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by Health Libraries, For Health Libraries ISSUE 34 SEPTEMBER 2010

One of the challenges of workingin the health sector is keeping pacewith a changing political andeconomic agenda. Proving thatlibrary services can be flexible andvaluable during the turbulent timesahead could be our next challenge.

Currently one of the key priorities in the healthservice is the QIPP agenda, an initiative to driveup productivity and efficiency and drive downcosts. Case studies are one way of demonstratinghow local services align with national prioritiessuch as QIPP. NHS Evidence has alreadystarted compiling examples of how staff areimproving quality and productivity across theNHS to inspire others at a local level1. In NorthWest health libraries, the MAP (MakingAlignment a Priority) Toolkit is collecting casestudies to demonstrate how library services arealigned with local, regional and national drivers2.

The articles that feature in this issue of LIHNNK-UP can act as valuable case studies thatdemonstrate how library and knowledgeservices can contribute to the QIPP agendawithin your organisation.

QIPP = Quality, Innovation,Productivity and Prevention

Quality: Library services help to ensure thatclinical and business decisions are based onhigh quality evidence. In this issue, SueJennings provides a comprehensive overviewof how current awareness services can ensurethat high quality evidence is accessible to NHSstaff 24 hours a day to enhance decision-making at Lancashire Care NHS FoundationTrust. The information skills and critical appraisaltraining we deliver aims to equip healthcareprofessionals with the expertise to interpret andapply evidence in practice. In TraffordHealthcare NHS Trust, Helen Collantinehighlights how developing our own skills inhandling online information can support us indelivering efficient library and informationservices.

Innovation: It’s what health library andknowledge services are good at, and we cansupport innovation within our organisation byseeking out examples of good practice, scanningthe horizon for potential risk factors, and helping toanswer the questions, ‘Has this been done before?’and ‘What lessons were learned?’. Innovationwithin our own services is not something we’reshort of in the North West either; StephenEdwards shows us how it’s done with the launchof the ‘Gateways to Information’ outreachprogramme at NHS Salford.

Productivity: Through the delivery ofsearching and alerting services, libraries canpresent evidence in an easily-digestible formatto enhance decisions about cost effective qualityimprovements. At a time when purse strings arebeing tightened, evaluating our own serviceseffectively, as demonstrated by SimonBriscoe in Lancashire Teaching HospitalsFoundation Trust, can help us to meet theproductivity challenge and deliver ‘better for less’.

Prevention: Library services can contribute tothe reduction of knowledge related risk withinthe organisation by providing the rightinformation at the right time. Offering supportfor guideline and pathway development meansthat libraries can play their part in preventingcomplications and common health problems.Libraries can also support healthcareprofessionals in anticipating future risks andopportunities through current awareness,horizon scanning and health promotionactivities. It seems a fitting time to refresh thosechange management, negotiation and creativethinking skills, Mike Hargreaves reflects, ashe writes about the LIHNN residential onProfessional Focus for Library Managers.

In addition to these examples of how librariescontribute to the QIPP agenda, we’ve got somechanges of our own to report. ChrisThornton reflects on Shan Annis’ retirementand we welcome new LIHNN membersGwyneth Pearson, Sue Smith andCatherine Pritchard.

As library and information staff we understandthe ways in which we add value to theorganisation. Case studies can help usdemonstrate this to others, and may be one wayin which we can meet the challenges whichundoubtedly lie ahead.

Victoria Kirk CLINICAL LIBRARIAN, WIRRAL UNIVERSITY TEACHINGHOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

FUNDED BY THE NORTHWEST HEALTH CARE LIBRARIES UNIT

References: 1 NHS Evidence: QIPP http://www.library.nhs.uk/qipp/ 2 MAP: Making Alignment a Priority: http://www.lihnn.nhs.uk/lihnn-publicarea/alignmenttoolkit/

IN THIS ISSUEEvaluation, Evaluation,Evaluation... Sue Jennings 2

Developing the virtual libraryat the North West Ambulance ServiceMatt Holland 4

Beyond Google: Working with information onlineHelen Collantine 5

LIHNN Residential: ProfessionalFocus for Library ManagersMike Hargreaves 6

A fond farewell to Shan AnnisChris Thornton 8

New starters 9

Using Quizzes in library training Mary Hill & Vicki Ferri 10

Gateways to Information Stephen Edwards 12

What are the leisure readinghabits of health library users? Simon Briscoe 14

Evaluation was thetheme of the afternoonand the presentationsby Susie, Richard andmyself were to exploreexamples of evaluativepractice withinhealthcarelibraries.Elly O’Brien asked Susieto nominate speakers whocould give good examplesof evaluative practice andbe able to present them tothe CLIST group in London.Susie was asked becauseshe has been instrumental inpromoting good InformationLiteracy Practice within theUK and Worldwide. Susie’s12 week course FILE(Facilitation Information LiteracyEducation) has been the catalyst forequipping many informationspecialists with the competences and theconfidence required to produce aportfolio of learning resources thatfosters effective use of information byspecific groups of users. This teachinghas been invaluable and from my ownpersonal experience what I learned in 12weeks has given me the confidence topush forward new services and newways of providing information literacy.

The objective of the afternoon was todiscuss the impact of facilitation, from theperspective of trainers, learners and theorganisation.

The question at the end is do you considerALL of these in yourevaluation practice?

Richard gave his presentation on:Finding the Evidence for Public HealthProfessionals and as a result of his newinitiative he has been approached topublish a book to guide otherinformation professionals.

