Collections: Biomedical Engineering Policy

Program Description

The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library collects materials in support of teaching and research in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Degrees offered include the B.S., M.S., Ph.D., and an integrated fifth year B.S./M.S. program. The undergraduate program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Undergraduates in the program complete an individual research project and a team-design project.

The department has about ten full time faculty members, thirty graduate students, and 150 undergraduate students. Areas of emphasis within the department include biomechanics, biomaterials, biotransport, bioelectronics, bioelectricity, and tissue engineering. Research focuses on the biomechanics of bone, soft tissue, joints, eyes, lungs, and the brain; brain physics and cardiac electrophysiology; surgical implant & dental materials; and cell & tissue engineering.



Subject Resource Guide

http://libguides.tulane.edu/biomedical_engineering



Scope

The collection emphasizes biomedical engineering in general as well as areas of emphasis within the department including biomechanics, biomaterials, biotransport, bioelectronics, bioelectricity, and tissue engineering. The Howard-Tilton collection is complemented by the collection at Tulane's Rudolph Matas Health Sciences Library; the libraries do not normally duplicate materials.



Type

The library collects monographs, monographic series, reference books, and journals, with the main focus being the journal collection. Upper level textbooks are purchased selectively; recent lower-level texts may be accepted as gifts. Textbooks used in current courses are not acquired. Symposium and colloquium proceedings are bought only on request, except for those that come via society subscription. The library does not generally collect theses or dissertations by authors other than Tulane students, patents, technical reports, standards or specifications. Videorecordings may be purchased upon request of faculty members.



Format

To broaden accessibility, journals are sought online when this format is available. Print may be cancelled to reduce costs when ownership of the online version is assured and the image quality is adequate. Online access that requires additional costs with a print subscription will be sought selectively within the amount budgeted for biomedical engineering journals. Monographs and other types are generally purchased as printed text. Other formats are considered, especially when the alternative format would improve access or utility. Most scientific abstracting and indexing sources are available as databases searchable online. The library rarely maintains a subscription to both the print and the database version of an index, although the volumes previous to the existence of the database are always retained.



Language

English is the preferred language of publication, but some foreign language journals are collected at the request of the faculty.



Chronological Period

Emphasis is on current research. Historical material in this area is considered if requested by the faculty.



Imprint Date

Preference is given to items published within the last two or three years. Items with older imprint dates are considered upon request. Out-of-print materials are sought selectively, mostly to replace important older works damaged or missing from the collection.



Geographical Considerations

No specific areas are excluded.



Related Collections

Other Tulane libraries of special interest for biomedical engineering include the Rudolph Matas Library of the Tulane University Health Sciences Center and the A. H. Clifford Mathematics Research Library in Gibson Hall. The Department of Biomedical Engineering has a special arrangement with the medical library so that upper-level undergraduates have borrowing privileges. The collection at the Tulane Regional Primate Research Center (Delta Primate Center) in Covington contains material in primatology, immunology, virology and other fields of microbiology, statistics, and veterinary medicine. For the most part, these items are not listed in the TULANet Voyager.



Cooperative Resources

The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library has purchased more than 40,000 ebooks, with records loaded into the library catalog and covering a wide range of subjects, through the SOLINET regional library consortium. The library is one of 14 members of a cooperative consortium of southern research libraries called KUDZU, which includes a shared online catalog. Loan requests through this system receive priority processing and expedited two-day delivery. The library is also a member of the cooperative Center for Research Libraries (CRL) in Chicago, through which may borrow a wide range of rare materials for our users. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty may borrow materials directly from the main library nearby at Loyola University of New Orleans through a reciprocal agreement. Graduate students and faculty may borrow materials at other New Orleans area academic libraries through the CALL consortium and at other academic libraries throughout the state through the LALINC consortium. Faculty may in many cases secure temporary borrowing library privileges outside the state through OCLC. For more information about cooperative borrowing privileges inquire at the library's Circulation Desk.



Supply Sources

Limited numbers of books are automatically delivered to the library through an approval plan from Blackwell's Book Services and Blackwell Oxford. Most other books are purchased individually and also through Blackwell at a discount rate.



Endowed Funds

The Harrod Fund is available to purchase materials in any area of engineering.



Selection Tools

Reviews such as those from Choice, scientific journals, and recommendations from faculty, staff, and students are all sources for possible additions to the collection. Book forms automatically delivered to the library through the Blackwell Plan are also scanned for possible purchase.