Swine flu - some useful links

http://www.le.ac.uk/library/clinical/influenza/index.html - Keith Nockles of University of Leciester Clinical Sciences Library gathers together information on Swine Flu, Avian and Pandemic Influenza.

http://blog.tripdatabase.com/2009/04/swine-influenza.html - Jon Brassey, of TRIP has gathered together these links.

http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/swineflu.html - from US National Library for Medicine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8024611.stm from BBC

http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1240732817665?p=1240732817665 Health Protection Agency

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/health/flu/ and finally, University of Cambridge advice.

All change... again!

You will probably not have noticed much difference yet, but the National Library for Health has changed.

After 10 years of operation, the National Library for Health moved, as of 1st April 2009, to NHS Evidence: "a web-based service that will help people find, access and use high-quality clinical and non-clinical evidence and best practice".

The big change will come on 3oth April 2009, when the NLH will change it's look and feel -NHS Evidence blue.... stand by.....

Best Treatments available via Guardian website

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/besttreatments

"Guardian readers can now access the BMJ Group's independent, high quality patient information on a wide range of health issues, from cancer, depression and back pain to every day ailments like the common cold and period pains.
Written in plain English, the British Medical Journal has detailed information about the causes and symptoms of your medical condition, and helps you understand how it might affect your life."
Includes A-Zs of Conditions and Operations & tests, and a browsable set of topics.

University and NHS electronic access is now available for these journals:-

"Transplantation"
"Plastic and reconstructive surgery"

- Available on University computers at http://sfx7.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az

- Available from NHS computers using NHS Athens username and password at http://www.library.nhs.uk/booksandjournals/journals/Default.aspx

(For NHS Athens registration see http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/nhsathens.htm )

Holiday weekend

Easter

The Library will be closed for the Easter weekend (Friday 10th - Monday 13th April inclusive).

Services resume at 8am, Tuesday 14th April.

May Bank Holidays

On May Bank Holidays, the library will operate restricted hours: 9am - 6pm.
Bank Holidays: Mondays 4th and 25th May

Can we establish best practice for publishing raw clinical trial data?

An interesting post on the BioMed Central blog regarding what happens to the results of clinical trials.

So many new e-books!

We're please to be able to make available a new set of e-books from Springer - on trial till 31st August 2009.To browse the whole list, go to http://www.springerlink.com/books/ (31,010 titles!) but if you'd like to see a more focused selection here are all the ones about medicine and here's a bit more structure to the list:

• Medicine (1,642 titles)


• Medicine & Public Health (1,606 titles)


• Biomedical and Life Sciences (252 titles)


• Oncology (246 titles)


• Imaging / Radiology (221 titles)


• Internal Medicine (175 titles)


• Cardiology (139 titles)


• Neurology (115 titles)


• Surgery (84 titles)


• Pathology (63 titles)
  
  Access is available on-campus and off-campus with a Raven password.

Our other e-books can be found via a normal search of Newton, the library catalouge, but you can also search just the e-book collection at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/ebooks.php

new perspective on critical appraisal

There's more than one way to skin a cat... or so the saying goes.

The same applies to CATs or critically appraised topics.

There's a new approach presented for critical appraisal by Young and Solomon in Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology which offers a variety of questions to pose to different types of research. (NB you may need to use your RAVEN password to gain access to the full text).

This builds on existing work by (amongst others) CASP (Critical Skills Appraisal Programme) and Trisha Greenhalgh's classic work "How To Read A Paper" available online at the BMJ and in the library (several copies of several editions!).

(no animals were harmed in the writing of this blog!)

Cambridge confirmed as global leader in health science

The strength of Cambridge as a globally-competitive centre for biomedical research, clinical education and healthcare innovation was confirmed today by the UK’s Department of Health.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced that Cambridge University Health Partners was amongst the five winners of the race to be designated an Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC). These centres, chosen from amongst the leading university medical centres in the country, have been identified as the groups most likely to be able to compete with equivalent organisations in America, Europe and the rest of the world in areas of biomedical excellence.

for more details go to:

• University of Cambridge announcement
• Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundations Trust / Addenbrooke's :
• Department of Health: NHS patients to benefit as top flight Academic Health Science Centres named

Guide to biostatistics

Thanks to TRIP creator Jon Brassey's Twitter feed, I discovered the following Guide to Biostatistics that explains "important epidemiologic concepts and common biostatistical terms to help clinicians translate medical research into everyday practice".

Produced by MedPage Today, I hope you find it useful.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Medpage-Guide-to-Biostatistics.pdf

Using information on the move

Survey: Using information on the move

A chance to win an Flip video camera, £30 in book vouchers or membership to the Arts Picturehouse worth £27.

I would like to invite you to take part in a survey intended to establish how the majority of Cambridge University students and staff access, or would like to access, information away from your desk or laptop. The survey questions are primarily about how you use your mobile phone, smartphone or PDA to look up, use or interact with information.

As mobile phone use has become increasingly common, more and more ways of using them to access or interact with information have developed. Newer models of mobile phones are more powerful than personal computers were a few years ago and often include much of the functionality of a pocket PC, such as a calendar, a camera, a notes function, and an internet browser.

