Facet Publishing have announced the release of two new books, Practical Tips for Facilitating Research and Dynamic Research Support for Academic Libraries.
Higher education is in a period of rapid evolution and academic libraries must continually evaluate and adjust their services to meet new needs. Librarian roles are changing and new specialisms, such as data librarians are emerging. Activities are being driven by researcher requirements such as the demand for wider dissemination and the impact of research.
NHS England has paid for premium access to TRIP (Turning Research into Practice) on NHS PCs, offering more content and features (users on PCs outside the NHS network can still access TRIP, but may see fewer results).
This paper draws on information gained from literature on the peer review process and the authors' knowledge and experience of contributing as peer reviewers and editors in the field of health care, including nursing.
The 2016 Spring Forum, 2020 vision: supporting open access and research excellence, took place on the 4th March 2016 at the Royal Society of Medicine. Many thanks to all of our speakers, sponsors and delegates who made our 2015 Summer Conference such a success.
Please see below for links to the speaker presentations.
Welcome to our new blog: Information Skills for Health.
Here you will find short bite-sized simple tips and tricks, resource features and etutorials that will help you to find and use information, to support evidence-based practice, CPD, revalidation and, ultimately, patient care.
It is aimed at NHS staff and Keele-based students working and studying in Staffordshire.
Below, you will find 6 free chapters from Facet books on information literacy, research support and the information behaviour, some of which are written by speakers at the conference.
The following is a selective reflection on the course and on marketing the VLKS. Trying to fit what is essentially a commercial model to a public service environment. It’s not a review of the whole course or a summary of the contents. Go to Coursera for that.
It’s ten months since we started experimenting with blogshots as a way to share evidence, prompted by some conversations on Twitter when Teresa Chinn (@AgencyNurse) announced that she was experimenting with a form of microblogging. You can read more about how we developed them in this blog
I joined a packed session at a recent ‘Shakespeare400’ conference at King’s College London which explored this question by looking at King Lear. In this play, the character of the king becomes increasingly ‘mad’. Having left his castle, he finds himself lost on a heath during a literal and metaphorical storm.
Here is a selection of new titles added to the catalogue this month. Browse all the latest titles here or check out the “New Books” display in the library.
This article is aimed primarily at psychiatry trainees, MRCPsych course organisers, College tutors, educational supervisors and clinical supervisors. It describes recent changes to the MRCPsych curriculum and examinations and discusses the different approaches that educators can utilise to best help their trainees. We describe how the content of MRCPsych courses can help prepare trainees for both the written papers and the clinical assessment of skills and competencies (CASC). We discuss ways of incorporating patients and carers into course development, innovative approaches using technology to enhance learning, the role of workplace-based assessments and how international graduates may maximise their pass rate. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Most library science surveys use Likert-style questions. After you read a study that reports results from Likert-style questions, you may think about using the results to guide some decision that you need to make. If so, then your job is to understand the validity of the results and how they apply to your decision. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
We’re looking to expand our range of literature search services over the next few months, and to re-brand the service as ‘EvidenceSearch4U’.
We are looking at having different levels of service, to suit different requirements
Staff, volunteers and community groups at libraries across Staffordshire are responding by putting their knitting needles to good use knitting Twiddlemuffs for patients with dementia.
And they are looking for more knitters to join them.
So what are Twiddlemuffs?
A Twiddlemuff is a thick hand muff with trimmings such as ribbons, beads, buttons and zips attached to the inside and out, designed to combat restlessness and agitation in dementia patients by keeping their hands busy as well as stimulating the mind.
As part of Staffordshire Libraries’ activities for Dementia Awareness Week, which runs from Sunday 15 to Saturday 21 May, libraries are encouraging residents to join with them to produce Twiddlemuffs to be donated to local charities and dementia friendly groups.
If you're looking for images to use in a presentation or report, it can be a real pain to try and find ones that you can grab without legal problems. LibreStock is a free multi search engine that will check through over 40 different websites to find images that you can use. I quote from the site: "I know it's hard to understand complex legal licenses so let me break it down for you. all the photos indexed on LibreStock are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license. this means you can use these pictures freely for any legal purpose." This means that they are free to use, even commercially, you can modify, copy and distribute, and you don't need to attribute.
The editors of TRIP Database are pleased to have just published a number of short videos highlighting some of the main ways of getting the most from the resource.
ver the last week we've received questions about our autocomplete feature. I wanted to take the opportunity to clarify a few things. The autocomplete algorithm is designed to avoid completing a search for a person’s name with terms that are offensive or disparaging. We made this change a while ago following feedback that Autocomplete too often predicted offensive, hurtful or inappropriate queries about people. This filter operates according to the same rules no matter who the person is, as you can see in some examples here.
Victoria Treadway et al report on an NHS/public library partnership project between Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Wirral Council to support the wellbeing of people living with dementia, creating reminiscence boxes which are available in public libraries and in the local acute hospital.
