No one can deny the devastating impact of COVID-19, and the effect this has had on the NHS. The library environment has adapted with the introduction of sanitation stations and the installation of screens and individual pods. Where possible, services have become virtual and social media has become a vehicle for communication and engagement with colleagues.…
Once we’d got LibKey Nomad installed on all laptops and PCs across the Trust, we identified there was a gap that needed to be filled. If someone was searching on Google Scholar and we didn’t have a subscription to a particular journal, LibKey Nomad would flag it up with an ‘Access Options’ button. This button would lead the library user to a page where they were advised we didn’t have a current subscription and the user hit the proverbial dead end. We knew we had to provide a solution, in order to fulfil our commitment to seamless access to our resources.…
In this short piece, I’ll highlight the main steps taken during the LibKey Nomad implementation plan we carried at Bradford District Care NHS FT.…
Before the changes in working norms due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the library service at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (BHNFT) was proactive in introducing new members of staff to library services during the formal induction process. The library was represented during corporate induction and library staff worked with departments to deliver tailored induction in the library for certain staff groups. But from March 2020, the trust ended all face-to-face training and induction to limit social contact as a consequence of the pandemic, resulting in a requirement to deliver virtual inductions. This case study presents how the library service approached this, by creating an interactive library induction leaflet via PageTiger.…
I have been in NHS libraries for 12 years – always in an operational capacity and for several of those years I had thought there was a lack of CPD opportunities for the operational side of library work.…
The Leeds Libraries for Health partnership runs a Christmas campaign every year. For 2019, it was decided to combine this with a user survey (the previous one had been done in 2012) – and the idea of ‘Give the Gift of Feedback’ was born.…
Since the first lockdown, the one that seems like it happened in another age but in fact was just a little over 12 months ago, we have almost normalised a working environment influenced by the idea that you are and others will be subject to the possibility of infection, that people going about their daily business are a danger to one another. This environment is set to continue.…
When organising events, things often fall into a pattern. We have the tick list of venue checks, timelines for communication and constructing the programme. In 2020, everything was prepped for the UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum in March, and only weeks before Covid-19 forced the organisers to cancel the event. Like so many committees, we had no idea what the future would hold. By summer 2020, we knew we wanted to hold the Forum and that online was our safest option.…
Like most health libraries, and in line with government advice to work from home where possible, my service adopted some remote working during the first COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020. On the whole, we adapted well to working from home – we took issues with technology, pets or children in our stride, and remained very productive. However, following some recent staff changes we felt it was right to review our working patterns and explore what might work better in the future. At the end of February, we conducted a very basic email survey of library colleagues to gauge some views on what was happening elsewhere to help inform our working from home patterns moving forward.…
As Knowledge and Evidence Specialists in the Surveillance team, our remit is to support Local Authority Public Health (LAPH) teams primarily with evidence relating to COVID-19 response and recovery. We will also be on-hand to provide a library service to LAPH teams who do not have access to library support via an existing agreement with another library, or who do not employ an information specialist ‘in house’. Carly will be looking after the North East, Yorkshire & Humber regions, and Tanya will focus on the North West, working together where there is any crossover.…