All answers will be completely anonymous. If you choose to provide your email address to enter the prize draw, or if you wish to contribute further to the project, we will not associate it with your responses or retain it after the end of the project. The aggregated survey results, however, will be made publicly available and may be used to inform development of services for students and staff.

This research is being undertaken jointly at Cambridge University and The Open University as part of the Arcadia project. Staff and students at The Open University will be receiving the same survey. For more information about the project, please click on the link provided at the end of the survey.

To take the survey go to http://cli.gs/caminfosurvey.
It should take 10 to 15 minutes to complete it. The cut-off date for submissions is 19 March 2009.

Many thanks,
Keren Mills
Arcadia Project: Using information on the move
Email: km512@cam.ac.uk
Tel. 01223 768875

New training dates for March & April

How time flies - it's March already, and spring is in the air!

What better time to brush up on your searching skills in order to get the evidence you need for clinical practice, CPD etc.

Full details are available from http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/trainingdates.html

The main highlights are:

• extended sessions: each session now lasts 1.5 hours to give plenty time for practice and experimentation
• "how to find e-journals" - back by popular demand!
• regular sessions on Pubmed, Cochrane Library, searching NHS databases, Scopus & Web of Knowledge
• keeping up to date - keep control of the torrent of information!

Contact Isla if you'd like to book a session.
As always, individual sessions are available if you've got specific questions, and group sessions can be tailored to the needs of your team - call (01223 336750) or email to discuss how best we can help.

New Journals now available in the Medical Library

British journal of medical and surgical urology 2008 vol.1(1)-
Clinical Respiratory journal 2007 vol. 1(1)-
Clinical and translational science 2008 vol.1 (1)-
Hematology 2008 vol. 13(1)-
International journal of rheumatic diseases 2008 vol. 11 (2)-
Journal of communication in healthcare 2008 vol. 1(1)-
Mucosal immunology 2008 vol.1 (1)-
Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology 2008 vol.1 (1)-

BMJ Best Practice

"Healthcare professionals need fast and easy access to reliable, up-to-date information when making diagnosis and treatment decisions. This is precisely what Best Practice provides.

Best Practice is a completely new concept for information delivered at the point of care. In a single source we have combined the latest research evidence, guidelines and expert opinion – presented in a step-by-step approach, covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

Best Practice provides a second opinion in an instant, without the need for checking multiple resources. Its unique patient-focused approach represents a major new advancement in information delivery at the point of care

Best Practice is brought to you by the BMJ Evidence Centre – a division of the BMJ Group that is working to provide healthcare professionals with innovative new products and tools that make evidence useful in practice."

Available without passwords on University computers (ie in the Medical Library) and also available anywhere using your Addenbrooke's NHS ATHENS login.

http://bestpractice.bmj.com/best-practice/

updates to Clinical Knowledge Summaries

The Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) are a reliable on-line source of evidence-based information and practical ‘know how’ about the common conditions managed in primary and first-contact care.

Eight new and updated topics were issued onto the website in January 2009:

New CKS topics

• depression in children


• MRSA in primary care


• sleep_apnoea


• tuberculosis


• vaginal_discharge

Updated CKS topics

• neck_pain_acute_torticollis


• neck_pain_cervical_radiculopathy


• neck_pain_non_specific


• neck_pain_whiplash_injury

turning unknown unknowns into known unknowns.....

The UK Database of Uncertainties about the Effects of Treatment (UK DUETs) becomes a Specialist Library within the National Library for Health.

http://www.library.nhs.uk/duets/

DUETs has been established in the UK to publish uncertainties about the effects of treatments that cannot currently be answered by referring to reliable, up-to-date systematic reviews of existing research evidence. Systematic reviews are based on worldwide searches for reliable, relevant evidence, analysed using methods to reduce biases and the play of chance. More detailed information about systematic reviews and fair tests of the effects of medical treatments is available in The James Lind Library at: (http://www.jameslindlibrary.org/)

Identifying uncertainties relevant to patients and clinicians

There are many important uncertainties about the effects of treatments. To help ensure that treatments are likely to do more good than harm, these gaps in knowledge must be identified and those deemed sufficiently important must be addressed in research, either by systematic assessment of what can be known from existing evidence, or by extending the evidence base. Research on the effects of treatments too often fails to address questions that matter to patients,
and to the clinicians to whom they turn for help.

For this reason, the UK DUETs identifies and publishes unanswered questions about the effects of treatments which have been asked by patients and clinicians, while also noting therapeutic uncertainties identified through systematic reviews, clinical guidelines, and other formal mechanisms.

First female University of Cambridge Librarian

Congratulations to Anne Jarvis (nee Murray) who takes over the role of University Librarian from Peter Fox in April.

Details available from:

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2009012601

and

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/7851821.stm

NHS Constitution for England

The NHS Constitution for England subject to Parliamentary approval, will require all NHS bodies, and private and third-sector providers supplying NHS services in England by law to take account of the Constitution in their decisions and actions. The Government will have a legal duty to renew the Constitution every 10 years. No Government will be able to change the Constitution, without the full involvement of staff, patients and the public.

