Hours
Texas Department of State Health Services Medical and Research Library Hours: 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday except for State of Texas holidays.
Location/Contact Information
The Medical and Research Library is located at the Texas Department of State Health Services main campus in Austin, Texas at 1100 W. 49th Street.
(See Visitor Information)
Library Contact Information:
Telephone number: 512-776-7559
Toll-Free: 1-888-963-7111 ext. 7559
Fax: 512-776-7474
Email: library@dshs.texas.gov
Physical Address:
Medical and Research Library, Mail Code 1955
Texas Department of State Health Services
1100 W. 49th Street, Moreton Building, M-652
(see Central Campus-Austin map)
Austin, TX 78756-3199
Postal Service Mailing Address:
Medical and Research Library, MC 1955
Texas Department of State Health Services
P.O. Box 149347
Austin, TX 78714-9347
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Mission Statement
To fulfill the health-related information needs of researchers, counselors and medical practitioners working for
or through the Texas Health and Human Services Enterprise (HHS), enabling them to make knowledgeable
decisions, resulting in better health for Texans and good stewardship of public resources.
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Stakeholders
MRL primary stakeholders are employees of the Texas Health and Human Services Enterprise (HHS).
Secondary stakeholders are other public health professionals, the library community and Texas citizens.
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Library Staff
Anne Tarpey, Senior Librarian/Team Leader, 512-776-7559, anne.tarpey@dshs.texas.gov
Reference questions, literature searches, MRL newsletters, training, collection development, donations,
circulation services and cataloging.
David McLellan, Librarian, 512-776-2882, david.mclellan@dshs.texas.gov
Document delivery, inter-library loan, electronic collection, reference questions, journal collection,
circulation services and cataloging.
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MRL Collection
The MRL collection has more than 5,000 books & ebooks, 230 electronic journals, 5 print journals.
Subjects range from public health and medicine to business and management.
It maintains a large collection of Texas Department of Health legacy documents.
Four laptops for library use are available at the MRL and may be used to access the e-resources.
Borrowing privileges are limited to HHS employees and to other libraries.
Employees may borrow library books for four weeks.
Access to materials owned by other libraries is available through the inter-library loan process.
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Journal Collection
MRL journal collection provides timely information to support HHS employees in their public health efforts.
The journal collection consists mainly of electronic journals that can be searched and viewed online.
Other libraries making inter-library loan requests. call 512-776-7559 or email library@dshs.texas.gov.
MRL is a member of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and is a DOCLINE participant.
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Reference Services
MRL librarians answer reference questions using electronic and print resources. They also provide
information referral services, granting library stakeholders access to experts within the Texas Health
and Human Services Enterprise (HHS) and to other specialized libraries outside of HHS.
MRL librarians cannot provide medical or legal advice. They cannot respond to questions about
individual medical cases, provide second opinions or make specific recommendations regarding therapy.
Those issues should be addressed directly with your healthcare provider.
Reference questions may be submitted by email or by telephone at 512-776-7559.
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Literature Searches
MRL librarians conduct bibliographical searches for Texas HHS employees using a variety of databases
and other electronic resources. The searches generate a list of journal citations with or without abstracts.
The requester reviews the lists and then requests relevant full-text articles (see Document Delivery below).
Search requests may be submitted using the Literature Search Request Form.
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Document Delivery
MRL librarians provide free document delivery services to all Texas HHS programs and employees.
Request for books or articles are filled by first consulting the MRL collection. If the MRL collection
does not provide access to the requested materials, then a request is submitted to the inter-library
loan services. MRL is a DOCLINE participant. Please allow reasonable time to process requests.
Requests may be submitted using the Document Delivery Request Form.
Copyright Restrictions: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code)
governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain
conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or
other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is
not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research. If a user
makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of
fair use, that user may be liable for copyright infringement. MRL reserves the right to refuse
to accept a copying order if, in the judgement of library staff, fulfillment of the order would
involve violation of copyright law.
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Email Distribution List
Texas HHS employees may join in the MRL email distribution list to receive periodic notices
of new resources in the MRL collection, new services, and upcoming training sessions or events.
Websites, electronic reports and abstracts of interesting journal articles are also included in the
Medical and Research Library News. To subscribe, go to the Join Email List.
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Current Awareness Services
MRL librarians provide two current awareness services in support of the research activities of Texas HHS employees.
• Electronic Search Service: Employees involved in ongoing research may request that the MRL librarians run
an electronic search periodically on topics of interest, providing a listing of newly published materials.
• Tables of Contents Service: Upon request, MRL librarians will send Table of Contents (TOCs) from journal titles
selected by HHS employees to HHS email addresses. To subscribe, go to the Table of Contents Request Form.
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Tours and Training
MRL librarians provide MRL orientation tours upon request to HHS employees, both in person or virtually.
Training sessions on MRL resources, such as PubMed, are provided upon request to HHS employees.
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External links to other sites are intended to be informational and do not have the endorsement of the Texas Department of State Health Services. These sites may also not be accessible to people with disabilities.