Frequently Asked Questions about the Talbot Library

Updated 2/10/2023

General

Q: Is the Library open on evenings and weekends?
A: 
The Library is open 24/7 physical library access for Fox Chase Staff only (use your id card for entrance). Librarians are in the library from 9-5 Monday-Friday.

The library will be staffed with at least one librarian during open hours. The Service Desk will remain closed. For assistance, please knock on the “on- duty” librarian’s door. It will have a sign on it or it will be open. Books may be returned to the book drop outside the library entrance at any time.

Q: Are visitors welcome?
A: 
Visitors are welcome to use the library during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 8:45am to 5:00pm. Only employees can use the library after 5:00pm on weekdays and on weekends.

Q: What is the Library's address and phone number?
A:
 The Library is located in the Reimann Building, Room 224. Our mailing address is:

Talbot Research Library
Fox Chase Cancer Center
333 Cottman Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19111

Our phone number is (215) 728-2711.

Q: If I give you a list of articles can you pull the journals and photocopy them for me?
A:
 Photocopying is self-service. If you need an article from our print collection, you, or someone from your department, can come to the Library and make a photocopy. Librarians will scan and email articles if time permits. For more information, please email us at[email protected] or phone us at (215) 728-2711.

Q: Where are the copiers located?
A:
 The photocopier is located in the back of the library. There is no charge for photocopying of library materials.

Q: Are there public computers in the Library?
A: 
We have several public computers, including a Mac. All computers have the Microsoft Office suite and internet access, and a scanner is also available.

Journals

Q: How find a journal online?
A:
 To search for a journal:

  1. Navigate to the Journal Holdings page.
  2. In the Title Contains All Words text box, type the name of the journal and then click Search.
  3. Click the journal holdings link.

You can also search by DOI, PubMed ID (PMID), or ISSN. It is important to note that the Journal Holdings page provides details about print and electronic holdings.

Q: Can I access full text articles from PubMed?
A:
 To access full text articles from PubMed:

  1. On the Talbot Library home page, click the PubMed icon on the tabbed search box.
  2. Search PubMed and click on the article title.
  3. In the PubMed record click either the Online Full Text button, or the publisher (PMC, Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, for example) button.

Please note that you will only be able to access full text articles from journals to which we actually subscribe. Sometimes, PubMed gets it wrong, but not often.

Q: I don't see the Fox Chase Online button for an article in PubMed. Does that mean the article is not available full text?
A: 
Not necessarily. We may have the print version but not the electronic version. Another reason is that some publishers do work with PubMed and, as a result, PubMed is unable to provide full text access to certain journals. To check for availability, visit the Library's Journal Holdings page.

Q: I don't see any buttons in PubMed, nor is the journal on the Journal Holdings page. How do I get an article from this journal?
A: 
If there are no buttons in PubMed and the journal does not appear on the Journal Holdings page, then we probably don't subscribe to the journal. Submit an Article or Book Request by clicking on the request form found in the Quick Links box on the left and we will do our best to obtain a copy of the article for you.

Q: Can I access an online journals from an offsite computer?
A: 
Yes, you can access online journals from an offsite computer, but you must go through the Library home page. You will be prompted to enter your FoxNet user ID and password. If you have trouble with your user name and password, please contact the Help Desk at x2800.

Q: Do other databases besides PubMed provide links to full text articles?
A: 
Yes. Many of our databases — Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL — include full text links but only to journals to which we subscribe.

Q: How do I get a journal's impact factor?
A:
 Part of the Web of Science package is a tool called Journal Citation Reports (JCR) that calculates journal impact factors. You can access the JCR directly from the Library's Databases A-Z list.

Q: The journal website is asking me for a username and password. What do I do?
A: 
Did you access the journal website through the Talbot Library or Google? If you accessed the journal through Google, many times the publisher cannot verify our subscription and you will be asked to log on with a username and password. If you accessed the journal through Talbot Library and you were asked to provide a username and password, check the Journal Holdings page to see if the Library subscribes to that journal. Pay close attention to the dates. It is possible that we have the journal, but that the article you want is outside of the date range of our subscription. If you are unsure about a specific journal, email us at [email protected] or phone us at (215) 728-2711.