The handbook to the NHS Constitution for England gives NHS staff and patients all the information you need about the NHS Constitution in one place. It acts as a guide to:

• patients’ rights and pledges


• responsibilities of patients and the public and staff
  
• staff rights and NHS pledges to its staff

Supoorting documents:
Impact assessment
The handbook to the NHS Constitution for England
The statement of NHS accountability for England
Government response to consultation
Implementation of the right to choice and information set out in the NHS Constitution
The Primary Care Trusts (Choice of Secondary Care Provider) Directions 2009

Wireless networks

We're delighted to announce that there is now access to the Addenbrooke's wireless network in the Library. This is in addition to the existing Library wireless network, LibAir.

The network is called CUH_WNet and provides access to the Trust network via laptops that have had a certificate installed. As this is currently just giving access to the Trust network its use is aimed at Trust personnel using Trust laptops and it is these laptops that they would need to bring down to the Trust’s IT department (on level 1) to get their certificates installed before they could use the network.

If anyone encounters problems with the network they should contact the Trust IT Help Desk on Trust extension 2757.

Training Sessions for January & February

If you made a new year's resolution to catch up with your literature searches, then hopefully the new training dates from the Medical Library will help!

Full details are available from http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/trainingdates.html

The main highlights are:

• extended sessions: each session now lasts 1.5 hours to give plenty time for practice and experimentation
• "how to find e-journals" - back by popular demand!
• regular sessions on Pubmed, Cochrane Library, searching NHS databases, Scopus & Web of Knowledge
• keeping up to date - keep control of the torrent of information!
  

Contact Isla if you'd like to book a session.

As always, individual sessions are available if you've got specific questions, and group sessions can be tailored to the needs of your team - call (01223 336750) or email to discuss how best we can help.

Cambridge RAE results announced

Congratulations to the researchers who contributed to the RAE (Research Assessment Exercise). The results were published today by Hefce, the higher education funding council.

The RAE is a peer review exercise which evaluates the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. This assessment will inform the UK higher education funding bodies' distribution of grants (with effect from 2009-2010). However, the allocation of the approximate £1.2 billion to universities will not take place until March of next year.

All the results for Cambridge are available at: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/press/factsheets/rae-2008.pdf and full details about the RAE http://www.rae.ac.uk/

• 4* indicates quality that is 'world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour',


• 3* indicates quality that is 'internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour but which nonetheless falls short of the highest standards of excellence',


• 2* indicates quality that is 'recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour',


• 1* which indicates quality 'that is recognised nationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour',


• 'unclassified', which indicates quality 'that falls below the standard of nationally recognised work' or 'work which does not meet the published definition of research for the purposes of this assessment'.

Full University news statement is available

E Books - Permanent subscriptions

The University is now subscribing to the following ebooks:-

• ADAMS AND VICTOR'S PRINCIPLES OF NEUROLOGY - 8th Ed. (2005)
• GOODMAN & GILMAN'S THE PHARMACOLOGICAL BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS - 11th Ed. (2006)
• HARRISON'S PRINCIPLES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE - 17th Ed. (2008)
• HURST'S THE HEART - 12th Ed. (2008)
• MAINGOT'S ABDOMINAL OPERATIONS - 11th Ed. (2007)
• OXFORD HANDBOOK OF ANAESTHESIA - 2nd Ed. (2006)
• OXFORD TEXTBOOK OF PALLIATIVE MEDICINE - 3rd Ed. (2004)
• SMITH'S GENERAL UROLOGY - 17th Ed. (2008)
  

You can access them via Newton, the library catalogue, if you are off campus you will need to use your Raven password. If you want a preview click here :- home page. Click on Titles tab and select.

"TRIP Answers: because clinicians ask questions"

A great new resource from TRIP (Turning Research Into Practice)

TRIP Answers:
"a repository of clinical questions and answers drawn from a wide number of sources around the world and builds on TRIP’s ten years experience of answering clinical questions. Ultimately, we want to create a resource where clinicians can easily find answers to their question and, who knows, create a clinical Q&A ‘space’ where users can share their own Q&As (it’s always struck us as wasteful that clinicians around the globe answer questions and this effort is never shared!)"

Find out more at http://www.tripanswers.org/

Christmas is coming

The Library closes at 12.30pm on Wednesday 24th December 2008,
and re-opens at 8.00am Friday 2nd January 2009.

Merry Christmas to all our readers, and very best wishes for the New Year.

Oh, happy day!

Monday 24th November - 8.00am - the Medical Library re-opens its doors.

The majority of the redevelopment work is over, and we're proud to welcome you into the library via the "normal" route: into the Clinical School and up the spiral staircase.

There will be a settling in period as we get used to our beautiful new surroundings - please bear with us.

We hope that you'll enjoy our new look!

See you Monday!

The end is nigh: an early Christmas present

Congratulations to you all - you've survived the disruption of our move to the temporary issue desk and the noise of the building works.

Thank you for your tolerance.

The only thing left is to re-open our newly renovated reception area, and open up the new computer room, but this shouldn't take very long - watch this space!

But in view of your patience, we thought you deserved an early Christmas present, so......