Next came the finale Currents: the NewSultanas

From the title you may think this is goingto be a recipe for disaster! But with a bitof whisking, sieving and creativity youtoo could create a product even betterthan a Cornish Cream Tea!

You may decide to give up reading now,how in times of economic downturn,threats of budget cuts and general gloomcan we even think about creating a newservice, for the library. Luckily EllyO’Brien of CLIST (Clinical Librarians andInformation Skills Trainers) thought this isthe time when we should be looking fornew ways of promoting our service, andembedding libraries further into theinfrastructure of evidence-based practice

in our trusts. The library should be seenas the first port of call when providingaccess to information literacy trainingand quality resources. It’s notable toothat David Stewart, Director of Health

Libraries North-Westcommented recently thatCurrent Awareness servicesshould be “One of the toppriorities” for healthlibraries in the North-West.

Our objective as informationprofessionals is to providetimely access to a widerange of resources toenable evidence-basedpractice and to provideinformation literacytraining.

Sceptics among you might bethinking ‘What animpossible task’ How can

this be achieved with limited staff,money and only basic IT skills?

Answer: Web 2.0 technologyand not forgetting collaboration withsomeone who knows how to best exploitthis technology (Kieran Lamb).

Why Use a BLOG & aCAB (Current AwarenessBulletin)

So why not just use a bulletin, it makeslife easier and still does the same job?

But a Blog helps bridge that physical gapbetween you and the user, our Trust isLancashire wide and not everyone hasthe time to come to the library. The NHSoperates 24 hours a day, and so does aBlog. The blog is accessible from anyPC, work, home or worldwide. The Blogreflects whats going on in the trust.

Evaluation,Evaluation,Evaluation…

2

Presentation Thursday 10th June 2010, at the invitation of CLIST (ClinicalLibrarians and Information Skills Trainers)London, Bloomsbury Health Care Library,52 Gower Street, London, WC1E 6EB

Sue Jennings & Dr. Susie

Andretta – Senior Lecture

r in Information

Management – London M

etropolitan University

3

The Blog makes access to qualityresources accessible 24 hours a day.

So a Blog is a good way of collating awide range of resources, for examplearticles, databases, guides and puttingthem together in one easy accessibleplace. But what happens next?

It’s LOVE at first sight!

The Blog has proven to be effective buthow do you exploit that with an evenwider audience?

Add the Magic Ingredient and MakeSomething Special! Blogs & CAB’s

The CurrentAwareness Bulletinstarted in February 2008, it is onlyever a single A4 sheet at therequest of the Lancashire Carestaff who would rather have smallsnapshots at regular intervals.

The bulletin is sent out twice amonth to ALL staff in LancashireCare NHS Foundation Trust viathe Communications departmenton the trust email. Thiscollaboration has been a vitalpart of the disseminatingprocess.

How do the BLOG& the CAB workTogether

The CAB is sent out via the trust email,when the member of staff receives it theycan click on the title of the article, reportor website and the hyperlink takes themto the blog site, this helps the individualin a number of ways:

• Staff can read the article abstract anddecide there and then if it is relevant.

• The blog records a statistic that thearticle has been accessed.

• Awareness that there is a dedicatedwebsite to the library service.

• Awareness of other resources whichare available via the library blog.

• Awareness that the library canprovide quality, timely, articles in their

subject area and others.

• Awareness that the library canprovide information literacy training.

• Awareness that the library canprovide a literature searching service.

Current AwarenessBulletin Expandsthe bulletin now has 4 dedicated subjectareas, General, Suicide & Self Harm,Bipolar, and the latest edition for July2010 LEAN which has already gainedthe support and the interest of the Chief

Executive of the Trust.

Current AwarenessBulletin Ignites – the evidence shows that when eachbulletin is produced it is like a catalystwithin teams around the trust,encouraging staff to increase theirknowledge base.

Current AwarenessBulletin Inspires –staff to get in touch with the library andrequest training in information literacy,literature searches, articles, books andmore.

You will never have to MARKET yourservice ever again! One less thing to do at least, this is oneservice that is well worth the time, effortand imagination.

Conclusion – The Trust & You Working Together

There are benefits for all, for the trust,better patient care, more informed staff,underpins evidence-based practice,supports information literacy and thelibrary becomes central to the trust’sinformation needs.

For you, a library service whichis responsive to user’s needs, anopportunity to develop expertisein your subject area, aprogramme of training,exploiting Web 2.0 technologies,and ultimately it makes your jobmore interesting.

But we are not stopping at bulletinswe are due to produce our firstventure into Horizon Scanningthanks to Katherine Dumenil andthe gang on two topics Depressionand Dementia. The aim is to ensurethat we cover all bases with currentawareness, operational and futurenew developments, trends andchanges. Could be the start ofanother catch-phrase, the ‘Future is Current................

Sue JenningsOUTREACH LIBRARIAN

LANCASHIRE CARE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

LIBRARY & INFORMATION SERVICE

[email protected]

http://lancashirecare.wordpress.com

References

CLIST

http://www.londonlinks.nhs.uk/groups/clinical-

librarians-information-skills-trainers-group

DR. SUSIE ANDRETTA

http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/dass/staff/susie

andretta/

http://www.ilit.org

4

NWAS LIS is a new service, started in March2009. Among the manychallenges in creating aLibrary presence are thewide geographical area(from Crewe to Carlisle),no money to invest in webdevelopment (all moneygoes to buy resources), nolegacy systems and nophysical library.

One possible answer was to look at free Web2.0 social networking tools to build a webpresence and to try and deliver services overthe net. This article does not claim expertstatus on behalf of the author, rather awillingness to have a go. Necessity, is afterall, the mother of invention. It does sharesome of the lessons learned with a pointers onwhat worked and what doesn’t.