This article is a practical guide for psychiatrists who want to apply basic and straightforward statistics in their research. It describes ways of summarising data and provides an overview of statistical tests for comparing patients’ characteristics. Measures of association such as correlation and regression are also explained, along with principal components analysis, a method for reducing the dimensionality of data. Explanations are clarified using data from the published studies. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Book review. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Smartphones are ubiquitous and commonly used as a learning and information resource. They have potential to revolutionize medical education and medical practice. The iDoc project provides a medical textbook smartphone app to newly-qualified doctors working in Wales. The project was designed to assist doctors in their transition from medical school to workplace, a period associated with high levels of cognitive demand and stress.
Open access. Since the emergence of social media in 2004, a growing percentage of patients use this technology for health related reasons. To reflect on the alleged beneficial and potentially harmful effects of social media use by patients, the aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the extant literature on the effects of social media use for health related reasons on patients and their relationship with healthcare professionals. We conducted a systematic literature review on empirical research regarding the effects of social media use by patients for health related reasons. The papers we included met the following selection criteria: (1) published in a peer-reviewed journal, (2) written in English, (3) full text available to the researcher, (4) contain primary empirical data, (5) the users of social media are patients, (6) the effects of patients using social media are clearly stated, (7) satisfy established quality criteria.
Recently, we were involved in a project to update the Fertility Centre website and Andrew James of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust’s Transformation Team had this to say.
Phil Bradley Training is being launched on Friday 7th October with two courses held in a central London location.
Earlier this year I sent out a survey asking what kind of training you wanted Many of you were kind enough to send me your thoughts. Since then, I’ve been developing what I hope will be a new type of training experience - effective, flexible, affordable – and designed to ‘last for life’.
A small amount of content may be out of date. Please delete the app and reinstall it from the App store. Android devices and all online web versions of the BNF and BNFC are unaffected.
A new library management system which will promote collaboration between cross-sector libraries in Wales was celebrated at an event in the National Assembly.
The new bilingual library management system will deliver cost benefits, greater collaboration, and the potential to share collections throughout Wales.
It will be shared by Welsh university libraries, NHS libraries, and the National Library of Wales. Bangor and Glyndwr Universities recently completed the roll-out of the system, finalising the implementation schedule across Wales.
The AllTrials campaign (www . alltrials . net) challenges those of us who are involved in ‘medical’ (which includes nursing) research to ensure that all clinical trials are registered and all results are reported. The campaign is premised on the observation that the findings of around half of the clinical trials that have ever been undertaken have never been published, resulting in clinical decision making that is based on a biased evidence base. This also means that the risks taken by thousands of patients who consented to take part in an experiment was in vain.
The article discusses the aspects of accelerated learning. Topics include the importance of being business focused and learner centered objectives, the significance of being a facilitator and not a trainer, and the need to introduce variety in which learners can learn to provide more chance that the learners will be engaged for longer. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
The article examines the role of live video can play in learning. Topics include video learning via platforms such as You Tube and Vimeo, the benefits of live video streaming, and the use of platforms such as Periscope and Blab in learning. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Working in partnership with Norfolk Public Health, the Healthy Libraries initiative is delivered across Norfolk’s forty seven libraries. Socially-based group wellbeing activities include a monthly wellbeing or nutrition themed ‘neighbourhood lunch’ and adult colour-me-calm sessions. Exercise based activity has included hula hoop challenges and a pedal-powered smoothie bike, used to raise awareness of the benefits of the government-recommended target of five a day fruit and vegetable portions. Practical sessions include slipper swaps to prevent and reduce falls among the elderly.
The use of PowerPoint has become nearly ubiquitous in medical education and continuing professional development; however, many alternatives are emerging that can be used in its place. These may confer some advantages, but they also have potential drawbacks. It is helpful that educators are aware of these new presentation options and their pros and cons, including any financial implications and issues of data protection. This article considers the role of technology in teaching and learning, identifying underlying assumptions that are often made. It identifies and appraises technology that can be used with or instead of PowerPoint to best facilitate deep learning. The potential pedagogical benefits and practical limitations of these technologies are considered, and strategies are highlighted to maximise the impact of PowerPoint where it is the software of choice. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Critical appraisal of the literature is an integral and important part of surgical practice, but can this skill be taught to young doctors? The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of formal instruction regarding critical review and appraisal of journal articles, using junior surgical residents followed over the course of a 10-week long programme. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
The Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) data update for November 2016 has been published by Public Health England (PHE).
The data are presented in an interactive tool that allows users to view them in a user-friendly format. The data tool also provides links to further supporting and relevant information to aid understanding of public health in a local population.
The American Psychological Association today indexed its 4 millionth record in its PsycINFO® database of scholarly psychology literature.
This achievement is the result of over eight decades of detailed abstracting and indexing of international literature in the field of psychology and its related disciplines. Since reaching 3 million records in 2010, more than 200 new journals and more than 10,000 new books have been added to the PsycINFO database, bringing overall journal coverage to more than 2,570 journals. All of these changes have been necessary to cover the expanding and increasingly interdisciplinary literature of interest to psychologists around the world.
