Library User Guide: Medical Students

On Wednesday, May 31, 2017, the fifth floor was officially opened to the Florida Atlantic University community. The east wing space features an open and bright floor plan, movable furniture, improved access to power, and a phone charging station. Use your Owl Card to check out markers at the lobby's service desk to utilize one of the many white boards. 

Bonus! One of your medical librarians' office is on this floor if you have questions. Shameless plug-in with contact information: 

• Click HERE to schedule an appointment with Tiffany Follin.
• Email: tfollin@health.fau.edu if you don't want to knock on the door. 

Above: View of the 5th floor featuring mixed seating arrangements of booth and individual chairs. 

Images | Tiffany Follin

The Wimberly library offers computers accessible with your FAUNet ID and password. Guests and students who have passed their library privileges extension from their most recent scheduled semester (i.e. those on gap years, or those who have graduated) may use guest passes that are located at the library service desk in the main lobby. 

Check Computer Availability

• 1st floor Instruction & Engagement area (guest computers located here.)
• 1st floor Alumni Alcove
• 215 Computer Lab 

In 2016, a suite of offices was turned into an exclusive study lounge for graduate and College of Medicine students. The secluded study area, which can only be accessed with an active Owl Card, now has open study areas as well as group study rooms.

The Grad Lounge is located on the second floor, west wing. Walk down the hallway until you come to the third open study area (look for the wall decal!) The entrance is located towards the back of the wall near the bookcases. 

A group study room is available within the Lounge. To check out the room at least two group members, both with OWL Cards, must be present at the Service Desk to check out the key.

In 2017, the Serenity room was designed to provide students of all backgrounds a quiet place to pray, meditate, or reflect. The non-denominational space is open to all members of the FAU community, who have an active Owl Card.

Those who would like to utilize the space can find it on the third floor, east wing in LY347. 

Individual Study Rooms

• These rooms are available to individuals who need to study alone. Limited food or drink may be consumed in these rooms. The rooms are charged out for 2 hours, renewable once.  Additional renewals are allowed if another study room is available.  A valid OWL Card/Library Card is required for checkout.  Study room keys are not allowed outside the library and staff will not hold keys.

Group Study Rooms

• These rooms are available to groups who need to participate in projects or discussions. Limited food or drink may be consumed in these rooms. The rooms are charged out for 2 hours, renewable once.  Additional renewals are allowed if another study room is available.  A pager may be offered if no other rooms are available.  Two group members must be present at the Service Desk to check out a key or to receive a pager.  One group member must have a valid OWL Card/Library Card.  Study room keys are not allowed outside the library and staff will not hold keys.  Group study rooms are not available for individual use.

Collaborative Group Study Rooms

• The library has several collaborative study rooms.  In addition to the policies above for group study rooms, three group members must be present at the Service Desk to check out a room key.

Graduate Student Conference Room - LY 245D

• This room is located in the Graduate Study Lounge, LY 245, on the second floor of the west wing.  In addition to the policies above for group study rooms, access to this room is limited to graduate students.  At least two group members, both with OWL Cards, must be present at the Service Desk to check out the key.

Image | Tiffany Follin

Individual Study Booths were installed May 2023 on the 3rd Floor East wing. Financed by the FAU government, these booths offer a soundproof, airconditioned pod that provides power for personal devices while utilizing them. 

Images| Tiffany Follin

The general theory is that the higher one goes the quieter the spaces will become. In actuality each library space has its own personality that varies by time of day, time of semester, and occupants. 

West Wing

•  The second and third floors are open to each other so head towards the carrels located near the windows on each floor. Not only do you take advantage of the noise dampening quality of the book aisles but you may score on a pretty nice view outside to sooth your tired mind with as you blank on your review questions (just kidding- you got this, you amazing future M.D.!!) 

East Wing

• An area tucked away in the back corner of the floor (near the maps section) provides updated seating and a designated quiet area. 
• The second floor tends to be pin-drop quiet. Not that I've tried to test this theory. 
• The fourth floor is a designated quiet floor, however study rooms are located here and there may be some noise from traffic on & off the elevators. Head way down left from the elevator to discover a fairly quiet nook of wooden carrels to take advantage of, or head right of the elevators and towards the back wall of windows. 

Above: individual study areas located on 4 East, immediately exiting the elevators. 

Above: individual study areas located on 4 East, to the left of exiting the elevators. 

