Questions?

We have four study rooms in the library. Read more about the policies and guidelines here. You can make a study room reservation online using our study room reservation form. 

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

Send a reference question

Or chat or call Jennie Ver Steeg on Teams!

 

You will see the Office 365 login when you click on one of the databases off campus. Use the login you always use for 365 there. The good news is that if you are already logged in to your college email , you won't need to log in again to go from your classroom to your email to the databases! If you need assistance, contact IT Support at (515) 473-8158.

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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Because the majority of our services and resources are available online, the library never really closes! However, below are the hours during which you can print, use a study room, check out a book, or ask for assistance from the library staff. Call (515) 643-6613 to confirm hours during breaks, holidays, and inclement weather.

Regular Hours

• Monday -Tuesday 7:30 am - 5 pm
• Wednesday -Thursday 7:30 am - 9 pm
• Friday 7:30 a.m. - 5 pm
• Saturday 10 am - 2 pm
• Sunday Closed

Break Hours

• Monday – Friday 8 am - 4 pm
• Closed Saturday & Sunday

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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Wi-fi is available in the library and throughout the Mercy College campus. It permits guest access to the Internet but not to the network drives or printers. 

Questions?

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Filtered and unfiltered resources differ in the level of evaluation applied to the works reviewed and the transparency of the authors regarding their evaluation methods, criteria for inclusion of articles, search strategies, and conflicts of interest of the review team members. The higher you go on the evidence pyramid, the higher the level of “filtering” and the greater one’s confidence can be in the strength and quality of the recommendations. Filtered evidence is the basis for both non-clinical policies, educational resources, and legislation and clinical practice guidelines, protocols, and care bundles.

**The level of “filtering” is not related to whether the document is published in a peer reviewed journal.

**Filtered sources are secondary sources.

**Filtered evidence synthesizes both qualitative and quantitative primary research articles.

**When you are asked in a research class to appraise research articles using some set of criteria, you are filtering the evidence!
 

Filtered resources are secondary sources. They include:

• systematic reviews
• critically appraised topics
• clinical practice guidelines

 

Unfiltered resources are primary or original research studies. Unfiltered evidence sources are primary sources. Examples include:

• randomized-controlled trails
• cohort studies
• case studies
• descriptive and observational studies
• qualitative and quantitative research articles

More information you can use is here:

 

Evidence Pyramid and Appraisal Tools

How do I find articles that are in specific levels of the evidence pyramid?

Reviews, Guidelines, Protocols, and Care Bundles, Oh My! 

How do I find qualitative or quantitative research articles?

What are primary or secondary sources?

What is peer review?

 

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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The Evidence Based Monkeys, EBM for short, are named Briggs, Cochrane, and PICO. Cochrane and Briggs are two common databases of systematic reviews and guidelines, and if you've taken a research class, you may have developed and researched a PICO question! The library's sock monkeys were custom made by Sami's Sock Monkeys. You can contact her through her Facebook page. 

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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Yes, you can use nearly all of the databases from home. UptoDate and ClinicalKey require downloading their app and registering for an account. 

ClinicalKey instructions

UptoDate instructions

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

Send a reference question

Or chat or call Jennie Ver Steeg on Teams!

Use this linked request form.

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

Send a reference question

Or chat or call Jennie Ver Steeg on Teams!

Contact the college's Technology Specialist at (515) 643-6704 (cell: 515-473-8158) or email it@mchs.edu

 

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

Send a reference question

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There are electrical outlets next to the study carrels on the north side of the library. For safety reasons we ask users to limit use of power cords to the study rooms, the study carrels, and the tables equipped with outlets. 

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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Yes, we are open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We participate in Iowa's Open Access program, which allows the public to check out materials with a picture ID and a library card from a public library in Iowa. The printers/copy machines are not available for public use.

Questions?

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Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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Patrons may have 5 active requests at a time. A request is active from the time you submit it until it is returned to the lending library (for hard copy items) or delivered to your email (for PDFs). 

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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A Digital Object Identifier, or DOIs, give each article, book, or book chapter a unique, persistent identifying alphanumeric code. It’s not mandatory that publishers register DOIs for all their publications, but scholarly publishers and some governmental agencies have assigned DOIs to the works they publish. (Because publishers or content owners have to pay to register items, many scholarly articles still lack DOIs, and popular publications, such as magazines or news articles, do not have DOIs). APA citation style requires that the DOI be included in reference list entries.

Crossref,  a registration agency for the International DOI Foundation, assigns DOIs to scholarly research publications.

All DOIs start with the number 10 followed by a period.

 **DOIs have nothing to do with the peer-reviewed status of an article.

**CINAHL and Proquest give DOIs in their article results, but they have code appended to them which identifies our college, which seems helpful on their end, but makes the DOI incorrect. Don’t use the DOI given in a library database record—get it from the actual article or CrossRef. Read more below!

The first place to look for a DOI is the article itself. Many publishers will include the DOI somewhere on the first page of the article, ether at the top of the page or in the footer, or in any citation or copyright information. 

The second place to look for a DOI is by searching the Crossref website. If your search for a DOI on their site comes up empty, it’s likely that the publication doesn't have one. 

Go to the Crossref.org website.

Click on the Search Metadata tab above the search box.

Enter the title of the article, in quotes, in the Title, Author, DOI, etc search box.

Look through the list of results for your article. The DOI will be listed at the bottom of the entry. In this example, it’s

 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-018-1616-9 

Searches in Crossref always bring back results, even if the article you are looking for isn't there. If you don't see your article in the first page of results, here are a few things to try.

• Add the author's last name to your search.
• Use the Year limiter in the left column to limit results to the year in which your item was published.

 If you still don't find the article you are looking for in Crossref, you’ve done your due diligence, and it doesn’t have a DOI.

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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Several of the most used textbooks are available as ebooks. Links to those ebooks have been provided to the instructors of those courses, and they will provide them to you in class. we also have a very small collection of paper copies of the most used textbooks. If you have questions or suggestions about future purchases, get in touch with Jennie at library@mchs.edu.

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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No. Please silence your phone before entering the library, and make and receive any phone calls in the hallway outside the library.

Questions?

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Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

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• Books – 14 days
• Journals – 7 days
• Videos/DVDs – 7 days (although some may only be checked out by faculty)
• Popular Reading Collection – 4 weeks
• Renewals allowed - 2

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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Yes. Just take your empty containers and wrappers with you and keep the food and drinks away from the computers.

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

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Articles and electronic documents tare typically available in 2 to 5 days. Hard copy items (primarily books) typically arrive within 10 days. Items that are difficult to obtain may take longer. You will receive an email or a call from the library informing you that your items are ready to be picked up.  Electronic documents are delivered directly to you via a link in an email.

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

Send a reference question

Or chat or call Jennie Ver Steeg on Teams!

There is no charge for most loans.  If we are not able to borrow an item free of charge, we will contact you for your approval before committing to pay for any item.  Mercy College will not cover the cost for the loan itself.  

Questions?

Contact the Library

Text (515) 303-4275 (515-303-4ASK)

library@mchs.edu

Send a reference question

Or chat or call Jennie Ver Steeg on Teams!

Current Mercy College students, faculty, and staff may use the request form.