Implementing a tablet circulation program on a shoestring

Increasingly, medical schools and other schools offering degrees in the health sciences are launching initiatives incorporating tablet computers as an educational tool, as evidenced by information gathered from academic health sciences center websites and informal conversations with colleagues 1–3. To help support such efforts and to keep up with the increasing interest in accessing health-related information and resources via mobile devices such as tablet computers like iPads, academic health sciences center libraries have also been investigating interest in or piloting the development of tablet circulation programs 4. There is also literature mentioning circulating tablet computers in an academic library setting 5, 6 and literature specific to academic health sciences libraries on circulating other technological devices 7, including e-readers 8 and personal digital assistants 9. This brief communication addresses the planning, implementation, experiences, and preliminary outcomes of the Arizona Health Sciences Library (AHSL) in starting a program to circulate tablet computers in order to support the increasingly mobile information-seeking behavior of its users.