Talk to your IT Department

IT in the NHS is a tale of two conflictinginterests, one for “innovative” use oftechnology and the other for “absolute”security. Blogs are a NO. However, if you candemonstrate no threat and find a way to allowspecific access to your site without breachinga wider ban, websites can flourish underbenign disinterest. A tip here is to prefer theword website not blog. You will find that manytools are accessible because they do not fallinto the general categories of either blogs orsocial networking, the two categories securitysoftware blocks. IT Departments can also behelpful! Remember also that most users don’tuse these kinds of services in work time foroperational reasons. Even a blocked service atwork has value outside the work place.

Have a go

You do need a can do approach. Havingsomething that works is better than nothing atall. Be willing to learn, most web tools allownovice users to create something useful. If youneed more help there are supportive andknowledgeable colleagues to provide advice.

There is real expertise out there if you knowwhere to look. Not everything you try willwork, so be prepared to treat failures aslearning opportunities. In any case no one willbe looking at your new web venture until youtell them it’s there, and if you are worried justrestrict who can see it.

Getting started

In an ideal world a web presence is aninteractive experience with users. In realityusers don’t have the time or inclination to usetools that invite interaction, even if they can“see” them at work. A comment on the blog isa cause for celebration. This is a content pushexercise; you keep writing and publishingcontent in the hope of building an audience.The NWAS LIS website has about 300 visits amonth. This did drift when the content wasn’trefreshed frequently enough. It’s now updatedevery two to three days, with articlesscheduled for publication a week a head. It ishard work.

Content is also a resource. Blogging – orshould we call it website content creation -can provide answers to common questions,and act as a repository for interesting stuffthat you might want to come back to later.

It’s important to measure your audience, andthis is quite simple with Google Analytics. Theaudience figures won’t rival a nationalnewspaper but they will probably justifycontinuing. It’s also quite hard to get otherpeoples audience figures for blogs (websites).So NWAS LIS has put its head over theparapet. If any colleagues would like to gettogether and share their hit rates to create abenchmark please do contact me.

Do try and convince your organisation thatyou are safe on the web. The NWAS LIS

website tends to steer clear of clinical topics,there is a tightly controlled mechanism fordelivering clinical information to staff. Itdoesn’t comment on corporate issues whichcross boundaries with the corporatecommunication function.

Google built my library

You can build back office functions. Thegrandly titled NWAS LIS ManagementInformation System is built using Google Sitesproviding Enquiry Tracking, Inter-Library Loanrecords and an Activity Log. It’s not thatsophisticated but it works and has the benefitof being accessible anywhere, not just in theoffice. However, there are no backups on theweb. A bad day at Google or a careless keystroke could mean all your data is lost.Keeping backups on a regular basis isimportant, for example copying the sourcecode and saving it on a secure drive.

Google Books also provides a quick and dirtycatalogue of the small Learning andDevelopment Library c200 hundred books.You can know what is in the Library, seereviews and previews and tag books bycategory. Issues and returns are recordedmanually on an Issue System built usingGoogle Sites.

There must be advantages

The main advantage is that it is quick. Web2.0 tools are good at handling and publishingdata. It is easy to create an Alert in a majordatabase, feed the data through RSS andpublish the results using Yahoo Pipes. You canrespond quickly to multiple enquiries on asimilar topic by publishing something on theLibrary website.

It’s public and easily accessible to users. Idealfor meeting the needs of certain user groups,like students, who use guides published usingGoogle Sites. Probably any wiki would do.

It’s easy to update, no need to wait till you getto the office or process updates through thechain of IT command.

5

Having been given someOpen University gift vouchers,I was searching the OUwebsite for a short course tostudy and thought BeyondGoogle looked interesting andrelevant to work. I mentionedit to Paula, my Library Manager,and she thought I shouldapply to LIHNN for funding. Iapplied for some fundingtowards the cost of the courseand was successful.The course was summarised as being a ten-week online course offering a structuredjourney through the world of information;encouraging you to question the quality of theinformation you find and to reflect on the valueof different kinds of information for differentpurposes; helping you to search for informationsystematically; look at it critically; organise itefficiently and present it clearly.

I found this to be an extremely interestingcourse, which really did go “Beyond Google”.It was well presented, with lots of interestingand useful advice and techniques for extractinginformation from the internet.

The course introduces a world of informationand teaches you how to be a smart searcher;there are so many effective mechanisms forfinding the appropriate information fromsearch results.

The course encourages you not just to takeinformation at face value, but to make sense ofthe information and evaluate the content. It explains how tools like RSS feeds, wikis,blogs, social bookmarking, photo sharing,podcasts and desktop alerts can be used tosupport our work.

In a way the course is open-ended because itprovides a foundation to go on discoveringnew techniques.

However, for a 10-point Level 1 course, I found this course to be quite challenging, andvery time consuming. Not as easy as I first thought!

Helen CollantineSENIOR LIBRARY ASSISTANT

TRAFFORD HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST

BeyondGoogle: Working with information onlineWhat are the downsides

It can be time consuming. Sometimes you feelthat your alter ego is a Librarian/Journalistlooking for content. The web moves quicklyand you have to move quickly too. Nothing isever quite finished and you have to get usedto working in a permanent state of “Beta”.This leaves things a bit rough at the edgeswith some projects never finished.

Generally higher level skills allow you todesign the look of your content so that at leastit looks like it comes from the sameorganisation. If you don’t have those skills ordon’t have time to customise then you have toaccept a certain divergence of design. NWASLIS is broadly green, but otherwise interfacesare left in their native state.

