School of Medicine & Health Sciences

FAQs

To access our resources, you must be an SMHS or CNPD student, employee, or volunteer faculty member.

Former students and employees do not retain access to our licensed resources beyond their separation date.

Password Assistance

  • UND student and employee accounts are maintained by NDUS. Follow the instructions on the NDUS Account Portal to reset your password.
  • Volunteer faculty accounts are maintained locally but can still be reset by the user. Follow the instructions on our Volunteer Faculty FAQs below to reset your password.

Finding Resources

Find It @ SMHS Library Resources

You may notice that some Find It @ SMHS Library Resources buttons will take you directly to an article while others instead take you to a search screen or a list of volumes/issues. The way the links behave is determined by the publishers and vendors themselves. Many permit a direct link to the item you'd like to view, but some instead send users to another screen that requires you to find it using their own interface.

LibKey Nomad Browser Extension

We subscribe to a service called LibKey Nomad that allows SMHS and CNPD employees, students, and volunteer faculty to have quick access to many of our resources, even if you're not logged into the proxy. Nomad is installed as an extension to your browser of choice and notifies you of access on scholarly pages.

Installing LibKey Nomad

  1. Choose the browser you'd like to install the extension in.
  2. Allow your browser to install the extension.
  3. Choose "UND SMHS Library Resources" as your organization.

Watch a quick video on installing Nomad with a short explanation of what it will look like when it appears while browsing scholarly websites. When the extension recognizes a resource that we have access to, you will be asked to sign in and then taken directly to the resource.

E-resource Availability

We provide online access to electronic resources (e-resources) such as journals, databases, and ebooks when possible. No library can provide access to all desired resources for several reasons, including the following:

  • Cost: Our budget doesn't support subscribing to all items.

  • Availability: Some items are not available electronically or have limitations to online access.

  • Licensing: Publishers may have license restrictions on usage conditions that we cannot accept.

For information on resource suggestions, see Resource Requests below.

Troubleshooting Tips

Running into problems when you are trying to research can be frustrating. Here are a few tips that may help you solve the problem quickly.

  • First, make sure you're starting on our library home page or our Databases A-Z list. The links in these locations ensure that you are taken through our authentication process, which is required to access subscribed resources.
  • When authenticating your account, make sure you're using the appropriate login options:
    • UND students and employees should use the "UND Students, Faculty, and Staff" login box. Enter your username (without the @UND.edu portion) and password. If you need to check your password or reset it, follow the links in the Password Assistance section above.
    • Volunteer Faculty should use the "Volunteer Faculty" login box. Enter your username (the email address you provided upon registration) and the password that you created for your account. If you need to reset your password, follow the instructions in the Password Assistance section above.
  • Clear your cache and cookies, as your browser may still have old information from your previous sessions that may be confusing the login process. Restart your browser after clearing the cache and cookies to refresh your sessions. 
  • Try to access the resource in a different browser (e.g., if you are in Chrome, try Firefox) and/or in a private browser window.
  • Make sure you're using the correct links. If you are attempting to link to a resource, copy and paste the link from our home page or Databases A-Z list. Do not assume that the link in the browser is a persistent link (often called a "permalink") that will allow you to return to the resource in perpetuity. Many resources have a button or link that allows you to copy the permalink. If you have questions about finding or using permalinks, contact your education librarian for assistance.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, contact us and let us know. Include a step-by-step list of the process that you used that ended with the error. Please also include the exact error message(s) that you are seeing when you attempt to access the resource.

If you need help with using our site or learning how to search our resources, reach out to your education librarian for assistance.

Transformative Agreements

So-called "transformative agreements" are based on the premise that publishing industry practices are not sustainable and contracts need to transform toward open access. Two types of transformative agreements that we have signed institutional contracts for are Subscribe to Open (S2O) and Read & Publish (R&P).

Affiliates of UND with a @UND.edu email address are eligible to submit publications under these licenses, unless otherwise specified.

Want more information about the journals included in open access agreements? We offer a search interface (SciFree) that allows you to locate relevant journals.

We currently have signed agreements with the following publishers:

Annual Reviews (S2O)

  • Subscribe to Open (S2O) agreement, which converts new volumes to open access with sufficient support from enough subscribers. Continued support is required for journals to remain open on a year-to-year basis.
  • Our read access covers most journals in the Science Collection
  • Instructions for authors

Cambridge University Press (R&P)

Oxford University Press (R&P)

The Company of Biologists (R&P)

Springer Nature (R&P)

  • Subscribed via an agreement through Lyrasis
  • UND authors are “eligible to publish their articles open access with fees covered in hybrid journals across the Springer Nature portfolio.” (A downloadable list of eligible hybrid journals is available on our Springer Nature “Information for authors” page.)
  • Articles are published under a CC BY or CC BY-NC license. Copyright remains with you, and you may distribute the article as you see fit.
  • Instructions for authors

Faculty Services

We provide resources and services to SMHS and CNPD employees as well as to volunteer faculty. 

Affiliated faculty includes all CNPD and SMHS employees and volunteer faculty who are associated with a CNPD or SMHS department.

