In response to the rapidly growing emphases on bioengineering, cognitive / neuroscience, and affiliated studies of medicine (policy, ethics, etc..) on the Rice campus, Fondren Library  is placing specific emphasis on buiding support for these areas.  

The collaborative programs between Rice University and the Texas Medical Center's academic members (e.g. Baylor University and University of Texas) do not extend to providing Rice students and faculty remote access to the digital collections of each library - this is not a decision of the libraries, but a result of the contractual limitations of the predominantly for-profit publishers who dominate this area of scholarly publishing.  (See details about remote access for Rice faculty co-appointed to Baylor or UT.)

Instead, Fondren continues to build collections working in close cooperation with the faculty and students working in these rapidly-changing areas of study.

November 2007 survey results & list of online journals added