Extra long book loans

All books loaned (or that have their loans renewed)

from 17th November till 9th December
will not be due for return till 5th January 2009.

This will allow loans of up to 7 weeks, in comparison with our normal 4 week loan period.

Do you use ebooks?

Could you spare 1 hour in November? (26th/ 27th)

We are setting up a focus group to consider the use of medical ebooks by university staff and students. Comments will be fed back to JISC, (Joint Informations Systems Committee) for their national observatory project. JISC has negotiated and provided free a number of e-books to the academic community, eg. Rockwood and Green’s fractures in adults.

Prepared to help? – please contact Anne Collins in the Medical Library, mail ac224@cam.ac.uk

New ebooks available on trial for November!

If demand is sufficient we are hoping to subscribe to the latest edition of these
ebooks:-

• ADAMS AND VICTOR'S PRINCIPLES OF NEUROLOGY - 8th Ed. (2005)
• GOODMAN & GILMAN'S THE PHARMACOLOGICAL BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS - 11th Ed. (2006)
• HARRISON'S PRINCIPLES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE - 17th Ed. (2008)
• HURST'S THE HEART - 12th Ed. (2008)
• MAINGOT'S ABDOMINAL OPERATIONS - 11th Ed. (2007)
• OXFORD HANDBOOK OF ANAESTHESIA - 2nd Ed. (2006)
• OXFORD TEXTBOOK OF PALLIATIVE MEDICINE - 3rd Ed. (2004)
• SMITH'S GENERAL UROLOGY - 17th Ed. (2008)

To access via Cambridge domain computers :- home page. Click on Titles tab and select.
Feedback requested please.

New training sessions for November and December

Brush up your literature searching skills before Christmas: new training dates and topics for November and December.

Check the calendar available at http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/trainingdates.html for full details, but the sessions covered include:

• How to find healthcare literature use National Library for Health (NLH) and ATHENS
  - search databases like Medline, CINAHL & Embase


• How to find healthcare information on the Internet (covers NLH, TRIP)
  - better than just using Google!


• How to find the best evidence in the Cochrane Library
  - top quality evidence in full text!


• Keeping up to date: using RSS, blogs and more
  - don't be overwhelmed by all the things you need to read - keep in control.


• How to search PubMed
  - the classic way to find articles and evidence, but not always the easiest.


• Searching Scopus and Web of Knowledge (and why!)
  - learn to search a little further, and to search smarter as well as harder!

These sessions will all last 1 hour, and should be booked by contacting Isla at the Medical Library - email library@medschl.cam.ac.uk or phone (01223) 336750

Pharmaceutical Substances has now been updated to Version 3.1.

Pharmaceutical Substances acts as a reference point for screening information about drugs. It provides a compendium of more than 2400 active pharmaceutical ingredients (API’s) of interest to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The database is structure searchable and includes synthetic routes.

The new release is the largest update since the inception of the electronic version in 2003 and features:

• 50 new active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)


• 16 new synthetic processes for existing drug monographs


• complete revisions of more than 1300 entries in terms of patents, literature, medical use, trade and vendor names

Access is available from: http://www.thieme-chemistry.com/ps/prod/. Off-campus access is also available via Raven passwords.

More e-books via the University

A new ebook is now available:-

“Sexual health and genital medicine in clinical practice”

– C. Sonnex.

It can be accessed in MyiLibrary using a university computer, or remotely, using your RAVEN password

http://www.myilibrary.com/Search/sd.asp?ID=108737&Searchtext=sonnex

This will soon be linked to the record in our Newton catalogue.

science@cambridge

The new web portal for science students and scientists, http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/scienceportal/ was launched today.

Science @ Cambridge aims to draw users into a virtual library space giving them immediate access to electronic information from their desktop, tools to help them navigate through the vast number of sources available, as well as on-line real-time help from library subject-experts.

This development acknowledges that for many of those working in contemporary science the library is now largely a 'virtual resource'.

Science @ Cambridge will increase access to and knowledge of scientific electronic resources. It will help users discover, search across and improve the use of science e-resources, generally and within discipline specific areas.

Science @ Cambridge has been developed with the generous support of the Arcadia Trust.

Changes to photocopy prices

As of Monday 29th September, the charges for photocopy cards will be as follows:

£1 - 18 unit card

• 9 pages of A4 @ 11.1p per sheet
• 6 pages of A3 @ 16.7p per sheet

£2 - 42 unit card

• 21 pages of A4 @ 9.5p per sheet
• 14 pages of A3 @ 14.3p per sheet

£5 - 116 unit card

• 58 pages of A4 @ 8.9p per sheet
• 39 pages of A3 @ 12.8p per sheet

1xA4 copy = 2 units; 1xA3 copy = 3 units

Coin operated photocopier

• A4 copy -10p
• A3 copy -15p

Black Tuesday

Due to circumstances beyond our control, and a desire to keep noise disruption in the library to a minimum, the Medical Library will be closed to readers

8.00am - 1.00pm on Tuesday 23rd September 2008.

Other particularly noisy periods will be 7.00am - 9am on Friday 19th and Monday 22nd September.