Instruction

Librarians provide instruction sessions designed to bridge the gap between classes and the library's information resources. Working in collaboration with classroom faculty, librarians provide course-related library instruction on request. Contact your education librarian to talk about content and activities, to schedule an instruction session, or to collaborate on assignment design. If you are creating an assignment or activity that involves the use of library tools, consider working with one of our education librarians, who can help craft a plan that uses the most appropriate tools and incorporates important information strategies.

Literature Searches

When you need to be comprehensive, we can help you take your search beyond PubMed. We have many databases available for research, and our education librarians can help make decisions about which will provide appropriate information based on your topic.

If you are a clinician searching for patient care information, a faculty member preparing for a conference presentation, or a resident beginning a research study, our librarians are happy to work with you. We're experienced in structuring search strategies and understanding how to leverage powerful interfaces.

Resource Requests

We're committed to subscribing to resources that support research and coursework and that meet or exceed accreditation requirements. If you feel there is a gap in current content or you plan to teach new material, we appreciate your suggestions for new electronic journals or e-books. Please contact your education librarian to begin a discussion of your needs. They may be aware of relevant resources in our current collection. If appropriate, they may work with you to identify the best additional or alternative resource that helps ensure efficient use of our budget.

Open Educational Resources (OERS)

OERs are classroom materials that are free of cost and free of traditional copy right constraints. They come in many formats (textbooks, articles, videos, etc.) and are often licensed under Creative Commons, which may allow for re-use and/or adaptation of creative works. We've created a research guide with more information about medicine and health science OERs.

We can answer questions about the quality of OERs, how to find an appropriate OER in your field, and even how to make your own OER. If you decide to adopt an OER for your course, our librarians along with the instructional designers from TTaDA can help you through the process.

Continuing Education (CME/CE) Resources

Several of the research databases that we provide offer CME credits at no additional charge. We've created a research guide with more information about these resources and instructions for earning credit.

Kanopy Streaming Videos

We provide access to Kanopy streaming video service for SMHS and CNPD faculty members' classroom use. Access includes a curated collection of feature films, documentaries, documentaries, and instruction videos related to the curricula within SMHS and CNPD. If you would like a title that isn't available, you can use the Kanopy form to request that item or contact your education librarian to request the item. Volunteer faculty will need to contact us for account login information, as general accounts are tied to our UND.edu email addresses.

You can embed links in Blackboard by copying the web address of the title you'd like to link from the browser bar. After you create a Kanopy account, you will also be able to customize links by providing links to video segments or to customized class playlists.

The fine print: Viewing videos is free until four people watch at least 30 seconds of the same video. At that point, we are charged a year-long licensing fee (usually at least $150) for that specific video. Kanopy will not be included on our main list of library resources and will not be marketed to students to keep costs affordable and ensure that class use is a priority.

Course Reserves

Course reserves are materials set aside from the library collection or on loan from a personal collection per faculty request. Search for course information (i.e. "Biology" or "521"), instructor information ("smith" or "john"), or book information ("physical therapy" or "theory") to locate materials for your class. Fill out the instructor course reserve form to request items be placed on course reserves. If you are requesting an item from your personal collection, bring it to the SMHS Library Resources Information Desk after you've completed the form.

 Reserve Request Form

UND Scholarly Commons

The UND Scholarly Commons is UND's institutional repository, designed to bring all of the University's research together in one location to preserve and provide free access to the research. It allows you to store your work and make it easily available to a global audience and is perfect for working papers, grey literature, conference papers and presentations, senior theses, and other scholarly work that doesn't quite fit into traditional publishing workflows. 

If you have material that you would like to publish in the UND Scholarly Commons, contact your education librarian or the Digital Initiatives Librarian at the Chester Fritz Library, Zeineb Yousif.

Volunteer faculty receive a number of benefits from the university, including access to our online collections and search tools. For information about additional benefits beyond access to our library, contact the Office of Academic Affairs.

Account Application and Renewal

The following SMHS and CNPD volunteer affiliates will need to apply for a library account:

  • School of Medicine & Health Sciences volunteer faculty including fieldwork educators or clinical educators for Med Ed, OT, PT, PA, or MLS programs,
  • College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines clinical preceptors,
  • Human Nutrition Research Center staff and researchers,
  • Altru residents, and
  • INBRE researchers.

Please allow at least five business days to process your request. Applications are subject to approval.

Accounts are active for one year and must be renewed yearly, during which time we will verify continued affiliation with your SMHS or CNPD department. To renew your account, fill out the form and choose the "Renewal" option for the first question.

Apply or Renew

Log In and Access Articles

  1. Visit our home page or our Databases A-Z list to access subscribed resources, such as PubMed or Embase.
  2. Log in using the "Volunteer Faculty" section of the authentication page when prompted. Your username is the email address you signed up with and your password is what you set after your account was created.
  3. Search for information with your access to our subscribed resources.
  4. When necessary, you can use the "Find It @ SMHS" button to access full-text books and articles from our e-resources.

Change Password

  1. Start on our home page.
  2. Click to access one of our resources under the Quick Links section. (Note: BoardVitals does not use the library login, so you'll want to choose one of the other options in the list.)
  3. On the authentication screen, select the "Click here to reset password" link under the "Volunteer Faculty" section.

Training and Consultations

Librarians provide personal consultations and instruction sessions. If you are working with a group of students, you can collaborate with a librarian to provide course-related library instruction. Contact your education librarian for more information.

Have questions that aren't answered here?

Contact us!

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