The Library and Knowledge Service for NHS Ambulance Services in England (LKS ASE) serves about 36,000 users in eight of the ten ambulance service trusts in England.  With so many users the library needs to come up with creative ways to reach them, in particular non-users of the service.  One solution is to put information in places they are likely to find it, typically professional journals and newsletters.  We approached the editor of the Journal of Paramedic Practice, which is widely read in the paramedic community, and pitched the idea for the first article.  Once that was published the other two followed completing a series on sources and tools and techniques for searching. These were subsequently combined into a CPD module also published by the Journal of Paramedic Practice. 

They provide useful material for educators and trainers in ambulance services, many of whom are running apprentice courses to train paramedics in house.  A university lecturer working in the Midlands also contacted the library on Twitter to say they would use them with their BSc students.  All three articles combined have over 600 downloads to date.  Free to access full text will be released on amber – the home of ambulance service research  through the Green Open access route.

Overall the project has been a success, reaching people who might not otherwise have encountered the library or information skills.  If you would like to use the material in your own library service please do share and repurpose the contents. 

Holland M., Dutton, M., & Glover S., (2021) Where to look: sources of research in paramedicine Journal of Paramedic Practice, 2021 13:8, 316-319.  Available from: https://doi.org/10.12968/jpar.2021.13.8.316  

Holland M., Dutton, M., & Glover S., (2021) How it's done: search tools and techniques for major bibliographic databases. Journal of Paramedic Practice, 2021 13:5, 210-213. Available from: https://doi.org/10.12968/jpar.2021.13.5.210 

Holland M., Dutton, M., & Glover S., (2021) Where to now? Searching beyond Medline.  Journal of Paramedic Practice, 13:2, 81-83. Available from: https://doi.org/10.12968/jpar.2021.13.2.81  and http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12417/983

Matt Holland, Librarian, LKS ASE

Michelle Dutton, Librarian, Trust Library Services, Manchester NHS Library

October 2021