Hardin Library: Getting the information, stat!

Whether you need to know more about the tinea pedis that persistently attacks your toes or simply would like access to rare medical books and hard-to-find health science journals, the place to turn is The University of Iowa’s Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

Hardin’s interlibrary loan program provides hard-to-find medical information to doctors, hospitals, clinics, patients, and others throughout Iowa.

	Linda Lococo, interlibrary loan supervisor in Hardin Library. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

“Our collection has the depth and breadth that no other health science collection in the state has,” says Linda Lococo, interlibrary loan supervisor for Hardin Library.

Hardin Library for the Health Sciences sits directly north of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics on the University’s west-side health sciences campus. Because the library serves five health science colleges and the largest teaching hospital in the state, its collection necessarily covers a broad range of disciplines, Lococo says.

But the library also serves patrons beyond the campus’s borders. Iowans looking for information or for journal articles and books can contact their local public or school library and request an interlibrary loan Hardin Library.

While University Libraries has three interlibrary loan offices—in the Main Library, Law Library, and Hardin Library—Hardin librarians fill approximately half of the University’s total interlibrary loan requests.

On average, Hardin receives 600 requests per month from libraries and Iowans. The busiest months are in spring and fall, due partly to grant deadlines that come up each October and March.  For the last three years, Hardin has filled requests from all 99 Iowa counties.

Hardin Library also serves health information-seekers beyond Iowa’s borders. Hardin librarians receive about 38,000 requests per year, around 82 percent of them from out-of-state. Up to 400 of those requests come from outside the United States.

The majority of requests for an interlibrary loan comes from students and professors. Second are those from health care workers. Lawyers, researchers, and private citizens make up the remaining requestors. Hardin librarians send books and articles to public and school libraries, academic institutions, hospitals and medical centers, private medical facilities, law firms, businesses, state agencies, state correctional facilities, and Iowa residences.

“This hospital library could not function without interlibrary loan,” says Emily Erickson, a librarian at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, Iowa. “Our doctors and staff benefit from the abundant resources available through Hardin, and we receive our requests quickly.”

Besides rushing information to health care providers who have urgent cases, Hardin librarians also keep physicians and other providers well informed about cutting-edge research and just-published information, according to Hardin’s Linda Lococo.

“If a physician needs information urgently or if a rare situation happens, Hardin can get the information fast. It may even save a life,” says Sandra Friedrickson, a librarian at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. “The interlibrary loan through Hardin has been a crucial resource for our doctors, staff, and students, and has helped us improve the overall quality of our patient care.” 

And in case you're wondering, tinea pedis is commonly known as athlete’s foot.

by Andrea Schreiber

Andrea Schreiber, a UI senior in journalism and mass communications, is a media intern for The University of Iowa’s Health Science Relations office.