Information Desk Policies

MATAS BORROWING PRIVILEGES

Tulane Health Sciences faculty, students and staff have borrowing privileges. These privileges also extend to the faculty, students and staff of the university (uptown campus), and LSU Medical Center faculty and graduate level students. Loan periods are the same for all users.

MATAS BORROWING PERIODS

• Journals: 2 days
• Study Guides: 2 days
• Reserve Materials: 2 hours; overnight 2 hours before closing, due 1 hour after opening the next day
• Stacks Books: 28 days; 3 renewals allowed
• Laptops, Headphones, Dry Erase Markers: 6 hours
• CDs & DVDs: 28 days, unless specified on reserve (2 hours) or high use (2 hours)

REQUIREMENTS FOR BORROWING

A valid Tulane University ID (Splash card) is required to check out any items or request other library services. Only the personal owner of an ID may use that ID to check-out materials. New users may be asked to register and all users must present a current ID (Splash Card) and complete a registration form. LSU Health Sciences Center students must be registered with the LSUHSC’s Isché Library and have their current LSU ID in order to register with the Matas Library as "special medical patrons" (Library privileges for “special medical” users do not transfer to other Tulane Libraries).

DELIVERY BETWEEN MATAS LIBRARY AND HOWARD-TILTON/OFFSITE DEPOSITORY

Certain materials may be available for delivery service from uptown and from the off-site depository. The book must be neither checked out, nor on Hold or Reserve, and then it may be eligible for request via the Library Catalog for delivery from the Howard-Tilton Library or from the Offsite Depository. Some types of materials may not be requested for delivery, such as DVDs or materials from any of the Special Collections. Make sure to designate Matas Library as your pick-up location. Borrowing periods are dependent on the library loaning the specific item.

MORE INFORMATION

Matas Books may be borrowed for a loan period to 28 days or one month, and print volumes of journals circulate for two days. Study guides or some special texts in the Matas Commons Area have two-day check out. Renewals are available as long as Holds or Recalls have not been requested. If materials become overdue, the renewals may be restricted, as well. Please contact the information desk if your materials become overdue. Selected textbooks and other course-related materials are kept on reserve behind the circulation desk. They may be checked out for two hours for library use only. Most reserve materials may also be checked out of the library two hours before closing and are due one hour after opening the next day. Fines of $1.00/hour are charged for overdue reserve items. Holds may not be placed on Reserve items, however users waiting for a book to return may request that the library page them when that book is returned to the desk. Paging is done on a first come, first serve basis, but requesters must remain in the Matas library for this service. Study Guides are purchased for study use. These books have a two day, limited checkout period. The Commons books may be renewed. Suggestions for purchase for the study collection are accepted and these books are purchased if readily available as funds exist.

RETURNING

Materials should be returned to the Matas Library Desk during the library's open hours. There is a book slot available after the desk is closed. Please use that slot only when the Library is closed. Materials may also be returned to the Howard-Tilton Library for delivery to Matas. Items are checked-in at whatever desk receives the materials and show "In transit" until they are received at the owning Library.

RENEWALS

Books and Journals may be renewed three times, provided that no other users have placed a hold or recall for the material. Materials that are not already overdue may be renewed online via the Library Catalog after signing into "My Account". Books and journals may also be renewed in person or by phone Monday thru Friday, from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. Please note that materials placed on Reserve for class use may be recalled at anytime from users. Renew your checked out items from the Library Catalog by signing into your Library Account. Users may also contact the Library Information Desk for assistance at (504) 988-2403 or medcirc@tulane.edu.

RESERVE MATERIALS

Selected textbooks and other course-related materials are kept on reserve behind the circulation desk. They may be checked out for two hours for library use only. Most reserve materials may also be checked out of the library two hours before closing and are due one hour after opening the next day. Fines of $1.00/hour are charged for overdue reserve items. Holds may not be placed on Reserve items, however users waiting for a book to return may request that the library page them when that book is returned to the desk. Paging is done on a first come, first serve basis. Users must remain in the library for this service. Please notify your instructor, as well as the Matas Library, if materials you require for class assignments are not readily available. There is an online form for adding items to Matas Course Reserves. Reserve placement may also be requested by phone or email. Please contact us with changes in texts, or new editions of the texts used in the past. For assistance, e-mail medcirc@tulane.edu or call (504) 988-2404, Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm.

Holds are special requests to have materials held for individuals when they become available to use. Holds can be placed on materials that are currently checked out.

When are HOLDS available?

