Thursday 28 October 2010

Closing the loop

Most years the Knowledge & Library Service runs a user survey in November. On starting to prepare the latest version we realised we had not provided a promised update on what you said and what we were going to do about it. So here, with apologies for the delay, is some feedback.




The top three areas influenced by information from the KLS were advice to colleagues, teaching and confirming patient care.

70% of people reported learning something new and 60% shared that learning with colleagues.

The KLS scored high satisfaction scores with most aspects of service rated very good or good by 75% or more of respondents. The areas of lowest satisfaction were ebooks, ejournals and opening hours. We are working hard to improve ejournal availability and ease of access (watch this space). Opening hours will hopefully be an area of increased satisfaction in the new survey following the creation of the Knowledge Hub - greatly increasing the quality and quantity of 24 hour study space. eBooks are an area for further investigation. Experiments to date have seen poor uptake.

Lots of comments were received and these are particularly helpful. A recurring theme was the need for quiet working space. The Knowledge Hub has been designed as a noisier area and groups needing to work together are encouraged to use that space. Hopefully this will take some noise out of the main library. KLS staff are trying to be more quiet as we appreciate that we have an impact on noise levels. Many of the comments demonstrated a lack of awareness of what the KLS offers with people asking for things we already provide. To try and bridge this knowledge gap we have started a monthly news letter that is circulated to all registered users and via the Trust Information Bulletin. You can find back issues online.

Monday 25 October 2010

BMJ Best Practice 3-month trial

We currently have a 3 month trial of BMJ Best Practice to the end of the year.


In a single source Best Practice combines the latest research evidence, guidelines and expert opinion – presented in a step-by-step approach and covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

Best Practice has a unique-patient focused approach, and provides a second opinion, at the point of care, without the need for checking multiple resources.

You will need your NHS Athens to sign in. Best practice has a similar simple interface to UpToDate with brief evidence linked topic reviews. It has the advantage that once set up you can use it on your mobile.

Get in touch with us for help with Best Practice (or to feedback).

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Finding the Evidence: searching the healthcare databases

Training Dates
November 2010

Do you want to learn how to search the healthcare databases for journal articles on your topic of interest? Save yourself time by investing 1 hour to learn a skill that can underpin your evidence-based healthcare practice.

Thurs 4 Nov - 09.30
Fri 12 Nov - 14.00
Wed 17 Nov - 10.00
Tues 23 Nov - 14.00

(C) Image: Creative Commons, Nebraska Library Commission

Monday 11 October 2010

Finding the Evidence: searching the healthcare databases

During the 1 hour training session you will learn how to:

Plan your search strategy
Carry out a subject search
Combine search terms
Apply search limits
View, save and print your results
Access any available full text

Dates for October 2010 are:
Wednesday 20 October 09.00
Friday 29 October 14.00

Enrol on ESR or contact the Library on x8016 for advice.

Or we can organise a session at a time that suits you or your group.

Information Advice Session - October 2010

Not sure where to turn for advice on your information needs?
Drop in to our October advice session to discuss any problems you might be having.

We can help with:
Forgotten Athens logins
Setting up RSS feeds or Table of Contents alerts
Finding out if you have full text access to a journal title
Full Outlook mailbox
Library training needs... and lots more

Drop into the Cyber Room on Monday 18 October
Anytime between 2.00pm and 4.00pm

Tuesday 5 October 2010

New Books for September

Quite a substantial New Books List this month, with loads of new and up-to-date goodies for you to borrow.


We have several titles in the area of paediatrics and child protection including e-links to Safeguarding Children documents (eg Safeguarding disabled children) and new editions of Webb's Helping bereaved children, & Nelson Essentials of pediatrics, amongst others.

Several new nursing titles too, eg Personal hygiene care by L Dingwall and the J Fowler's Staff nurse survival guide, along with several of the nursing Oxford handbooks.

The latest NHS handbook 2010/11 is also now in stock.

Check out the full list to see all 135 new titles, or search on NewhamCat for your interests.