Books

Q: How do I find out if you have the book I need? What should I do if you don't?
A: 
To find a book in the Library's collection, click Find Books tab located on the search bar on the library home page. If you're looking for a book that we don't have, submit an Article or Book Request by clicking on the request form found in the Quick Links box on the left and we will do our best to obtain a copy of the book for you. You can also check WorldCat to see which libraries have the book.

Q: How do I borrow a book?
A:
 In order to borrow books, you must be a current employee of Fox Chase Cancer Center or Jeanes Hospital. During regular business hours, Library staff will be glad to assist you. During evening and weekend hours, when the Library is not staffed, borrowing is not permitted.

Document Delivery

Q: What is document delivery?
A: 
If the library does not have a book or an article that you need, you can ask the library to request it from either another library, the publisher, or from a document delivery service. While most requests are free of charge this service could cost you a small fee for rush orders.

Q: How do I request a book or article?
A: 
To request a book or an article, simply submit an Article or Book Request by clicking on the request form found in the Quick Links box on the left and we will do our best to obtain a copy of the article or book for you.

Some things to keep in mind:

  • We cannot get copies of print books sent to us as PDFs.
  • Please do not make a "rush" request for a print book.
  • Books are sent through the mail and there is no way we can get one to you in 24 hours.

Faculty Publications Database

Q: What is the URL for the FCCC Staff Publications Database?
A:
 The FCCC Faculty Publications Database can be found here.

Q: Who has access to the database?
A: 
The FCCC Faculty Publications Database is freely available online.

Q: How is the database compiled?
A:
The Library has alerts set up in several databases — including PubMed, Web of Science, and Ovid databases — to capture journal articles published by FCCC faculty and staff.

Q: How do I search the database?
A:
 To search the Faculty Publications database:

  • Type a term in the Search box and then select either Author, Title, Journal, or Abstract from the All drop-down list.
    • When searching by the author's name, type the last name followed by the first and middle initials. For example, Smith, J.E.
  • Use the drop-down lists located in the left-hand navigation bar to narrow your search by Publication Year, Program Publications, Program Members, or Program Graphs.
    • On the Results list, click on any highlighted investigator's name to view all publications in the database by that author.

Q: Can I sort the results of my search?
A: 
Results are automatically sorted by year and first author. Otherwise, sorting is unavailable at this time.

Q: How do I view the abstract of the article?
A: 
To view the abstract, either click on the article title or click Show Abstract. Please note that not all articles have abstracts.

Q: Are ePub ahead of print articles included in the database?
A:
 ePub ahead of print articles are included only if they have a complete citation. Articles without complete citations will be included when the citation is complete, which is usually upon publication.

Q: Where's my article?
A:
 There are several reasons why an article may not be in the database. First, the database is updated twice a month. If your article was published after the last update, then it will not appear in the database, or it may not appear right away. Another reason might be if your paper was published with a different institutional address, as sometimes happens with new faculty, it will not appear in the database.

Q: How do I view faculty associated with a specific program?
A:
 In the left-hand navigation bar, click Program Members, and then click on the program.

Q: How do I view collaboration between faculty members?
A:
 There are several ways to view collaborations between faculty members:

  • In the left-hand navigation bar, click Program Publications, click on a program, and then click Graph co-publications by faculty members, or
  • In the left-hand navigation bar, click Program Members, click on a program, and then click Graph co-publications by faculty members, or
  • In the left-hand navigation bar, click Program Graphs, and then click on a program, or
  • On the Results page, click on the author's name, and then click Graph Interactions.

Q: Who should I contact if I have a question about the database?
A: 
Contact Beth Lewis, Director, Talbot Research Library, by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 728-2710.

Talbot RESEARCH LIBRARY  [email protected] | 215-728-2710