I have been interested in peer review of literature searches for quite some time. At the International Clinical Librarian Conference in 2017 I was intrigued by a conference poster which described risk of bias in published systematic reviews due to avoidable failures in searching. At the same event I attended an excellent workshop on assessing search strategies, where more fascinating, amusing and frankly shocking details of published search strategies were aired. Kate Misso and Janine Ross from Kleijnen took us through using the ROBIS tool to judge risk of bias from common inadequacies found in reported search strategies in systematic reviews. Then we used the PRESS Evidence Based Checklist to evaluate a search strategy. Using what I’d learnt I facilitated a peer review programme at Doncaster & Bassetlaw where once a quarter we each did the same search and then looked our approaches to spot differences, similarities and discuss what worked and what didn’t etc. It was useful, if more than a little artificial, but often it was too hard to justify spending the time on a “fake” search when there were plenty of the real thing coming in thick and fast!…

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I have joined the CNTW Library and Knowledge Service team in a new role as a Knowledge Manager. A key part of my remit will be identifying the knowledge and evidence needs of CNTW staff, and looking at effective ways to identify, capture and share valuable knowledge. Prior to this role, I was a Knowledge and Evidence Specialist at the UKHSA (formerly Public Health England), supporting local authority public health teams in the North East with evidence to support Covid-19 response and recovery. I’ve previously worked for the NHS in an acute trust, as well as university libraries in Open Access, Research Data Management, subscriptions and customer service. I’m really looking forward to building this new role and continuing to make connections with you all across the NHS library workforce.…

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Last month I told a personal story at BDCFT's monthly Schwartz Round on the topic of 'Removing the Barriers'. For those unfamiliar with Schwartz Rounds (SR) – their main purpose is to find and/or elicit the personal in the professional and to connect us as a (Schwartz) community within our organisation. SR are for clinical and non-clinical staff throughout the organisation, thus challenging ideas about hierarchy and professional status. The experience is fully-supported by mental health professionals and all those attending are completely non-judgemental.…

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Hello everyone, my name is Tracey Garbarino. I have many years’ experience of working in school libraries from Carlisle, the Great Border City to Ho Chi Minh City. I am passionate about continuous learning, have a thirst for knowledge and am a firm believer in collaboration being the key to success.…

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This is a reflection on the process of getting from research idea to published paper. I should say from the start that this isn’t a journey taken by an experienced research professional. There were a few potholes on the way, and I hit them all. The motivation for this enterprise? Of course, a thirst for knowledge, but primarily the Quality Improvement Outcome Framework Outcome Five. If you don’t know this is the one that requires our services to be evidence based and encourages research. As this reflection is focused on process, not content, I will explain the research idea here and then move on. The idea was to record audio feedback on research results and post a link to the audio in an eMail. The aim to make our communication with end users, who almost always contacted us via eMail, more informative and engaging. The project was rather unimaginatively called the Audio Feedback Project. So, in the tradition of the blog genre, here are 10 things I learned.…

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In June 2021, the Leeds Community Healthcare (LCH) Library, in conjunction with the Leeds Primary Care Workforce and Training Hub, submitted a joint expression of interest to Health Education England (HEE) to become a pilot site to have funding for a Knowledge Specialist in Primary Care. The bid was successful, and Ingrid Francis came into the post (funded for two years) in November 2021. Whilst other pilot sites across the country have system (ICS) wide coverage, our pilot is place based – we have a Training Hub for Leeds, and the Knowledge Specialist role is for Leeds.…

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Last year we acquired a new resource called Anatomy TV. We wanted to raise awareness of this new resource and encourage usage so we devised a marketing plan to help us do this. We decided to focus on what the user could achieve by using this resource, rather than just simply telling them they have access to it. The message we wanted to convey was “Improve your knowledge of anatomy”. We thought this would appeal to staff wanting to update their existing knowledge and also to students needing to learn anatomy for their studies.…

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Trigger warning - this article contains references to suicide For information and support about mental health please visit: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/ What is the impact of extremely overdue books? This time last year, our first thoughts would probably have been: • Cost of replacement • Staff time, and • Other users unable to loan the item…

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Black History Month (BMH) was founded over 30 years ago to recognise the contributions that people of African and Caribbean backgrounds have made to the UK over many generations. Now it has expanded to include the history of black people in general. For many years our library service has celebrated Black History Month with displays of posters and an increasing collection of books either written by BAME authors or about diversity topics. This year our BHM offer was embedded in the Trust’s celebrations over the month, and in the campaign which they ran to Show Racism the Red Card on 22 October. We were invited to join the steering group for SRRC which enabled a fit between our offer and publicity through the Trust’s Communications department.…

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Hello all, I'm Georgia a new starter at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. I joined the team as a Library Assistant at the start of this year, making a change from previously having worked as a Library Assistant in public libraries. I have a split role assisting the operational & clinical teams here at LTH, working across both the Preston & Chorley sites. I’m really enjoying the variety undertaking the split role offers & looking forward, I am excited by the opportunity to be involved in a new sustainability group within the trust. Georgia Coupe Library Assistant Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust…

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