portland area health sciences libraries in our catalog increases access to a wide variety of CAM books, journals and audiovisuals.
The four libraries have a cooperative agreement allowing faculty, staff and students to check out materials. When you find a book in the OHSU Library catalog, if it belongs to WSCC or NCNM, you can request it online using the handy Request button at the top of the screen. You may also visit the WSCC, NCNM and OCOM libraries to use and check out materials.
Licensed electronic resources are the flies in the ointment. When one of the libraries buys an electronic journal, e-book or database, it is not automatically available to faculty, staff and students at the other institutions. This can cause confusion when you find the perfect journal article online, only to realize that the journal publisher’s license restricts access to a single library. In this case, you can order the item through our Interlibrary Loan and Photocopy Service for a small fee. We are working to find ways to reduce confusion regarding this issue.
Please let us know if you need any assistance accessing materials you find in the catalog. We will do our best to help you figure out the best way to get the literature you need.