Texas A&M University Libraries

Medical Sciences Library

GPS Zone

The Graduate & Professional Student Zone (GPS) is designed to facilitate study by students in graduate and professional programs served by the Medical Sciences Library.  This includes graduate students in the following colleges, departments and programs:

  • Agriculture & Life Sciences
  • Medicine
  • Nursing
  • Pharmacy
  • Public Health
  • Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
  • Health and Kinesiology
  • Biomedical interdisciplinary programs

GPS Rules

We ask that you please be respectful and courteous to your fellow students. See the MSL Study Room Policies for more information on reservations and room use.

Accessing GPS

  • Access to GPS is managed through a Texas A&M University IT swipe card system.
  • Access requires a valid Aggie Card. TAMU Health ID cards will not work - we do not have access to this data.
  • Please report any swipe access problems to the MSL AskUs Desk or use the GPS Access Issue Report form.
  • We recognize that card issues do occur. If you have an Aggie Card that is not working, MSL staff will give you access while we investigate the problem.
  • Access will NOT be granted if you do not have your Aggie Card with you.

Why won't my ID work?

  • Aggie Card not validated for swipe access.
    • If you have never used your Aggie ID card to swipe before, such as at the Rec Center, or it has been a long time since you have used it for swipe access, it may be set to invalid/disuse and not allow you to swipe for access.
    • Let the desk staff know you are having problems. We will contact Texas A&M IT and request that your card be validated for swipe access.
    • We will contact you when your card has been validated and you will need to swipe the card within 48 hours for the validation to "stick."
    • If you cannot swipe the card within the 48 hour period, let us know and we will request a new validation.
  • Strip damage
    • Damage to the magnetic strip will prevent the barcode from being read.
    • Contact the Aggie Card Office about replacing your card.
  • Replaced Cards
    • Once you have replaced a lost card, your old card is no longer valid and cannot be used for access.
    • While your UIN is the same, the barcode information on the card is different and it is the barcode information that is used to grant access.
  • TAMU Health IDs won't work, see Accessing GPS.
  • Data not in the swipe system
    • We use data from the University Registrar's office. If your registration information was not included in the last data update we received, you will not have access.
    • Please complete the GPS Access Issue Report form so we can investigate the problem and manually add access for you.

I submitted a GPS Access Issue Report form, when will I hear back?

Reports are checked several times a day from 6:30 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday. You should receive an email within 2 business days. If you have not received an email, check your junk mail/spam filter or send an email to AskMSL.