To determine what value health sciences students place on leisure reading, whether they prefer to read online or in print, what the principal barriers are to their reading and whether they wish to have a leisure reading collection at their health sciences library. Library Services do not currently have access to this journal, but you can request a copy of the article online and we will try to get a copy to you: http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Conclusion – Systematic searching for research evidence in social care requires considerable thought and development so that the search is fit for the particular purpose of supporting guidelines. This study highlights key challenges and reveals trends when utilising some commonly used databases.
The problems start if you are researching a person, company or industry based in a country other than your own – let’s use Norway as an example – or just want the latest news from that country.
If you can't access the full-text of an article we will try to get a copy for you via an inter-library loan (ILL). During July to September 2017 we processed 39 inter-library loan requests, helping staff to access the right evidence
Open access. Traditional evaluation methods are not keeping pace with rapid developments in mobile health. More flexible methodologies are needed to evaluate mHealth technologies, particularly simple, self-help tools. One approach is to combine a variety of methods and data to build a comprehensive picture of how a technology is used and its impact on users.
The Understanding Research Evidence (URE) videos use plain language, cartoon visuals, and public health examples to explain complex research concepts. The videos are posted on the NCCMT website and YouTube channel.
The Finding Articles etutorial has now been replaced by 3 new etutorials:
What is an Article? - learn what an academic article is
Find Articles for a Project - what are the steps you need to follow to find articles for a particular project
Find an Article from a Reference - how can you find the full-text of an article from a reference
In the article, she points out that the use of eBooks in the NHS is low compared to other sectors and she presents the findings from her research, which help to explain this. She outlines the development of an electronic tool to help library and information staff make sense of the complexity around eBooks and makes further very practical recommendations for practitioners.
Research suggests customers are more satisfied when a member of staff takes constructive action to resolve an issue rather than simply providing an empathetic response. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Staffordshire’s new Children and Young People’s Health and Wellbeing programme, for those aged 0-19, will see the current school nursing and children’s centre services brought together with health visiting.
Health Education England have published a guide to support the development of digital literacy by people working in health and care.
The guide maps existing resources that areavailable to individuals, line managers and organisations. It includes a wide range of resources that can help you in developing your own skills, and tools to support education and training for your team.
This article is the fourth in a series on New Directions. The National Health Service is under pressure, challenged to meet the needs of an ageing population, whilst striving to improve standards and ensure decision making is underpinned by evidence. Health Education England is steering a new course for NHS library and knowledge services in England to ensure access to knowledge and evidence for all decision makers. Knowledge for Healthcare calls for service transformation, role redesign, greater coordination and collaboration.
This research reports on the NICE Evidence search (ES) student champion scheme (SCS) first five years of activity (2011–2016) in terms of its impact on health care undergraduate students’ information search skills and search confidence.
NHS England-wide access to Trip Pro has been extended for a further 12 months. Access to Trip Pro is via IP address: NHS staff should get seamless access to the ‘Pro’ version of Trip from the NHS network. The features that come with NHS England-wide institutional Trip Pro access, over and above the free version of Trip, are listed here.
recently wrote about the demise of the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC). At the time it was fairly bad news as, by them aggregating the guidelines from multiple guideline publishers, it saves us considerable resource. However, every cloud has a silver lining! The NGC was not without challenges
In recent years, whether, when and how to use antidepressants to treat depressive disorder in children and adolescents has been hotly debated. Relevant evidence on this topic has increased rapidly. In this paper, we present the construction and content of a database of randomised controlled trials of antidepressants to treat depressive disorder in children and adolescents. This database can be freely accessed via our website and will be regularly updated.
Cinahl is the main nursing database that our nursing students can search to find articles on nursing topics. Ebsco, the publisher, have released a number of new videos to help you to get to grips with using the database.
The ‘lifesaving’ 2018 “Reading Well for mental health” titles by The Reading Agency and Society of Chief Librarians were announced at a flagship event at the Wellcome Trust on Tuesday 5 June 2018.
We are holding a Human Library event in the Shrewsbury Health Library on the 4th July between 11.30am and 1.30pm as part of Health Information Week, and invite you to come along and borrow some of our books.
Shropshire Libraries are delighted to invite you to an evening with Sir Andrew Motion on Friday 8 June 2018 at 7.30pm at Ludlow Assembly Rooms. To book follow the link to Ludlow Assembly Rooms.
TESTING OVID AJOT As our health care system continues to change, so do the opportunities for occupational therapy. This article provides an update to a 2012 Health Policy Perspectives on this topic. We identify new initiatives and opportunities in primary care, explore common challenges to integrating occupational therapy in primary care environments, and highlight international works that can support our efforts. We conclude by discussing next steps for occupational therapy practitioners in order to continue to progress our efforts in primary care.
As well as improvements to our automated review system we’re planning more improvements to the site and it’ll focus on getting back to our roots – clinical Q&A. Trip was born out of a need to help support a formal, manual, clinical question answering service (called ATTRACT) and is still the main reason people use Trip.