Promoting your web presence through allcommunication channels is essential.

Sometimes you have to take the horse to waterand make it drink. Don’t assume because itsthere they will use it. This adds an extra itemto the Library marketing effort.

What has NWAS LIS done

NWAS LIS has tried many things over the lastyear. These are some of the ventures so far.You will notice Twitter isn’t on the list. I did aska colleague over the desk partition if theyTwittered. There was a moment of confusion.She thought I was asking if she talked toomuch. Micro blogging is a niche activity andtoo content hungry. Perhaps this is also amoment to thank colleagues who have offeredsuggestions and advice. No names, you knowwho you are.

Matt HollandJULY 2010

LIBRARY WEBSITE BLOGGER

Current Awareness – Table of Contents Services Pageflakes

Current Awareness – updating services Yahoo Pipes

Bibliographies Connotea, CiteUlike & Mendeley

Online Documents Google Docs

Feedback SurveyMonkey

Diary Google Calendar

Guides and Information Skills Support Google Sites

Resources Catalogue Google Books

Management Information System Google Sites

Audio Welcome Message Pod-Bean

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LIHNN Residential:

The scene is TheLeyland Hotel onthe morning ofMarch 18th, 2010;strange creatureslurk in theundergrowth,quirky surprisesawait around everycorner, and anunusual anddisproportionateperspective can befound in the hotelbar. The librarymanagers’residential event is in full swing…

The trainer, Jane Wintringham,delivered a two-day refresherprogramme covering a whole rangeof topics already familiar to mostpresent, including change andchange management, working stylesand interaction, leadership,negotiating and persuading, creativethinking, and developing future-focussed strategies. The programmewas described by one of thedelegates present as an “ExecutiveBrief” for library managers, and thatseemed to be a useful way ofthinking about the event.

7

Professional Focus for Library Managers

This was a valuable exercise in termsof revision and re-iteration of course,but there was an additional benefitin considering all these ideastogether in that it provided an insightinto how one idea can relate to, orimpact on, another. That proved tobe a very illuminating approach andproduced some interesting ideas anddiscussions. There was even aspontaneous round of applauseduring one session, for a diagramdepicting the process of change,reproduced here! [Editor’s note: askyour library manager for anexplanation].

The event was notable also for thefact that it gave the North West

library managers an opportunity tosay goodbye to Shan Annis, justprior to the occasion of herretirement. Shan very kindly paid fora drinks reception featuring BucksFizz and an unusual selection ofcanapés, and she gave a shortspeech at dinner.

I’m sure I speak on behalf ofcolleagues across the region inwishing Shan a long and happyretirement.

Mike Hargreaves REMOTE SITE LIBRARIES MANAGER

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE

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As you all must know,Shan has taken retirementfrom her post with theHealth Care Libraries Unitand will be greatlymissed, having been awell-known and respectedmember of our professionregionally for many years.

Shan gained her first degree, (BALibrarianship) at Liverpool Polytechnic(now John Moores University) in 1978.She then combined a part time post asAssistant Librarian at Royal LiverpoolHospital (1981-1982) with part timestudy for an MPhil. Her Masters degreewas, again, from the former LiverpoolPolytechnic and was awarded in 1982.Her thesis, ‘Public Health in Liverpool1845 to 1875’ cemented an earlyinterest in public health and helped herdecide to pursue a career in healthlibrarianship and specialise in publichealth when the opportunity later arose.

From 1982-1992 Shan worked in herfirst professional post as a single handedlibrarian at the Postgraduate CentreLibrary at Ormskirk Hospital where sheset up a service from scratch. During thistime she became an active member ofNORWESHLA (North West HealthLibrarians’ Association) and bothbenefitted from and contributed to theshared discussions of issues pertinent toNHS libraries and information services.It was also during this time that sheregistered for Chartership – fortunatelyfor Shan this was in the days before theneed for Personal Development Reportsor a Portfolio of Evidence.

Upon leaving Ormskirk, Shan moved toSouth Lancashire Health Authority towork as a Public Health IntelligenceOffice from 1992 – 2001. When WestLancashire Health Authority merged withChorley Health Authority she was headhunted by the Director of Public Health, aregular library user, to set up a library

service for the new South LancashireHealth Authority and became part of apublic health-related service. Her interestin and commitment to CPD led her tovolunteer to run CPD sessions for HealthAuthority staff and she used the LibraryAssociation’s Framework for ContinuingProfessional Development (LibraryAssociation, 1992) to advise staff on thebest way to create professionaldevelopment plans and careerdevelopment pathways.

With her mix of experience in clinicallibrarianship and publichealth/commissioning intelligence, hernext post, Regional Office Librarian withNHS Executive (North West RegionalOffice) - which she held from 2001-2002 - was a logical step. UnfortunatelyNHS Regional Offices were abolished byan NHS reorganisation in 2002 and herpost came to an end. She was relocatedto the North West Health Care LibrariesUnit (HCLU) based at Warrington andgiven the role of Associate Director:Projects from 2002-2004.

Her first 18 months at HCLU involvedsupporting all the unit’s main workstreams (HeLiCON Accreditation,developing the website, ADITUS,assisting in the development and delivery

of a CPD training programme andcompiling annual statistics of libraryactivity in the North West). The Unit wassubsequently reorganised following amajor review and Shan was givenresponsibility for CPD as the CPDManager from 2004-2008. One of thehighlights of this time for Shan was theaward of the CILIP Seal of Recognition in2008 for the HCLU training programme.