Above: bird's eye view of 4 East's study desks.

Above: Study desks located in the quiet area of 1 East, just past Victim's Services.

Images | Tiffany Follin

Two conference suites are located on the fifth floor of the Wimberly Library and can be reserved by filling out the reservation form. Students can request the room for individual use for one hour per day. Each room is equipped with a web camera and software for numerous video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, WebEx, MS Teams, Google Hangouts, etc.

Once the reservation is set, students can pick up the key at the service desk. We ask that the key be returned to the service desk on or before the time due.

Please note that our conference suites differ from a traditional study room. The suites are designed to provide a space for students looking to host or attend a virtual meeting with a professor, academic advisor, or university service provider. This is also a great space for a student attending a virtual interview or working with a group for a project that meets remotely. 

The Wimberly Library offers a service to pull books from the general library collection for pickup at the Service Desk. Please allow 24 hours for turn-around and note that items requested on Friday and during the weekend may be made available the following Monday. See the link below for additional details as well as the form to fill out for placing a request. 

• Retrieve Books

Courtesy of Student Government, charging stations are available throughout the library to charge up your device as you study. Check out the following locations and look for the empty blue charging boxes (red boxes are occupied). 

• 1st floor lobby/Instruction & Engagement (east wing)
• 1st floor Instruction & Engagement (east wing)
• 1st floor Alumni Alcove (west wing)
• 5th floor study area

Image | Tiffany Follin

Students have access to  Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services, which allow both print and electronic material to be brought in if they are not in the Libraries' collection. All first time users must create an account by clicking the ILL home page. Scroll down to click "Create an ILL Account" and follow the prompts. Creating an account is FREE and easy but if you run into problems please reach out to the librarians (librarymed@health.fau.edu) 

24/7 contactless lockers are located outside the front library doors; students will need to update their user information within their ILL accounts to indicate "Boca Locker Pickup." Material not picked up within 48 hours of email notification will be brought back inside the library and available for pickup at the Services desk until the date indicated on your email.  

The services in this box are mainly library wide services that Michelle and Tiffany believe may interest COM students. We'd be remiss if we did not highlight services the department offers which is specific to the COM students. 

• One on one consultations
  • Resource review (i.e. what is Embase and how to use the database)
  • Troubleshooting library resources (i.e. Endnote Cite As You Write)
• Group consultations
  • Same issues, more peers joining. 
• Publishing Assistance (limited) 
• Troubleshooting Resources
• Evidence Synthesis Services

Book A Medical Librarian: https://faulib.libcal.com/appointments 

Evidence Synthesis Request Form: https://libguides.fau.edu/systematic-reviews

The library offers printing and scanning devices.

Printing 

• Students can print from a library computer or their device using their FAUNet ID or guest account (should you not currently be registered as a student). All first time users will be required to create an account through the FAU Printing website. 
• The cost of printing is $0.08 (8 cents) per black and white page and $0.30 (30 cents) per color page. 

Scanning

• Scanners are a no-cost option available to students and guests. Save your scans to a USB drive, or send to cloud storage or an email. 
• Scanners are available throughout the library:
  • 1st floor Reference and Engagement (east wing)
  • Alumni Alcove (west wing)
  • 5th floor study area

Image | Tiffany Follin

The Wimberly Library offers Self Checkout machines that students can utilize. 

• 1st Floor lobby near Instruction and Engagement 
• 3rd Floor, West wing, near the top of the lobby staircase. 

If you're looking for an alternate self-checkout, mirrors are located in the restrooms-- you look fabulous, darling!! 

Image | Tiffany Follin

The FAU Libraries offers software that is available on various library PCs. Please see the linked page below to view the available software as well as which computers have been installed with them. 

• Library PCs: Software Availability 

IBM SPSS Statistics is available on all public library computers. 

Florida Atlantic University software (including SPSS Statistics) can be found via the OIT's Virtual Apps page. 

Your local librarian on site at the Wimberly Library, Tiffany Follin, has an office on the 5th Floor of the West wing. Head left from the elevator and look for the sign big enough to land a plane. If you don't see it, it may have been moved; head down to the end of the hallway and take a left. The office is located in LY 516. Tiffany's drop-in office hours are Monday-Friday, 11am-1pm and are subject to change due to personal leave or professional engagement. 

• Click HERE to schedule an appointment.