Wednesday 26 August 2015

Grab yourself a bargain! The great library book sale bonanza starts on the 1st of September

"And this book only cost me a quid..."
Image courtesy of  the MetMuseum
It's back!

For the last few years we have been offering recently withdrawn library stock at knock-
down prices to our users, and it has proved so popular we are doing it again.

Starting on Tuesday the 1st of September will will be offering  a variety of titles covering lots of different topics and disciplines, including previous editions of current text books, at the Berrywood and Richmond libraries

Costing just £1 or £2 each, you could find yourself a real bargain.

You'll need to be quick though as they tend to sell fast.

Saturday 22 August 2015

August bank holiday closure

All the Libraries will be unstaffed on Monday the 31st of August for the bank holiday.

Crowd at the Seashore 1910. www.metmuseum.org


24 hour access is available as usual to our registered members by swiping in using your library card at the Berrywood and Richmond libraries.

We reopen as normal on Tuesday the 1st of September at all of our sites.

Thursday 13 August 2015

August Eyes on Evidence from NICE


Eyes on Evidence is a free monthly bulletin from NICE Evidence Services which reviews significant new evidence as it emerges and what this might mean for current practice.

In the August issue
 you can find:
  • Quality of life in young people with cerebral palsy
  • Fractional flow reserve to guide percutaneous coronary intervention in people with stable coronary artery disease
  • Latanoprost for newly diagnosed open-angle glaucoma
  • Childhood factors and inactivity in adulthood
  • Positive and negative emotive content in tobacco control TV adverts
Evidence summaries from NICE's Medicines and Prescribing programme
  • Type 2 diabetes: insulin degludec/liraglutide (Xultophy) 
  • Type 2 diabetes: dulaglutide (Trulicity) 
  • Ulcerative colitis: budesonide multimatrix (Cortiment) 
  • Acute coronary syndrome: ezetimibe added to simvastatin (IMPROVE-IT study) 
  • Gastrointestinal bleeding: differences among anticoagulants 
  • Cardiovascular disease: risk of diabetes and statin treatment Risk of suicide, attempted suicide or self-harm with antidepressants
You can find subscribe to receive the bulletin by email on the NICE Evidence Services site.

Friday 7 August 2015

Cite This For Me - the easy way to create bibliographies

Cite This For Me is an incredibly useful free resource for anyone who has to complete a list of references or a full bibliography (we have produced our own short guide to references and citations too).

The website lets you add an internet address (for a web site or electronic journal article, for example) or search for a book. It will then give you the correct reference in the style you have selected (for other types of item you may have to manually add more details).

There are a huge amount of bibliographic styles available, from common ones like Harvard or Vancouver, through to different societies (e.g. the APA) through to "house styles" for particular journals (e.g. the British Journal of Psychiatry). All are easily selectable from a drop down menu.

As well as books, journals and web sites, Cite This For Me also has options to reference:

  • newpaper articles
  • podcasts
  • blogs
  • press releases
  • DVDs / films
  • ...and many more

You can create a whole bibliography which you can then export as a MS Word compatible .rtf file. Your bibliography will be stored for up to 7 days (which is unlimited if you opt to upgrade to the paid version of the site). There is even a Google Chrome extension to make it easier to update your bibliography on the fly.

Cite For Me is a really useful tool for students, academics, writers and anyone who has to produce a document that involved reference. It is easy to use and does most of the hard work for you. We highly recommend it.

Saturday 1 August 2015

Web site of the month: NHS Horizon Scanning Centre

The Horizon Scanning Centre is part of the NHS National Institute for Health Research and is based  at the School of Health, University of Birmingham.

The HSC's role is around providing information on emerging technologies that could have a significant impact on patients or on the way NHS services in the near future.

The HSC covers

  • Drugs & pharmaceuticals
  • Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP)
  • Therapeutic (not childhood) vaccines, 
  • Medical devices and equipment
  • Diagnostic and predictive tests and procedures
  • Rehabilitation aids and therapy

The Centre produces a number of briefings and reports which you can view by specialty. Each specialty includes drug, diagnostic and device briefings, as well as other reports. All are available to download.

The specialties available include:
You can also find open access journal articles on the site which HSC staff have published, and again they are freely available to download.

Finally you can also sign up to  receive an email bulletin that contains the latest news, briefings and reports, which is an ideal way to keep an eye on the technology around the corner (you can also follow them on Twitter).

The Horizon Scanning Centre is a really useful way to keep up to date with the evaluation of emerging technologies and their likely impact on the NHS.