IT problems at the Richmond Library

We have had significant IT issues at the Richmond Library recently since we replaced our public PCs with newer machines with Windows 10 installed.

This has led to some technical problems with them and has seen a number of our computers having to be taken away by IT and rebuilt, which has in turn impacted our users with less PCs being available.

We did not anticipate the move to newer computers with Windows 10 would cause as many problems as it has (we had trialled the system for a month at the Berrywood Library without incident).

IT are now taking the remaining PCs away in batches and reinstalling Windows 7 which we know was stable and not causing problems whilst they look for a permanent solution.

This should be completed shortly and we hope to have all of our PCs available again.

We now also have free WiFi access so you are able to bring your own devices into the library.

We understand this has caused problems for some of our users and would like to apologise for the inconvenience. IT are working hard on a solution and we hope to have normal services resumed soon.

Disruption to power at the Richmond Library, Monday the 29th of January

Due to essential electrical systems testing there will be disruption to the power supply at the Richmond Library on the morning of Monday the 29th of January.

From 9 am the power to the whole library will be off  and computers etc. will be unavailable.

The disruption is likely to last for about an hour.

Apologies for any inconvenience. 

New clinical overviews and books added to Clinical Key

Clinical Overviews

Clinical Overviews are a quick and easy way to find evidence-based answers to your clinical questions.

Whenever you do a search in Clinical Key if there is a topic overview it will appear as the first result and also in a box on the right of the page.

Clinical Overviews are not book or journal content; they are concise, easily scannable summaries which include evidence-based information, current guidelines, and the latest advances on medical conditions. Clinical Overviews are tailored for clinicians.

The following topics have been added in January:

• Atopic dermatitis/eczema
• Branchial cleft cyst
• Cocaine toxicity
• Dental caries
• Developmental dysplasia of the hip
• Fallopian tube malignancy
• Iliotibial band syndrome
• Noonan syndrome
• Obesity in adults
• Osteoporosis
• Photodermatitis
• Respiratory distress syndrome in neonates
• Rheumatic fever
• Rotator cuff disorders
• Rubeola
• Ulcerative colitis

Books

Elsevier have also added new electronic books to Clinical Key this month, including:

• Ferri’s Fast Facts in Dermatology (Ferri, Fred) 2nd ed 
• Hematopathology: A Volume in Foundations in Diagnostic Pathology Series (Hsi, Eric) 3rd ed
• Pain Management Secrets (Argoff, Charles) 4th ed
• Rothman-Simeone and Herkowitz’s The Spine (Garfin, Steven) 7th ed

Clinical Key is a fantastic, easy to use resource that contains huge amounts of full text content including:

• 1,400 topic pages
• Over 600 electronic journals 
• Over 1000 electronic books
• 850 First Consult monographs
• 17,000 + medical / surgical videos
• 300 + Procedures Consult videos
• 15,000 patient education handouts
• 2.2 million images
• You can find a full content list here

To access Clinical Key all you need is your OpenAthens password (register online here if you don't have one) to get started.

Disruption to OpenAthens Services Tuesday 9th of January

Due to essential maintenance, there may be disruption to the OpenAthens service nationally from 7 am - 9 am (and possibly later) on Tuesday the 9th of January. 



This is to ensure OpenAthens users are protected against the recently announced security flaw identified in “virtually every modern computer, including smartphones, tablets and PCs from all vendors and running almost any operating system"

The OpenAthens self registration pages may be unavailable and there could be disruption to the Journals A-Z or HDAS (databases) and to access for services such as ClinicalKey for the duration of the maintenance.

Apologies for any inconvenience...

Our short loans are getting longer!

After feedback from some of our users we have decided to increase the loan period for all of our books that are currently available for 1 week.

As of January the 2nd they will be available for 2 weeks at at time (our 6 week items will remain unchanged).

It will take a while for us to re-label all the stock, but after the 2nd all books from our 7 day collection will be 14 day items, even if the label says otherwise.

We hope you find having the books for a longer loan helpful...

Web site of the month: eLfH - How to search for literature effectively

The Library Service offers regular training workshops and one-to-one sessions on literature searching, but if you have trouble making those, or just need a quick refresher, Health Education England's e-Learning for Healthcare programme can help.

There are currently three short modules on offer (each around 20 minutes in length) that give you a good introduction to the basic of literature searching:

• Module 1 Introduction to searching
• Module 2 Where do I start searching?
• Module 3 How do I start to develop a search strategy?

Each module can be used for reference or you can complete the whole thing to obtain a certificate (good for evidence of CPD!).

There are more modules currently in development, but if you want a good place to start to develop or refresh your searching skills, these modules might be just the thing.

You can also find a whole suite of videos on YouTube from NICE showing how to use the HDAS interface for searching the literature.