From 2008 until she took earlyretirement in March 2010, Shan’s rolewas amended to include the title,Partnerships Manager, which wasintended to strengthen partnershipworking with library colleagues fromother sectors and to support patient carethrough active involvement in the field ofConsumer Information.

In addition to her ‘day jobs’, Shan hasalso been active on the national stage asthe CILIP Candidate Support Officer(CSO) for the North West and Chair ofthe Career Development Group NorthWest Division. She has also mentoredcandidates for Chartership and run manyACLIP portfolio advice days and helpedto deliver CILIP’s Mentor Training sessionsin the North West.

The summit of her professional careercame, perhaps, with the award of Fellowof the Chartered Institute of Library andInformation Professionals in March 2010– just prior to leaving HCLU.

Outside her professional interests, Shanhas chaired her local Parish Council,worked as a School Governor and is avolunteer youth worker working for theDuke of Edinburgh Award where shehelps to train young people in outdoorskills and map reading.

Chris Thornton HEAD OF LIBRARY SERVICES

CENTRAL MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS

NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

A fond farewell to Shan Annis

9

New startersJET-ting in!

Hello from the new NHSlibrarians at the Jet Library,Leighton Hospital.

Susan Smith has taken on the new roleas Senior Librarian. I began with adegree in Biology and Psychology atStirling University, before embarking ona career as a countryside ranger andfalconer. It was whilst researching abook on corn mills and workingtowards the preservation of an ancientScottish Kirk I manage, that a sharpeyed librarian encouraged me tochange careers. Initially I worked in apublic reference library specialising inlocal history and genealogy, beforeentering the health sector at Shrewsburyand Telford NHS Trust, where I acceptedmy fate and decided to qualify viadistance learning at Aberystwyth. Onqualification I moved across to KeeleUniversity as the E-Resources Librariansupporting the Health Faculty and thelocal North Staffordshire NHS Trusts (anacute trust, two PCTs and a mentalhealthcare trust). Chartered in 2008.Main areas of interests include Web 2.0and merged services. Thank you for thewarm welcome to the region and I lookforward to meeting you all in the near future.

Catherine Pritchard now replaces ClaireHarman as Librarian at the JET Library.Originally from Worcestershire I nowlive in Shrewsbury. I spent a number ofyears in Aberystwyth, firstly studyingHistory and Welsh History, thencompleting an MSc in Information andLibrary Studies, and finally spent a yearas a graduate trainee at the Universitylibrary. My first professional post wasas a Librarian with Telford & Wrekinpublic libraries where I worked for fourand a half years, during which Ibecame a Chartered Librarian. Myinterest in health librarianship waspartly due to studying A LevelPsychology and continuing to OpenUniversity study. I am looking forwardto the challenge of learning abouthealth librarianship and working for the NHS.

New starter at WirralUniversityTeachingHospitalHello, my name is Gwyneth Pearsonand I am the new Clinical Librarian atWirral University Teaching HospitalNHS Foundation Trust. I will be workingwith Victoria Kirk and the rest of theLibrary team to deliver and develop the

Clinical Librarian service, includingliterature searching, information skillstraining, and support for journal clubs.

In the past I have gained experience inboth health and higher educationlibraries, and have also undertakenroles as varied as university and localauthority website editor and editorialassistant for a medical communicationsagency. All in all this career path hasled me to the role of Clinical Librarian,which I am very excited about.

I hope to meet many more of you overthe coming months!

Susan Smith (left) & Catherine Pritchard (right)

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Quizzes are fun especially if there is alittle prize at the end and we use them in a number of ways here at Stockport. The majority of ours are displayed aspresentations (PowerPoint) which allowsthe use of more visual clues and alsosaves paper!

Here are some of our ideas which have received positive feedback.

1. The silly answers and sometimes the silly question

ETOCS area. Cuddly creatures from Star Warsb. e-mails that keep you up to date with current

content of journalsc. alerts for new library booksd. electronic overdue book reminders issued by the library

The Library Manager was born and brought up in which placea. Stockportb. Readingc. Aberystwythd. Newport

This was part of a quiz given at the beginning of apresentation about library services to one of ourdepartments. It was St David’s Day and the prize was abunch of daffodils. Everyone reading it had a chuckle aboutthe etocs and a moan about the Library Manager. This wasa paper based quiz completed over lunch.

What did it achieve? It engaged people and gave an upbeat note to the beginning of the proceedings. It alsohighlighted our services in a fun way

2. Using jokesEven if you are not a skilled joke teller, a joke at the beginningof a quiz can help set a positive tone.

We were faced with a Friday afternoon of 2nd year nursingstudents in a lecture room. The aim was to remind them aboutthe library service and resources and naturally many of themdid not want to be there. The session opened with the followingscreen

What did it achieve? It set a lighter tone and engaged adisinterested group of students. The students were in teams andthe prize was a packet of Werthers. They were hooked andentered it with great gusto.

3. Check what people have learned in a sessionQuestions can be devised that check understanding and canallow the points to be re-enforced. The following show twoexamples of a visual quiz question that does this

What did it achieve? It checked that they had understoodbasic searching. It was considered to be challenging by thosewho did it and it did make them think.

4. Check they know about resourcesWe have found the quiz vehicle is very useful for generatingdiscussion about resources and make a change from thestandard presentation. This was used with a group of F1doctors who should have had a least a passing familiarity with our resources

Using Quizzes in library training

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What did it achieve? We had some amusing answers(ring a friend?) which again helps people to remember about e-books. When we went over the answers, we spent quite a bit oftime looking at how to access the resource and a number ofpeople commented on this being really useful.

