This month we have 15 new eBooks. They include:
Welcome to the 2024 – 2025 academic year from The Libraries of the University of Texas Health San Antonio! The start of a new academic year brings fresh challenges and opportunities for learning, growth, and change. The momentous announcement on August 22 about the integration of UT Health San Antonio and UTSA will make this year an exciting one with many challenges and opportunities.
As the new Executive Director of Libraries for UT Health San Antonio, I feel a bit like a new student arriving on campus – I am excited to be here AND I have a lot to learn about this amazing institution. Since I arrived on August 1st, I have been impressed and inspired by the caliber and dedication of individual students, faculty, and staff.
Supporting student success and the teaching, research, and clinical activities of faculty and staff is our primary purpose in the Libraries. Our mission is to promote learning, inspire discovery, and connect with our communities. We accomplish this by delivering high-quality resources to support teaching, learning, research, and clinical care. Our helpful, knowledgeable, and talented library staff provide expert help – either in person or virtually – to individuals and work to assist students, residents, faculty, clinicians, and staff in finding high-quality information. We work with colleagues throughout the campus, within the UT System, and beyond to foster partnerships and collaborate in support of the institutional mission and initiatives.
With the start of the new year, we are welcoming new students and residents and reconnecting with returning students and faculty and staff. Whether you are a student, resident, faculty member, or staff member, I hope you will reach out to me or individual library staff members to learn more about library services and resources. Our librarians provide expert help to anyone seeking information for learning, teaching, research, and clinical needs.
The Dolph Briscoe, Jr. Library provides study and collaborative spaces for students from all six schools in addition to housing the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library on the 5th floor of Briscoe Library. We hope you will stop by and visit the Library which is open 24/7. Our primary goal is to make the library a welcoming, comfortable, and safe space for members of the University community to explore, discover, reflect, contemplate, teach, learn, and create. Our library website is your starting point – log in to access library resources and to connect with a librarian or library staff member for expert assistance, and more.
We welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions at any time – please reach out to me to introduce yourself and share your feedback and suggestions. Over the coming months, I look forward to meeting more of you and learning about your work.
We wish you all the best for an amazing year!
Pat Hawthorne
Executive Director of Libraries
hawthorne@uthscsa.edu
210-567-2413
On September 1 each year, appointments for new and returning adjoint, adjunct, and clinical faculty begin. Earlier this summer, the UT Health San Antonio Libraries implemented enhancements to ensure seamless and secure access to essential research and clinical resources. As a result, all individuals are required to log into the library systems using their UT Health San Antonio domain username and password to access library resources – individuals will be required to login whether they are on campus, off campus, or accessing the library resources via VPN.
Effective September 1st, all UT Health San Antonio Adjoint, Adjunct, and Clinical Faculty will need to acquire a UT Health San Antonio network account to access the library’s online resources 24/7 from anywhere.
If you already have an UT Health San Antonio network account, you are all set.
If you do NOT yet have a UT Health San Antonio network account, Information Management & Services (IMS) will work with your sponsoring department to create an account for you. For instructions and additional information on accessing library collections, please visit https://library.uthscsa.edu/access-to-library-resources/
If you are interested in learning more about library services and resources available to you, librarians are available to orient and assist you to library services – to find the liaison librarian assigned to your school, visit the Liaison Librarians guide.
Who are these people named Floyd Curl, Ewing Halsell, Merton Minter, Tom Slick & Melrose Holmgreen?
Streets in the medical center aren't just traffic funnels of dusty asphalt. They're memorials to people, many from San Antonio, who helped create the South Texas Medical Center back in the 1940s and '50s.
Haven't you driven down Floyd Curl and wondered where the name came from? Curl was a Methodist minister and district superintendent in the United Methodist Church at the time Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital was set for its location as the first building in the medical center.
We now have access to a new resource: JCO Digital Library. This is a very popular resource, focusing on clinical oncology.
Unique bundle of all 5 journals from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
Anyone involved in cancer research and practice can now get all 5 journals of the American Society of Clinical Oncology—the largest and most influential organization of cancer specialists in the United States—as a single journal bundle (journals are not available individually).
Journals include:
Journal of Clinical Oncology - ASCO’s flagship journal is widely regarded as the most credible source for high-quality content and significant research in clinical oncology. It is essential reading for professionals from all oncology disciplines and subspecialties—medical, surgical, pediatric, gynecology, urology, therapeutic radiology, and hematology.
JCO Oncology Practice - Focuses on the mechanics of practice and keeps readers current on developments, breakthroughs, and challenges in high-quality care delivery. A wide variety of perspectives are included—socioeconomics, clinical trials, health policy, ethics, health services, improvement, and more.
JCO Global Oncology - This open-access journal focuses on cancer care, research, and care delivery issues unique to countries and settings with constrained healthcare resources.
JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics - Reports on biomedical informatics methods, studies, and processes applied to cancer-related data, information, and images.
JCO Precision Oncology - Innovative and timely original research, reports, opinions, and reviews on the science and practice of precision oncology and genomics-driven personalized therapies.
Did you know the Nixon Library has an antique trepanning set?
Trepanning, also known as trepanation, is one of the oldest known surgical practices. The procedure involves drilling or scraping a hole into the human skull. Archaeological evidence suggests that trepanning was practiced by ancient civilizations across the world, including in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The earliest known examples date to the Neolithic period, around 7,000 years ago. This procedure was often believed to have been performed to treat head injuries, mental illnesses, or neurological conditions by releasing "evil spirits" or pressure from the brain.
The practice of trepanning was relatively common in ancient cultures. Skulls from various regions, such as Peru, France, and Russia, show signs of trepanation, and some of these skulls indicate that the individuals survived the procedure, as evidenced by bone regrowth around the edges of the hole. Trepanning was also practiced by ancient Greek and Roman physicians. Hippocrates, often considered the father of modern medicine, described trepanning as a treatment for head wounds.
The tools used for trepanning evolved over time. Early trepanning tools were simple and crude, often made of stone, and included sharp flint scrapers and chisels. As medical knowledge advanced, so did the instruments. In the Middle Ages, metal trephines—cylindrical saws with sharp teeth—became the standard. These trephines allowed for more controlled and precise removal of bone, reducing the risk of injury to the brain.
While trepanning is no longer a common medical practice, its history offers valuable insights into early surgical techniques and the evolution of medical tools. Modern neurosurgery has largely replaced trepanning, but the procedure remains a fascinating example of ancient medical practices and their attempts to understand and treat conditions related to the brain.
To view the trepanning set in person, contact Diane Fotinos, University Archivist to schedule a viewing.
The Work of Hospitals : Global Medicine in Local CulturesWilliam C. Olsen, et al
Many low-resource countries have experienced increasing privatization and dysfunction of public sector institutions such as hospitals, and growing withdrawal of funding for non-profit organizations. Underlying the chapters in The Work of Hospitals is a fundamental question: how do hospitals function lacking the medications, equipment and technologies, and personnel normally assumed to be necessary?
This collection of ethnographies demonstrates how hospital administrators, clinicians, and other staff in hospitals around the world confront innumerable risks in their commitment to deliver health care, including civil unrest, widespread poverty, endemic and epidemic disease, and supply chain instability.
Check out the book through ProQuest Ebook Central, provided by the Briscoe Library.
Did you know the library has ebooks? Browse our collections that cover everything from the health sciences to literature.