We're very sorry for the inconvenience caused, but hope that concentrating noisy building work into specific time slots will reduce disruption at other times.

And relax....

After the "Big Push", we've got the new Issue Desk installed at the new entrance - well done to everyone who's found us!

This route into the library will be in operation till November 2008.

2 new specialists libraries - Infections & Commissioning

Infections Specialist Library

What is it?

The Infections Specialist Library (ISL) provides convenient and comprehensive access to the highest quality evidence on the investigation, prevention, treatment and control of infectious diseases from a clinical perspective. This is intended to keep health professionals up to date with the burgeoning amount of infectious disease evidence that is emerging daily.

What does the library provide?

Resources in the library include:

• Reviews and Systematic reviews (e.g. Cochrane Library, CKS, DARE)
• National guidelines (e.g. NICE, DH, SIGN)
• International guidelines (if no suitable UK guidelines exist, e.g. WHO, CDC)
• Examples of best practice (e.g. HPA)
• Standard Operating Protocols (e.g. HPA)
• Government health policies and standards (e.g. HPA, DH)
• News and events

Find out more at http://www.library.nhs.uk/infections

Commissioning Specialist Library

The NLH Commissioning Specialist Library was soft launched on 15th September. It is free, and aims to be a one-stop shop providing timely and efficient access to high quality information resources for all those involved in commissioning for health and wellbeing.

It endeavours to include the best available evidence, examples of good practice, policy and data to support world class commissioning.
The Commissioning Specialist Library is one of over 30 Specialist Libraries from the National Library for Health (NLH) and is managed by the King's Fund Information and Library Service. It will be officially launched at the King's Fund Annual Conference in November 2008.

Feedback or comments are welcomed, and contact details can be found on the Commissioning Specialist Library homepage.
Find out more at http://www.library.nhs.uk/commissioning/

The Big Push

Right - we have quite a lot to do between now and Monday 15th September in order to move to the next stage of our redevelopment:

• build a new door


• install furniture in the new IT room on Level 4


• relocate our library offices into the new IT room on Level 4


• close down the current entrance


• set up a temporary entrance and issue desk

You can imagine that this may have a disruptive effect on the Library Services, and also on the Library as a quite place to work.

But how will it affect you?

• Saturday 6th September: we'll be building a door near the books. This will cause a bit of noise and disruption
  
• Monday 8th & Tuesday 9th September: furniture for the new IT Room on Level 4 will be delivered and installed. Watch out for delivery men.
  
• Tuesday 9th - Friday 12th: Library staff will be moving offices - this might mean that we're a bit distracted, and there might be some noise as we dismantle our current office - please bear with us!
  
• Friday 12th September: We'll be closing the current entrance to the library, and opening a new temporary entrance which will be in operation till mid-November. Look out for the signs directing you to the new entrance.

More e-books via NHS ATHENS

More e-books are available using your NHS ATHENS password:

Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine

Oxford Handbook of Nurse Prescribing

Go to http://www.library.nhs.uk/ and log in with your NHS ATHENS password, and click on the e-books link under "Books, Journals and Healthcare Databases", and search for the book you want.

Contact us if you'd like any support using and accessing these books.

Changes in the Library - from 1st September onwards

From Monday 1st September, we'll be doing a bit of work preparing for a temporary entrance to the library. While the staff offices and library issue desk area are being worked on, the entrance to the library will be via a side door - this will all be sign posted in due course.

It does mean that we have to get make some alterations which will affect you, the users of the library.

• The study carrells located between the Issue Desk and the books will be taken out of use, to accommodate a temporary Issue Desk and the temporary entrance to the library
  
• The photocopiers will be relocated into the Wolfson Room


• Most of the area which used to be comfortable seating (next to the current journals) will be given over to storage during the refurbishment (though we will try to maintain some of this seating for your use.)
  
• All library staff will re-locate into the room which is being built on Level 4.
  
• By Monday 15th September, the entrance to the library will have re-located (more details in due course.)

Inevitably there will be some disruption, particularly in relation to where you might prefer to sit, but we will try to keep this to a minimum.

Forthcoming Distraction - last minute change

Factors beyond our control mean there's been a last minute change of date for this disruption.

THURSDAY 28TH AUGUST will be the noisy day in the library - particularly after 5.30pm

Forthcoming Distraction: Big Noise

I'm afraid that we're expecting a lot of noise disruption at some point in the week beginning August 25th 2008.

The builders tell us this should be the worst of the noise for the whole redevelopment project.

We don't know which days will be worst affected, but watch this space - we'll update this blog as soon as we know.

We know which day will be worst affected!

We apologise for this inconvenience.

SCOPUS now available

Support for research and teaching in the sciences and social sciences in Cambridge has received a major boost through a University Library subscription to Elsevier's Scopus database.

The Library's investment in Scopus represents one of the most significant enhancements to information provision in the sciences in the University for some years. During a trial earlier this year it scored very highly on content and usability with researchers and undergraduates alike, many of whom responded by requesting its continuation.