5. Using it as the learning vehicleWe have used it to guide a group through accessing specificinformation from different resources. On this occasion theywere each sat at a computer. We went through the slides –some were straight forward and in this case answers were givenimmediately. Some involved opening a resource. In this casethe slide went up and people started the task. The quiz masternow acts as a facilitator to users who needed help. Earlyfinishers explored the resource further. When all had finished,a short feedback session occurred finding out if they liked theresource, any highlights they had found (time for our explorersto shine) and any actual examples of resource usage.

What did it achieve? It gave an opportunity for a varietyof learning methods; self explorers and those who prefer to beguided. Discussion helped to embed the learning. Examples ofusage from peers was very influential.

Conclusion

• Quizzes can enhance learning by giving people ‘hooks’ toremember things on.

• Quizzes develop positive relationships between users andlibrary staff.

• Quizzes make people participate when they think they aregoing to be bored.

• Quizzes tell people about your resources in an interactiveway. if you delivering to a large group in a lecture room.

But best of all ….. they are fun.

P.S. A game using searching skills

A number you may have come across the game calledgooglethwack which involves trying to find a search on Googlewhich only has 1 hit. I adapted this to use with PubMed. Atthe end of a session people were asked to form pairs (alwaysmore fun together) and to try to get down to just 1 hit using atleast one AND. The prize was a mars bar each (extravagant –normally a packet of something is better because it gives peoplethe opportunity to share with the whole group). On this particularinstance it was achieved within 5 minutes. Try it. You mightwant to add rules excluding authors, or using more search terms.

Mary Hill LIBRARY MANAGER, STOCKPORT

NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Congratulations to all of the following:

Angela Page from Wrightington Wigan & LeighTrust has gained her CILIP MCLIPChartership.

Samantha West from Countess of Chester Trust hasgained her CILIP MCLIP Chartership.

Shan Annis has been awarded her Fellowship of CILIP (FCLIP).

Recent successes and qualifications

Vicki Ferri ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN, STOCKPORT

NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

PopulationThe Gateways to Information programmewas conceived as a series of outreachevents to promote the library service tostaff at Salford’s Gateway centres. TheGateway centres are brand new facilitiesbuilt under the NHS’s LIFT initiativedesigned to provide patients with easyaccess to integrated primary, communityand social care services. The particularappeal is that they contain a range of

Salford Community Health (SCH) staffincluding physiotherapists, audiologists,podiatrists and speech and languagetherapists. They also feature GP surgeriesand dental practices. There is a range ofpotential library users gathered togetherin one easily accessible place.

InterventionThe majority of SCH staff that contact the

library are enrolled on courses and wantinformation to support their coursework.They are something of a captiveaudience at this point. We wanted toremind them that the library could be anongoing element in their workingpractice.

We particularly wished to emphasise thelibrary’s role in assisting in thedevelopment of evidence-based practice.Practitioners aren’t on their own (or withGoogle) when searching for information;the library offers assistance in accessingmore authoritative sources. The servicecan get directly involved in patient care,for instance through helping with thedevelopment of guidelines or providingreferences to help with specific cases.

The fact that representatives from thelibrary service had come to their place ofwork would underline the fact that thefacilities we offer aren’t confined to aphysical space but are widely available.

We decided that there would be twomembers of library staff at each event.The service had a small pool of bankstaff who could be used to accompany apermanent member of staff. In order toensure that we had a coherent messagefrom everyone participating weorganized a training day for bank staffto outline the basic plans for the day andto ensure that they were familiar withdatabases and NHS Evidence (see box).

ComparisonWe decided to concentrate on a generalpromotion of the library’s servicesbuilding up from basic services – like theonline catalogue - through to searchingbibliographic databases. Initially weplanned to offer practical databasesearching help. However, on reflectionthe likely difficulties in ensuring internetaccess and the amount of time that adatabase session would take up led us torevise that aim. Instead we wouldprovide leaflets on using the databases,advise on developing a search strategyusing PICO and promote the currentawareness services available. We would

BANK STAFF TRAINING DAYAIMTo enable bank staff to assist in the Gateways to Knowledge outreach events.

OBJECTIVESAt the end of the course bank staff will be familiar with:

The aims of the Gateways to Knowledge eventsThe ways in which the library can help

LEARNING OUTCOMESAt the end of the course bank staff will be able to:

Check for items from the library catalogueFind out if NHS Salford has access to a particular journalSet up Electronic Tables of Contents and subject alertsDevise a search strategy using PICOSelect an appropriate database to implement search strategyInterrogate specialist databases via NHS Evidence

BasicsPeople need to know what we have in stock that will help them to do their work. They can of coursecontact us directly but it would be quicker, easier and more convenient for them to be able to checkthemselves. So to begin with tell people about:Library catalogueJournals list

Supported by:Electronic Tables of Contents (EToCs)Current awareness and Horizon Scanning

Next stepsWe are supporting practitioners in evidence-based practice. To find that evidence they need to beable to formulate a search strategy. We now need to look at:Identifying separate elements of an enquirySystematically assembling a search strategy

Finding the evidenceParticipants can then implement that search strategy by looking for articles that consider how otherpractitioners have resolved the problems our audience has identified. They can do this by:Interrogating the specialist databases available via NHS Evidence

Gateways to

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also emphasise that books and journalarticles could be requested by e-mail orfax (to allow for the necessary signed forms)and delivered through the internal post.

OutcomeThe sessions were booked intocommunity rooms at the Gateway centreswhich provided plenty of space forsetting up display tables. The standardarray of leaflets was supplemented by alaptop showing a PowerPointpresentation while the room was markedout as staging a health library event bythe GMHeLP banner by the door.

