FAQs

What is the Northern California Division (NCD) Medical Library?

The NCD Medical Library is a 100% virtual library, servicing all 13 hospitals in the Northern California Division.  

Who can use the NCD Medical Library?

All clinicians and staff working within the Northern California Division can utilize the Library’s services.

Due to recent restructuring, we are unable to provide services to those outside of the Northern California Division.    

Does the Library have a physical location? 

No.  There is no physical library or print collection.  All services are provided by remote Library staff. 

What are the Library’s service hours?

Library services are typically available 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays).

How do I contact the Library?

Send us an email at ncdmedlibrary@dignityhealth.org

What types of services are provided?

The Library provides support for patient care, quality initiatives, hospital policy/procedure updates, and continuing professional education. 

Services include:

  • Expert literature searches by Master’s degree-trained librarians
  • Training and education on evidence-based practice and library resources
  • Assistance in locating and retrieving full-text articles 

What are the turnaround times?

The Library typically responds within 24-48 hours (during service hours only).  Turnaround times for specific services:

  • Article requests – Within 48-72 hours for non-urgent requests

    • Requests for 10+ Articles:

      For requests for more than 10 articles, we ask users to first check Dignity Health's online subscriptions and/or free public databases, where articles are immediately available to you.  If an article is not from one of Dignity Health's online journal subscriptions or not publicly available, we are happy to order it for you via interlibrary loan.  

  • Literature searches
    • Non-patient care – 1-2 weeks
    • Patient care – 3-5 days
    • Urgent patient care – 1 day

How do I access online books and journals?

Visit the Library Resource page to access PubMed@NCD and other literature search databases, plus clinical journals and textbooks.  

How can I access the Library's online resources from home / offsite?

Library resources must be viewed on the Dignity Health network for full-text access. Visit the Off-Site Access page for instructions on how to access some resources off-site. 

Can the library order a book for me?

We do not offer this service. Please search our list of availble e-books.