Developed in conjunction with researchers to provide an easily navigated single entry-point to the world's scientific information, Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database for the sciences and social sciences. Covering around 40% more titles than its rivals, it covers:

15,000 peer-reviewed journals from more than 4,000 international publishers, including coverage of:

• Over 1,200 Open Access journals


• 500 Conference Proceedings


• Over 600 Trade Publications


• Over 200 Book Series

33 million abstracts, of which:

• 16 million records include references going back to 1996


• 17 million pre-1996 records go back as far as 1869

Scopus also indexes 386 million scientific web pages, including 22 million patents from 5 patent offices. Web sources are searched via Scirus, and include author homepages, university sites and resources such as the preprint servers CogPrints and ArXiv.org.

Features include:

• Seamless links to full-text articles and other library resources
• Tools that give an at-a-glance overview of search results and refine them to the most relevant hits
• Alerts to keep users up-to-date on new articles matching your search query, or by favourite author

For access to Scopus go to http://www.scopus.com/.

Off-campus access using Raven passwords is expected to be available from Friday 22 August.

The database is updated daily. For more information on Scopus go to http://www.scopusinfo.com/

New sessions and a new calendar

New times and dates in August, September and October 2008 are available for Information Skills training sessions providing hands-on training in specific resources including:

• Cochrane Library
• PubMed
• Using NHS ATHENS to search for literature
• Library Introduction
• Finding e-Journals
• Literature searching for Junior Doctors
• Searching Web of Science

We're using Google calendars to list the sessions, so if you use iGoogle or Netvibes or pageflakes etc, feel free to add it to your page. (for example: http://www.netvibes.com/ilk21#training_diary_for_the_Medical_Library)

If the sessions do not suit you contact us to book an appointment at the Information Clinic - a session at a time that suits you, and tailored to your needs.

New eresources@cambridge website

Cambridge University Library has today officially launched eresources@cambridge http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/.

The new site aims to provide library users with seamless access to a growing collection of subscribed electronic resources. It also has a redesigned help section, covering journal and database access for on and off campus users.

Users can also search for article citations and full text resources by using CrossSearch, a new federated searching service.

With CrossSearch, it is possible to simultaneously search over 300 key including CSA, Web of Science, Science Direct and major ejournal providers. In the advanced CrossSearch interface, multiple subject areas or specific resources can be searched at once. Users can order results with relevancy ranking and clustering options, then view citations and full text in the original native interface.

CrossSearch is available direct within the Cambridge domain(including the computers in the Medical Library's Wolfson Room. External (off campus) access is offered to University staff and students via their Raven username and password.

eresources@cambridge is the first step in a series of initiatives from the University Library aimed at promoting eresource use amongst all groups of Cambridge users.

It is available today at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources

Good bye comfy seats!

Good bye comfortable chairs - for the duration of the library refurbishment, anyway.

If you are used to enjoying the comfortable chairs near the current journal racks, I'm afraid I have some bad news.

In order for us to redevelop the library offices to provide space for the seminar rooms we have planned, we have to move our mobile stacks (currently located in the library offices). They will be relocated on a temporary basis in the area beside the current journals.

From Friday 8th August we will be relocating the contents and the stacks themselves - this means noise and disruption!

Particularly noisy areas: Current journals, study carrolls beside the books.

We apologise for the inevitable disruption, and for the temporary loss of this seating area.

August Bank Holiday Monday

The Library will be open from 9.00am till 6.00pm on Bank Holiday Monday, 25th August 2008.

Building work in the week ahead

Wednesday 9th - Friday 18th July

• Scaffolding will be errected outside the library on the wall opposite the new car park.
  
• The empty journal shelves on level 4 will be removed.

Notice of Noise Disruption in the Medical Library

As from Wednesday 9th July 2008, the work for the Library redevelopment will begin in earnest.

This will clearly have noise and access implications for anyone wanting to use the Medical Library. We expect the disruption to continue till late October 2008.

We are very sorry for this disturbance.

We hope that the improved library interior and amenities will make it all worth while.

We'll be updating this blog with work plans for the coming weeks - hopefully this will help you plan your visits to the library around the worst of the disruption.

New e-books available using NHS ATHENS

More than 200 e-book titles are available using your NHS ATHENS password, including

• Oxford Handbook of Endocrinology and Diabetes


• Oxford Handbook of General Practice


• Oxford Handbook of Midwifery


• Oxford Handbook of Palliative Care


• Oxford Handbook of Practical Drug Therapy


• Oxford Handbook of Respiratory Medicine


• Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine

Is your favourite amongst these?

If not, go straight to see the full listing available from the National Library for Health - you'll have to log in with your NHS ATHENS password (you can browse by subject, or publisher, or search to find the title/author you want).

Don't have an NHS ATHENS password? Register here.

The University of Cambridge also buys loads of e-books which are available either on the University network, or using you RAVEN password - have a look at the titles available or search Newton, the catalogue to see if the book you want is available electronically.

Also published today.....

A high quality workforce: NHS Next Stage review

Darzi report is now available

High quality care for all: NHS Next Stage Review final report

A very nice overview is available from colleagues at Knowledge & Library Service at Newham University Hospital NHS Trust.

Medical Masterclass

The Medical Library is pleased to announced that Medical Masterclass is now available.