A Hold may be placed on any circulating item that is checked-out. The requester of the hold will be notified as soon as the current user returns the item. There is no penalty to the current user if they do not return the item until the original due date. A hold does mean that no one else may check out the specific item once it is available in the library for a designated period. If you request a hold please come promptly to pick up the returned materials.

When are RECALLS available?

A Recall may be placed once a book has been checked out to a user for at least two weeks. The current user may have their loan period shortened to accommodate the person requesting the item. Fines are charged to users that do not return recalled items. The requester of the RECALLED item will be notified as soon as the current user returns the item.

TIMELY PICK-UP

If you request a hold or recall please come promptly to pick up the returned materials. The returned item will be held for the user who has initiated the recall or hold for five days. If the patron does not pick up the material in that period, it will be sent back to the stacks or to the loaning library.

The library does not charge overdue fines with the exception of reserve materials; however, if items are not returned within a prescribed period of time after the due date, a $10.00 per item late fee will be charged and all library privileges suspended until materials are returned and the fee is paid. Users may be blocked from Library privileges when they incur a total fine at the Matas Library of $30.00. Users with fines above this amount may be blocked from interlibrary loan, as well as circulation of print materials from the Tulane Libraries. General & Course Reserve materials may also be checked out of the library two hours before closing and are due one hour after opening the next day. Fines of $1.00/hour are charged for overdue reserve items. Library fines can be paid by cash or check (payable to Tulane University). For assistance, contact the Matas Library Information Services Desk at medcirc@tulane.edu or (504) 988-2403.

Rudolph Matas Library offers fax service as a convenience to the Tulane Downtown Community. A valid Tulane I.D. is required. Forms and information are available at the Matas Library Information Services Desk. The service is available from 9:00am-5:00pm on weekdays.

Cost: A Library cover sheet is required with a $1.00 charge for each cover and transmittal sheet ($2.00 minimum charge). Cash and checks are accepted as payment, and there are no refunds.

The Library can send faxes to local or long distance numbers, but not to international numbers. Materials related to educational purposes may be faxed. Library usage of the fax equipment takes precedence over community fax usage; so some delay in transmittal may be necessary. The Library accepts no responsibility for damage to materials during the fax process, so it is suggested that delicate originals first be photocopied and the copies sent as a fax transmission. Originals may be held for pickup at the Library Desk. A fax confirmation will be presented as a confirmation of successful transmission; the Library can only guarantee that the fax was sent. To confirm that a fax was received, it is the responsibility of the user to contact the site for verification. The Library is not able to receive faxes for individuals.

The Tulane University Libraries follow the principles of borrower confidentiality. The staff in Information Services will not divulge any details of a patron's library record to other patrons or agencies unless required to do by law. The library follows the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association. "We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted." Physicians and medical students utilizing integrated delivery systems or networks should carefully handle access to the confidential information of patients when utilizing hospital systems within the Library. Confidential information also is disseminated through clinical repositories and shared databases and care should be taken to respect the patient's confidential and privileged information. Students should strive to follow the Patient Confidentiality Guidelines described by the AMA Code of Medical Ethics while they utilize medical information technologies.

Rudolph Matas Library has two Dell PC laptops and two Apple laptops available for checkout at the circulation desk. A valid Tulane ID is required.

• The loan period for a laptop is six (6) hours.
• Laptops may not be removed from the library for any reason.
• The laptops are configured to connect to the wireless network.
• Laptops must be returned in person to the circulation desk. Failure to return a laptop on time will result in a fine of $1 per hour.
• Laptops may be renewed when there is no waiting list.
• If a laptop is lost, stolen, or damaged while checked out, the patron will be billed for replacement or repair cost.

Do not leave valuables unattended in the Matas Library, especially in the stacks and group study rooms. Theft of property should be immediately reported to the Tulane University Police Department. In the event that a phone, laptop, or other personal property is left in the library and a name or other indication of ownership is known, you will contacted via email or phone and the item will be kept for 24 hours. USB flash drives will be kept for seven (7) days before destruction. Valuable items are turned into the Tulane Security Desk on the first floor of the Hutchinson Building. Contact the Information Services Desk if you think you have left personal property in the library.

Rudolph Matas Library offers white paper recycling bins near the printers. Only white paper may be recycled within the library. There is also a receptacle for plastic and aluminum materials in the lobby area. Recycling bins are located throughout the hallways of the School of Medicine Building as well. For more information about Tulane's recycling program, visit recycle.tulane.edu. Thank you for being Green and keeping Rudolph Matas Library clean.