Library

“To study the phenomena of disease without books is to sail an uncharted sea, while to study books without patients is not to go to sea at all.” - Dr. William Osler

The University Library is located in the Student Education Center and has been selected as a Resource Library by the National Library of Medicine.

Hours

7:30 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to midnight, Saturday and Sunday. The Library will be closed on all University holidays. Any other schedule changes will be posted in the Library.

Reference staff are available Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Kendall Reed Rare Book Room is open Monday-Friday 12:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Facts

  • Library front desk35,008 square feet
  • The Circulation Area contains Reserve and Board Collections
  • Close to 450 print journal and newsletter subscriptions and over 3,000 electronic journal subscriptions
  • A 26,000 volume medical book collection
  • Reading and Study areas
  • Online Reference tools available to students include MEDLINE (medicine), AGELINE (geriatrics), CINAHL (nursing, health administration and allied health), Up To Date, Cochrane Library, MDConsult, AccessMedicine, STAT!ref, SciVerse ScienceDirect, Access Surgery, ACP Medicine, Essential Evidence Plus, The Medical Letter, PsycINFO, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine Source, Springer Images, VisualDx, Web of Science and many other databases
  • 30,000 volume bound journal collection

Access and use

Library tablesMaterials may be checked out by University students and employees. Interlibrary Loan privileges are extended to faculty, students at remote sites and alumni. The Library is open to the public 8 a.m. – 5:30 PM, Monday through Friday. Members of the public must use materials in the library.

Remote access to library resources

Des Moines University’s proxy server provides students and faculty with free remote access to the Library’s electronic resources for scholarly research. When working off-campus it allows authorized users to electronically access periodical and index databases and full-text resources, and to take advantage of links to DMU resources that have been set up in PubMed.

You need to log into the Pulse where you must enter your Des Moines University ID and password. Once you have been authenticated, click on the link to the Library section. You need to use the links on the Library portal to access resources to which the Library has subscribed.

Reminder: Sites may not be accessible when the company is doing maintenance, or if the number of users logged in exceeds the number allowed simultaneous access in the license agreement. If this happens, you should get a message indicating the problem, and you should try again later. Firewalls (especially in hospitals) may also interfere with your connections. For other problems, you should contact help.desk@dmu.edu and library@dmu.edu.

Kendall Reed Rare Book Room

The University Archives includes historical documents from the University Administration and personal papers from former faculty members. The Historical Book Collection focuses on Osteopathic Medicine, Podiatric Medicine, Medical Education in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Military Medicine, and Surgical Anatomy.

Library Memorial Fund information

DMU has a memorial gifts program to benefit the library. This program allows donors an opportunity to honor the memory of someone close to their heart by making a gift to DMU.

All memorials will go toward enhancing the book collection at the Library unless otherwise designated. The Library is the heart and soul of Des Moines University. If you are interested in the memorial gifts program, contact the development office.

Web resources

The Des Moines University Historical Photograph Collection in the Iowa Heritage Digital Collection is a digital sample of the most popular images from the resources housed in the Kendall Reed Rare Book Room. They show the University’s three campus locations, early leaders, and student life. DMU’s pictures are located on the following site pictures