Part of the Medical Masterclass distance learning resource developed by the Education Department of the Royal College of Physicians of London under the editorial direction of Dr John Firth, the website aims to help candidates prepare for the MRCP(UK) Examination (All Parts). It is also an invaluable tool for continuing professional development.
Key features:

• Unique on-line practice facility for both MRCP(UK) Part 1 and Part 2 Written examinations.


• Take mock MRCP(UK) Part 1 and Part 2 Written examinations on-line.


• See how you score compared to other users and how you progress in each of the different specialties that comprise the MRCP(UK) examinations.


• Over 2,200 questions (equivalent to 20 examinations).

Passwords are available by contacting the Library at library@medschl.cam.ac.uk

Faculty of 1000 Medicine

The Medical Library is proud to offer access to Faculty of 1000 Medicine.



Biomed Central's Faculty of 1000 Medicine is a unique online service that helps you stay informed of high impact articles and access the opinions of global leaders in medicine.
Its distinguished faculty of over 2400 of the world's top clinicians and researchers select, rate and evaluate the most important and influential articles, presenting a continuously updated, authoritative guide to the medical literature that matters.



Faculty of 1000 Medicine:

• presents only the most important and influential articles, as judged by recognised experts
• provides independent, knowledge-based opinions
• ranks articles
• demonstrates cross-linking
• is customisable and searchable.

Access via CamDomain from the Medical Library's list of databases, or from www.f1000medicine.com/

Start dates for Library Redevelopment

We've cleared the space.
We've re-organised the journal collection.

Now we're ready to begin Phase 1 of the Library redevelopement.

Contractors will be arriving on site from Monday 30th June 2008. This will involve the removal of the empty shelving and the creation of a new IT suite on Level 4 (the upper floor of the Library).

We hope that this will have relatively little impact on our services, but are aware that noise will be an issue, for which we apologise.

Phase 2 will have much more of an impact on the day-to-day working of the library: the entrance will be moved temporarily, staff offices will be evacuated. The only constant will probably be the noise, I'm afraid!
We will continue the deliver services as close to normal as possible, and we'll provide more details nearer the time.

Expected end date of the works is 20th October 2008.

University Athens to University Raven transition

Since September 2007 Cambridge University Library and the University Computing Service have been operating a local service of authentication using RAVEN to provide access to electronic services previously protected by ATHENS. This is part of a national transition from ATHENS authentication.

Current unexpired ATHENS accounts will cease to work at the end of July 2008.

The University no longer creates or distributes any new ATHENS accounts. All new users of electronic resources should use RAVEN to authenticate themselves as current staff or students of the University and obtain access to ATHENS protected services.

Existing University ATHENS users are strongly encouraged to move to using RAVEN before 31 July and must do so thereafter to continue to have access to electronic resources.
Step by Step guide to using RAVEN to access ATHENS protected services
RAVEN Library Support Frequently Asked Questions

For Assistance contact: lib-raven@lists.cam.ac.uk or the Medical Library library@medschl.cam.ac.uk

New approaches to eresources

Preview the new eresources@cambridge webpages

The new pages allow users to quickly find resources available in their subject area. They can also search multiple resources at once with CrossSearch, a new federated searching service. With CrossSearch, it is possible to simultaneously search key resources (Over 200 , including CSA, Web of Science, Science Direct and major ejournal providers) for full text articles and citations from a single interface.

CrossSearch is available direct to current students and staff within the Cambridge domain. External access is offered via a Raven username and password.

From the subject pages users can start a CrossSearch focused on their subject area, go directly to a resource or view a list of relevant ejournal titles. They can also find contact information for libraries covering that subject area. Information on access and authentication to individual resources is also included at each stage.

Other tabs on the main eresources page allow users to find specific resources or start searching in either CrossSearch, ejournals@cambridge, Newton or DSpace. A new integrated help section provides answers to common eresource queries as well as detailed information on CrossSearch and ejournals@cambridge.

Both CrossSearch and the new pages are still in development, your feedback on both is welcomed.

New Training Sessions and Information Clinics

New times and dates in June and July 2008 are available for Information Skills training sessions providing hands-on training in specific resources including:

• Cochrane Library
• PubMed
• Using NHS ATHENS to search for literature
• Library Introduction
• Finding e-Journals
• Literature searching for Junior Doctors
• Searching Web of Science

However it may be that you need book an appointment at the Information Clinic - contact the Library for more details.

Plans of the library redevelopment

What will it all look like?

Have at look at what will be in store: http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/redev/plans.htm

Library opening prior to exams

The Medical Library will be open on all the Sundays leading up to the Clinical Student exam period in June:

Sunday 4th May - Sunday 8th June inclusive, from 2pm till 6pm.

Best of luck to all the Clinical Students with exams coming up!

Journals Consultation - Library response

The results are in, and your comments have been noted. The response to the Journals Consultation are now available at http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/redev/journals.htm

Work on removing, redistributing and re-arranging the journals in the Medical Library is due to start on Monday 28th April 2008.

Many thanks again to everyone who contributed.

May Bank Holidays

On the 2 May Bank Holiday Mondays, 5th and 26th, the Library will be open from 9am - 6pm.