Centre managers were very helpful indistributing publicity material beforehandand we also used various contacts withinSalford Community Health to promotethe forthcoming events to relevant teams.The Outreach Librarian spoke to seniormanagers who cascaded information tocolleagues. This was supported by itemsin the staff newsletter.

On the day the approach was to haveone person in the room for any passingvisitors whilst the other could go aroundto the different departments. Weprepared information packs using theGMHeLP jute bags which provedpopular. This personal touch wassupported by phone calls to departmentsto let them know that we were there andto invite them to come and see us.

There are three Gateway Centres andthere were two events at each. On thesecond visit part of the session took placein the staff room which providedadditional opportunities to approachpeople and pass out information packs.At one of the Centres the managerprovided a tour round the workspaceswhich opened up further chances todistribute the packs and explain topeople how the library could assist them.

SummaryThe events provided us witha number of newregistrations; offered theopportunity to introducepeople to the basicconcepts of developing

a search strategy;generated literaturesearch requests;prompted people to askto be added to EToCcirculation lists; andgenerally raised theprofile of the library. Agroup of school nurseswho were unable toattend one of theGateway eventsrequested a trainingsession at theirworkplace.

So the events offeredthe chance to makeinitial contacts withclinicians and for them to meet theOutreach Librarian. This was not quitethe embedding of the library in the workprogramme that might have been theideal outcome. However, the VIVOSproject which evaluated methods ofpromoting ‘virtual outreach’ quoted oneparticipant as suggesting that“[librarians] need to sell themselves a bitmore”(Yeoman et al, 2003, p430).Another observed that they now felt moreable to use the library service and torefer others to the service: “…and Ididn’t know anybody before we did thetraining and so I might not have felt quiteso…confident in doing that.” (Yeoman etal, 2003, p431). In this context, wherethe external view regards the library asan under-promoted and slightly remoteservice the Gateway events were avaluable first step.

The next stage is an ongoingprogramme of ‘surgeries’ atadministrative centres where it will beeasier for people to get to see theOutreach Librarian with more detailedenquiries. A couple of these sessions

havealready led to some individualdatabase training and an enquiry aboutestablishing a journal club. TheOutreach Librarian will also be attendingfurther SCH team meetings to provide anoverview of what’s available from thelibrary while flagging up the surgeriesand reminding the teams about thepotential for the library to assist with the implementation of evidencebased practice.

1.Yeoman Alison J, Cooper Janet M, UrquhartChristine J, Tyler Alyson. The management ofhealth library outreach services: evaluationand reflection on lessons learned on theVIVOS project. J Med Libr Assoc 2003 Oct;91(4); 426-34.

Thanks to Simon Fraser, Jane Roberts,Jacqueline Anslow and Mandy Hodkinson forhelping to develop and deliver the Gatewaysto Information events.

Stephen Edwards OUTREACH LIBRARIAN, NHS SALFORD

Information

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When I have a moment to browse the shelves of oneof our libraries (Preston/Chorley), I head for theleisure reading section. As a library assistant I onlyhave to know where to find the medical booksrather than read them. But if your work requires thememorisation of chunks of Davidson’s Principles andPractice of Medicine, how much time for leisurereading do you have? And what titles do you read?I was curious to find out following discussions withcolleagues about what titles would encouragereaders to use the leisure reading section.

Amy Harrison, the assistant librarian at Chorley, designed aHeritage report that would provide the data I needed. Readerscan choose from over 1,000 fiction titles and 160 fact titles -mainly popular science, history and biography - sharedbetween the two libraries. Amy’s report gave me the reader’s(occupation) category and gender for each issue of a leisurereading book between 1st April 2009 and 31st March 2010.

ResultsThere were 842 fiction issues and 147 fact issues during theyear, including multiple issues of the same title. The figuressuggest that fiction is more popular than fact, but the collectionsizes are very different (See figure 1). The percentage ofindividual titles issued from the fiction and fact collections arealmost equal (45 and 44%).

Figure 1. Number of issues

Reader GenderOf the 4941 staff registered with the library, 3654 are femaleand 1007 are male1. (Gender is not recorded for 280 users).The ratio of female/male fiction borrowing is 9:1 reducing to5:1 for fact (see figure 2). Even after taking into account thatthere are three times more registered females than males, thefemale readers read the most. One book per five females isissued compared with one book per ten males.

Figure 2. Female/male share of issues

Reader categoryNine categories of reader took out books during the period. Ihave excluded multidisciplinary and miscellaneous as it is notclear who is included in these categories.

Figure 3. Reader category share of issues

The sizes of the categories are different but - unlike you mightexpect - larger groups don’t take a larger share of issues.Admin (188) and medical students (292) are two of the smallestgroups but read the most (See figure 3). Only s&t (77) aresmaller. Nurses (1164), nursing students (579) and allied healthprofessionals (572) are larger groups but read less. Medicalstaff (930) are the exception. Their large share of issues isachieved with a comparatively small proportion of themborrowing books - one book per five medical staff comparedwith one book per one admin/medical student.

The percentages are consistent across the fiction and factcollections, although fact is relatively more popular with medicalstaff than fiction.

Popular authors and titlesThe most popular fiction authors are determined by femalereaders. (29 of 31 issues of Gerritsen went to females - seefigure 5). Amongst males, Dan Brown is popular, but otherwisethey prefer different authors: Beatrice Colin, Patricia Cornwall,Jed Rubenford. However, the figures are so low for males thatno one author is particularly popular. The same is true of thefact authors. Gerritsen and Brown are mainly popular with

What are the leisurelibrary

% of Total % Titles % No. of titles collectionissues share issued share in collection issued

Fiction 842 85 480 87 1007 45

Fact 147 15 71 13 161 44

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medical students. Kinsella and Atkinson are broadly popular.(Picoult is popular with the excluded miscellaneous category).

