FAQs

Questions:

• Who can use the Dentistry Library?
• How can I find a book or periodical owned by the Dentistry Library?
• How do I get books and articles not at UM?
• How do I find out if the Library has an electronic version of a journal or magazine?
• If I am an alumni, but not a current faculty, staff, or student with the University, may I buy access to these electronic journals?
• How do I get a dissertation?
• How can I get a library card?
• How can I borrow materials if I am not affiliated with the University?
• I need to buy a publication from the School of Dentistry or University of Michigan (especially the craniofacial monographs). Can I buy these from you?
• Could you tell me about the life of W.D. Miller (Willoughby Dayton Miller)?
• I want that flower x-ray book. Can I buy these from you?

Answers:

The general public and visitors are allowed to come in and use the Dentistry Library at any time that we are open; however, a valid University of Michigan ID is required to use reserves and check out materials for use outside of the Library.

Materials owned by the UM Library, including the Dentistry Library, may be found by searching the online catalog MCAT via Mirlyn. Most of the journals we currently receive are listed on our web site. In the Dentistry Library, books are arranged in call number order in the stacks on north side of the Main Floor. Currently received journals are arranged in alphabetical order in the stacks the Main Floor. Older journals discontinued before 1980 are located on the Mezzanine. The main exception to the alphabetical arrangement of journals is for those which include the name of a professional association in their title. These are shelved under the name of the organization. The most common example would be JADA, Journal of the American Dental Association, which is shelved as "American Dental Association. Journal." For more information, link to the Dentistry Library's Journal Arrangement Guide (PDF: 21k).
Links for this answer:

• Mirlyn: http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu
• Dentistry Library Journals Currently Received: http://www.lib.umich.edu/dentlib/resources/cjournals.html
• Dentistry Library Journal Arrangement Guide (21K PDF): http://www.lib.umich.edu/dentlib/services/gds/jrnlfind.pdf

UM faculty, staff and students can request materials from other libraries through Interlibrary Loan services. Those affiliated with the health sciences should request materials through the Interlibrary Loan service at Taubman Medical Library. Those affiliated with other disciplines should request materials through the Interlibrary Loan service at the Hatcher Graduate Library. Non-UM affiliates may request interlibrary loan of materials through MITS, the Michigan Information Transfer Service.
Links for this answer:

• Taubman Medical Library, Interlibrary Loan: http://www.lib.umich.edu/taubman/ill.html
• University Libraries, Interlibrary Loan: http://www.lib.umich.edu/ill/
• Michigan Information Transfer Source (MITS): http://www.lib.umich.edu/mits/

University of Michigan faculty, staff and students can access electronic journals purchased by the University Libraries. Most electronic titles are included in MCAT, the UM Library online catalog. If you use Mirlyn, hyperlinks to the electronic version of the journal will be included if it has been cataloged. Another option is to check the Electronic Journals & Newspapers List, which lists all the electronic journals and newspapers that are cataloged in MCAT alphabetically and by subject area. Due to the rapid addition of titles, all individual electronic journals to which the UM Library subscribes are not included in MCAT. Some of the resources which include a large number of full-text electronic journals that may not be cataloged include Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, ProQuest, and InfoTrac. If you are unable to find the title you are seeking in MCAT, it may be worthwhile to try a search in one of these resources. See the list of full-text article databases for a complete listing of which journal databases have been cataloged and which have not.
Links for this answer:

• Mirlyn: http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu/
• Electronic Journals & Newspapers List: http://www.lib.umich.edu/ejournals/

No. The contracts negotiated for the University typically allow access to the electronic resources only by members of the University community and persons who are actually on campus. The University Libraries do have a few pages to help with locating those resources which are free to the public.
Links for this answer:

• SearchTools: http://searchtools.lib.umich.edu/
  NOTE: If you are a UM patron, login as yourself. If you do not login, SearchTools will show only those resources that are licensed for Guests.
• Resources for Health Care Professionals Not Currently Affiliated with U-M: http://www.lib.umich.edu/taubman/visitor.html