Upgrade!

Hurrah - the computers in the Wolfson Room are being upgraded on Friday 18th April 2008.

However, this means that there will be no access to computing or printing facilities from 8.00am till 5.00pm on Friday 18th April.

We apologise for any inconvenience, but hope the improved facilities will make it all worth while.

So many new journals via NHS ATHENS

NHS ATHENS just got better - as well as a new way to search across databases such as Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO and HMIC, there are hundreds of new e-journals.

To see if your favourite journal is available now, go to http://journals.library.nhs.uk/ and login with your NHS ATHENS password.

If you need help getting to grips with searching for e-journals or searching for literature - we can help! Call 01223 336750 or email library@medschl.cam.ac.uk

American Medical Association Journals

• including:
  JAMA / Archives of Dermatology / Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery / Archives of General Psychiatry / Archives of Internal Medicine / Archives of Neurology / Archives of Opthalmology / Archives of Otolaryngology / Archives of Pediatrics / Archives of Surgery

BMJ and the BMJ collection

• Includes SPECIALIST titles
  Heart / Gut / Thorax / Journal of Clinical Pathology / Journal of Medical Ethics / Journal of Medical Genetics / Postgraduate Medical Journal / Quality and Safety in Health Care / Sexually Transmitted Infections / Archives of Disease in Childhood / Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases / British Journal of Ophthalmology / British Journal of Sports Medicine / Emergency Medicine Journal / Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry /

EVIDENCE BASED titles

• Evidence -Based Medicine / Evidence-Based Mental Health / Evidence-Based Nursing

PUBLIC HEALTH titles

• Occupational and Environmental Medicine / Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health / Injury Prevention / Tobacco Control

CINAHL with full text (EBSCO) - links to 559 titles.

Health Business Elite (EBSCO) - links to 500 health management journal titles.

New Journals in the Medical Library

• Advances in pediatrics - v. 53 (2005)-
• AJGC:American journal of geriatric cardiology - v.16 no. 1 (2007 Jan-Feb)-
• Annual review of eating disorders - no. 2 (2006)-
• Biomedical materials - v.1. no.1 (2006 March)-
• British journal of healthcare assistants - v.1 no.1 (2007 Jan)-
• British journal of transplantation - v.1 no. 1 (2006)-
• Congestive heart failure - v. 13 no.1 (2007 Jan-Feb)-
• Horizons in medicine - v.18 (2006)-
• European journal of public health - v. 18 no. 1 (2008 Feb)-
• Innovations - v.1 no.3 (2006:Spring)-
• Journal of children’s and young people’s nursing - v. 1 no. 1 (2007 May)-
• NDT plus - v.1 suppl.1 (2008 Jan)-
• Orthodontic update - v.1.no.1 (2008 Jan)-
• Research in sports medicine - v. 13 no. 1 (2005 Jan-March)-
• Skinmed : Dermatology for the clinician. -v.6 no. 1 (2007 Jan-Feb)-
• The year in heart failure - 2005-
• The year in respiratory medicine - 2004-
• The year in therapeutics - 2005-

NHS databases - they've changed!

Changes to NHS Databases
(AMED, BNI, CINAHL, DH-Data, EMBASE, Kings Fund, MEDLINE, PsycINFO)

From April 1, 2008 you will be able to search these databases using the new NLH (National Library for Health) “Search 2.0” interface

You will still need to sign in with your NHS - ATHENS password

Go to: http://www.library.nhs.uk/

These same databases will continue to be available via Dialog/Datastar until May 31

Please note: if you have any Dialog saved searches or alerts, you will need to print them out and then type them into Search 2 again as unfortunately we cannot transfer them from one system to the other.

For more information and support, please contact the library.

Journal Consultation

These journal consultation surveys are now closed. Thank you very much indeed for your contribution.

We are considering all the comments submitted, and will be announcing our decision in early April 2008.

Journals Consultation - one week to go

Library Redevelopment & Journals Consultation

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to our Journals Consultation so far - your comments have been logged and are much appreciated.

But it's not too late if you haven't taken part already - the lists of journals and the web-survey will be available till 25th March 2008.

If you wish to contribute to this consultation, please go to: http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/redev/journals&survey.htm

• review the lists of journals we propose to remove
• note any titles that you would like to suggest we retain
• visit the web-based survey form where you will be able to record your view on each title that interests you, and/or make general comments on what is proposed.

More details are available from www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/redevelopment.htm

We look forward to hearing from anyone who has yet to comment.

Changes to NHS databases

From April 2008 the online databases that you used to access via Dialog Datastar (Medline, Embase, CINAHL, BNI, AMED, PsycINFO, Kings Fund and DH-Data) will change.

You'll still need to use an NHS ATHENS password to access these databases, but the search page will look completely different and be accessed via the National Library for Health.

• Check our training timetable for information about drop-in sessions to see and try out the new interface.


• Take a copy of any regular alerts or saved searches you use - these will not transfer to the new system, and will need to be set up afresh.


• Speak to Isla Kuhn for more information and support.

The new system comes into operation on 1st April. More information will be sent out in the next couple of weeks but be prepared, contact the library.