A Beginning of the Semester Guide to Using the HSL

The Health Sciences Library (HSL) at Ohio State is a hub of resources and services that can help you achieve your academic and professional goals. Whether you are a health sciences undergraduate, graduate, medical student or a faculty member, we have meticulously developed resources to assist you, and our HSL staff is specially trained to support health sciences research and learning.

Undergraduate Students

As an undergraduate student, you may need to find reliable and relevant information for your assignments, projects or research papers. Here are some of the benefits of using the library as an undergraduate student:
 

  • You can access a wide range of online and print resources, such as journals, books and databases for free.
  • You can get personalized assistance from librarians who are experts in health sciences. They can help you with finding, evaluating and citing sources, as well as developing research skills and strategies. Check out the Events Calendar for librarian-led workshops to help you hone your research skills.
  • You can use the HSL’s spaces for studying and collaborating in open, quiet study areas, reservable rooms and first-come-first-served private Flexi-PODs.
  • If you need to study outside of normal HSL hours, you can apply for extended library access to get into the building 24/7.
  • Anatomy models are available to reserve and check out at the front desk to get familiar and quiz yourself over different anatomical systems.

Graduate and Medical Students

As a graduate or medical student, you may need to conduct in-depth and original research, as well as keep up with the latest developments in your field. Here are some of the benefits of using the library as a graduate or medical student:
 

  • You can access specialized databases and resources that are relevant to your discipline, such as PubMed, Covidence, Embase, and more.
  • You can get expert guidance from librarians who can help you learn skills for literature reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and other types of research projects. Each health sciences college has a dedicated liaison library for your field-specific research questions.
  • You can print quality academic or research posters for class or conferences with little wait time.
  • You can use the library's services and programs that are designed to support your research and career development, such as workshops, consultations, data management and scholarly communication.
  • Additional helpful resources:

Faculty

As a faculty member, you may need to teach, mentor, publish and secure grants in your field. We have librarian liaisons for each health sciences college and select clinical units that are experts in conducting research in the given field. As a faculty member:
 

  • You can access high-quality and up-to-date resources that can enhance your teaching and learning, such as textbooks, e-books, videos and online modules.
  • You can get support from librarians who can help you design assignments that incorporate information literacy or evidence-based practice skills.
  • You can use the library's resources and services that can facilitate your research and scholarship, such as citation management, copyright and fair use, open access publishing agreements and research impact metrics.
  • You can reserve our spaces for class instruction or even teach students utilizing our EdTech Incubator zones: 3D Printing, Anatomy Visualization, Virtual Reality , THE Studio and the Tech-Enhanced Classroom (TEC) for hybrid teaching.
  • Additional helpful resources:

The Health Sciences Library at Ohio State is a valuable partner for your academic and professional success. No matter what stage you are at, the library can offer you resources and services that can meet your needs and interests.