Figure 5.

The most popular titles are listed below. The female readershipis again responsible for the popularity of these books.

Most popular fiction

1. Remember me? – Sophie Kinsella

2. Deception point – Dan Brown

3. When will there be good news? – Kate Atkinson

= 4. A thousand splendid suns – Khaled Hosseini

= 4. Angels and demons – Dan Brown

= 4. Girl missing – Tess Gerritsen

Most popular fact1. In stitches: the highs and lows of life as an

A&E doctor – Nick Edwards

2. The suspicions of Mr Whicher – Kate Summerscale

3. Bedside stories: confessions of a junior doctor– Michael Foxton

=4. Dreams from my father – Barack Obama

=4. The audacity of hope – Barack Obama

=4. How to change your life in 7 steps – John Bird

ConclusionsIn part I undertook this analysis to identify how to encouragegreater use of the leisure reading section. The results show thatmale readers are a low reading group compared to femalereaders. It was also identified that males borrow more fact thanfiction as a percentage of the male/female share. As such, it isreasonable to predict that an increased selection of fact bookswould increase male borrowing.

Among medical students, Gerritsen’s popularity is surely owingto her medical training and the anatomical details she brings toher crime thrillers. In a list of best selling authors of the lastdecade, Gerristen ranks lower than Brown, Picoult, andKinsella2. But in my survey she tops a list of these authors.Similarly, humorous fact books about medical life are alsopopular. It is possible that similar books relevant to nurses wouldincrease their borrowing.

A difference in leisure reading usage between medics andnurses is also apparent among employees, although medicalstaff read less than medical students. This drop in borrowingmight be due to the demands of working life. Students are in thelibrary for long hours and use the leisure reading books forlight relief. Staff use the library more sparingly with little timefor browsing. The exception are the admin staff – the onlycategory where more than one book per reader has beenissued. Given the conclusion that clinical staff read less thanstudents because of the demands of work, perhaps it would bewise to conclude that admin staff have their priorities right. It’scertainly a conclusion a librarian should make.

Simon Briscoe LIBRARY ASSISTANT

LANCASHIRE TEACHING HOSPITALS FOUNDATION TRUST

References

1. Some of these people have not been registered for the full period under

analysis. I am assuming that the numbers of library users and their reading

preferences have remained similar throughout the period.

2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/

6866648/Bestselling-authors-of-the-decade.html, accessed 31/05/2010

reading habits of health users?

Top 5 FICTION authors Top 5 FACT authorsAuthor Issues Author Issues

1 Tess Gerritsen 31 =1 Bill Bryson 10

2 Jodi Picoult 23 =1 Nick Edwards 10

3 Dan Brown 20 =2 Barack Obama 8

=4 Sophie Kinsella 15 =2 Kate Summerscale 8

=4 Kate Atkinson 15 3 Michael Foxton 6

LIHNN GROUPS AND CHAIRS 2010

G R O U P C H A I R E - M A I L

LIHNN CO-ORDINATING COMMITTEE

Tracy Owen [email protected]

Cheshire & Merseyside Librarians Gill Swash [email protected]

Clinical Librarians Tracey Pratchett [email protected]

HCLU CPD Partnerships Manager –

Cumbria & Lancashire Librarians Debra Thornton [email protected]

E-resources Kieran Lamb [email protected]

Greater Manchester Libraries John Addison [email protected]

Heritage users Jean Williams [email protected]

Information governance Tracy Owen [email protected]

Interlending & Document Supply Grp Steve Glover [email protected]

Mental Health Libraries Vicky Bramwell [email protected]

Newsletter Mike Hargreaves [email protected]

Primary Care Librarians Katherine Dumenil [email protected]

Quality Brief and Exchange Hannah Gray [email protected]

Trainers Joanne Taylor [email protected]

Mike Hargreaves (Chair)Uclan [email protected]

Rachel BuryUniversity Hospital [email protected]

Linda FergusonHealth Care Libraries [email protected]

Kieran LambFade, Liverpool [email protected]

Steve Glover Christie [email protected]

Andrew CraigLancashire Teaching Hospitals NHSFoundation Trust [email protected]

Penny Ralph Pennine Acute [email protected]

Victoria KirkWirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [email protected]

E D I T O R I A L B O A R D

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Editor’s ColumnNotes for contributors

1. Articles and news items are welcome from all members of Lihnn,including support staff and staff inhigher education institutions.

Lihnn members are actively encouraged to write up accounts ofevents and courses attended. Articleson new developments and projectssuccessfully managed are also welcome.

2. News items and short pieces, whichcan range from factual to amusing,are also welcome.

3. All items should be submitted in electronic format.

Please abide by the following points:

Don’t forget your name, location, title ofarticle and date of article.

All acronyms should be written out infull for the first occasion they are used inthe text. Please give full details of events,courses and conferences attended. Thisshould include:

■ The name of event and location

■ Date of event

■ Name of organizing or sponsoring body

■ Details of how support materials canbe obtained (where necessary)

■ Full references to any publishedreports, articles, etc.

Items not submitted in time for the publication deadline will be published inthe following edition.

Lihnn is on the web at:www.lihnn.nhs.uk

Contributions should be submitted to:Mike HargreavesUniversity of Central LancashireEmail: [email protected]

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