Children's Hospital Boston 300 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
(617) 355-6000
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For Health Professionals:
Libraries
The Children's Hospital Boston Library
Image The Children's Hospital Boston Library supports the mission of the hospital in the areas of patient care, education and research.

Location: Fegan Plaza (1st flr near Pavilion elevators, through old cafeteria)
Address: 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-355-7232
Website: web2.tch.harvard.edu/library/collections.html (internal access only)

Hours

  • 8 am - 6 pm, Monday - Thursday
  • 8 am - 5:30 pm, Friday
  • Closed weekends and major holidays.
  • Children's staff have access to the library during non-staffed hours with a Children's identification badge.
Librarian: Alison Clapp
Library Committee Chair: S. Jean Emans, MD
Who we serve
The library serves the entire hospital staff, including physicians, nurses, researchers, allied health staff, and hospital administration.
It is also open to the public and patient families during regularly staffed hours.
Facilities
The more than 5,000-square-foot Children's library is located on the first floor of Fegan Plaza. Areas of the library include the main desk, current book and journal sections with a new acquisitions display, stacks of cataloged books and bound journals, computer and AV areas, the photocopy area, and library staff offices.

An open reading and study area overlooking the Prouty Garden can be found just inside the library's entrance. Quiet, secluded study carrels are located throughout the library.

Library services
To meet the wide range of information needs of physicians, nurses, PhD researchers, fellows, residents, students and all other staff, the Children's library offers:
  • Books, journals, patient education materials, databases, audiovisuals and other materials available on-site.
  • Online access through the hospital's intranet to the online book catalog, journal holdings list, various databases, library request forms, literature research requests, class schedules, and other electronic resources.
  • Literature searches conducted by library staff using Medline and other online search services.
  • Interlibrary loan and document delivery.
  • Training on various databases, the internet, reprint file management software and evidence-based medicine for departments, groups and inviduals.
  • Library Lunch Topics, a bimonthly series that provides an in-depth look at library/information topics.
  • Current awareness services for departments or individuals that feature the tables of contents of relevant professional journals or topic-based searches.
  • Library Logon, the quarterly newsletter of the Children's Hospital Library.
  • Photocopy service for articles available in the library. Same-day service is available for most requests and is offered without charge to staff.
  • A discount book-ordering service.
Career and Faculty Development Center
A specialized Career and Faculty Development Center has been established for faculty seeking information on grants, fellowships, scientific writing and presentation resources, practice management, and academic careers.
Collections
The Children's library has a core collection of books catalogued according to the National Library of Medicine classfication scheme.

Books circulate at the discretion of the librarian, although most are considered necessary for clinical reference and do not circulate. Books that can be circulated are loaned for two weeks, with a two-week renewal when possible.

The historical book collection, which includes books written by Children's staff, is shelved in the Gamble Room. The journal collection includes more than 275 current titles, many of them with extensive back files. Video offerings include tapes of Surgical and Medical Grand Rounds. The collections, while focused on pediatrics, are multi-disciplinary in nature.

Computer and audiovisual services
PC and Macintosh computers in the library have:
  • internet access
  • word processing
  • spreadsheet, graphics and presentation software
The Audiovisual Room has a VCR and television, as well as a high-end computer with:
  • scanner
  • Adobe PhotoShop
  • optical character recognition software
  • zip drive
  • CD Rom writer
Meeting room
The rich wood paneling of the Gamble Reading Room offers a quiet place for meetings or reading. Named in honor of James Lawler Gamble, MD, renowned Children's researcher in biochemistry and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, the room was created by Alfred and Margaret Tozzer in memory of their daughter, Anne, in hopes that the room would provide inspiration for the physicians and scientists at Children's.
Staff publications database
A database of references (the article citation and a summary) of staff publications that now numbers more than 2,000 citations was started in January 2000 and is updated weekly by the library. To search the database, click here.
Online multimedia library
The multimedia library contains visual and audio information on health conditions and procedures for educational use. To search the multimedia library, click here.
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X The information on this website should not be taken as medical advice,
which can only be given to you by your personal health care professional.
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