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Alumni of the Dental School
The Dental Library offers a wide variety of services to alumni. All Dental School graduates are eligible to use the services described below.
Library Access
The Dental Library is open to the public on weekdays. Alumni who wish to use the Library on weekends and other periods of restricted access should apply for a Penn Alumni Card. This card, which is issued by Alumni Relations, carries the holder's photo, name, Penn school(s) and year(s), costs $20, and is valid for ten years. Call the PennCARD ID Center at 215/898-2646 for details and for a mail application form.
Borrowing Privileges
Alumni who want to borrow materials from the Library's collections may apply for courtesy borrowing privileges at the special alumni rate of $200.00 per year. The Penn Alumni Card must be presented upon application for courtesy borrowing privileges.
Application for courtesy borrowing should be made Monday through Friday to the Van Pelt Circulation Department. Call (215/898-7566) for more information.
Reference
The Dental Library has extensive resources for conducting research. Alumni may use the historical and current print collections for their information needs (see below for information on electronic resources). Professional librarians are on duty between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM weekdays. An appointment is recommended if you anticipate needing librarian assistance. For reference service call (215) 898-8978.
Electronic Resources
Alumni may use Franklin, the Library's online catalog, and PubMed the National Library of Medicines free Medline interface. They are accessible both in the library and remotely from your home or office. PubMed is linked to the document delivery service "Loansome Doc" which can enable you to obtain copies of articles from the Dental Library for a fee (see below for details). If you wish to use the OVID version of MEDLINE which you became accustomed to as a Penn student, please see Ovid's homepage for information about a Pay-As-You-Go arrangement. However, this would not provide access to Loansome Doc.
The Dental Library also makes available a list of high content Dental web sites selected by Library staff. These sites are selected and carefully evaluated on their content and relevance to the Penn community.
Document Delivery
When searching MEDLINE via PubMed, you will have the option of signing up for Loansome Doc. When you come across articles that you would like to order, you can do so right from the PubMed search screen, and your request will be forwarded to the Dental Library. For more information, please see the Loansome Doc policy statement and registration form.