At the University of Michigan Library, we tend to collect primarily those dissertations completed at UM. We do have selected dissertations from other schools, and a particularly fine collection of foreign theses and dissertations from the early part of the 20th century. You can find out if UM owns a dissertation by looking for it in Mirlyn. If the dissertation you want was not completed here, and UM does not happen to own it, you can:

• Request it through interlibrary loan from the institution at which it was completed. Please note that the UM interlibrary loan service is only available to UM affliates; if you are not affiliated with UM, you may be able to borrow dissertations through your local library's interlibrary loan service. Please note that while this service is usually free, it is often the least reliable option for gaining access to a thesis or dissertation.
• As of September 1st 2005, patrons can order dissertations directly from Proquest. Dissertations are available via the following methods:
  1. UM Dissertations: UM dissertations are listed in Mirlyn. Place requests for UM dissertations at any UM Library Circulation desk.
  2. Big Ten Dissertations: Dissertations written at Big Ten institutions since 1997 are available in full-text, free of charge at: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/cic/main.
  3. Non-UM dissertations: Non-UM dissertations are available through normal Interlibrary Loan borrowing procedures. Please note that most institutions loan only microfilm copies for a limited time period.
  4. Dissertation Express: You may purchase dissertations from Proquest through Dissertation Express. These dissertations will be yours to keep and they will be delivered directly to your door. Dissertations may be purchased directly from Proquest in the following two ways:
     Phone: 800-521-3420
     Website: http://wwwlib.umi.com/dxweb/gateway
     
• For additional information, please see the Taubman Medical Library's Guide to Dissertations

Students and faculty normally get their library card during orientations to campus. However, there are other special circumstances in which a library card may be obtained by persons who are affiliated with the University briefly or in other ways than a fulltime hired position. For more information, check the following two web pages:
Links for this answer:

• Borrowing Privileges for the UM Community: http://www.lib.umich.edu/circ/umborrowing.html
• Borrowing Privileges for UM Alumni and Guests: http://www.lib.umich.edu/circ/guestborrowing.html

If you are not a faculty, staff, or student of the University of Michigan, there are a few options open to you for how to get access or acquire materials available from our library.

1. If you are in the area, the library itself is open to the public, and you are welcome to visit during our normal business hours. You will not be able to borrow materials, but photocopiers are available.
2. If you are affiliated with another library, perhaps at another university, you may be able to ask your library to borrow materials from us on your behalf. This is called "Interlibrary Loan" and requires that you contact your local library. Delivery of interlibrary loan materials may range in time from a few days to a few weeks. Sometimes, under special circumstances, more rapid delivery is available, but for this you would still need to contact your library to originate the request.
3. If you are not affiliated with another library, or if you simply want the fastest service possible, you may choose to use the Michigan Information Transfer Source, also known as MITS. This is a fee-based information document delivery service offered primarily for the corporate, remote, and international communities. If you are an active clinician or health care provider, you may also choose to initiate an account with the Loansome Doc service from the National Library of Medicine.

• Michigan Information Transfer Source (MITS): http://www.lib.umich.edu/mits
• Loansome Doc: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/loansomedoc/loansome_home.html

The Dentistry Library does not sell anything. The Craniofacial Monograph series is published by the University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development. The books can actually be purchased from Needham Press. Most other university publications are available from the University of Michigan Press.
Links for this answer:

• UM Center for Human Growth and Development: http://www.umich.edu/~chgdwww/
• Needham Press: http://www.needhampress.com/
• University of Michigan Press: http://www.press.umich.edu/

Dr. Miller was the second Dean of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, better known as the person who discovered the relationship between oral micro-organisms and dental caries (cavities). More information is available here:

• W. D. (Willoughby Dayton) Miller

The book you are thinking of is Floral Radiographs: The Secret Garden, by Albert Richards. Online sample images and purchasing information are available from Dr. Richard's web site at: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~agrxray/.
Links for this answer:

• Floral Radiographs: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~agrxray/