Libraries closed to visitors but still providing services

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak all the libraries are now closed to visitors. This includes out of hours access.

However, library staff are still working to provide you with a service and we are available if you need:

• A literature search 
• A journal article 
• A book or other document
• Help with using databases or accessing electronic journals
• Anything else library related...

Please contact one of the libraries and we will do our best to give you what you need.

You can also access our (new) catalogue online at https://nhft.koha-ptfs.co.uk/ which will show you everything we have in stock and provide links to all of  the ebooks we have which you can access online with your OpenAthens password (and if you don't have one of those you can register for one here).

You can find information about all the services we offer on our web site, including links to journals, databases, the Royal Marsden Manual and other ebooks and everything else we provide.

All library training cancelled

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (of which Library Services is a part) has decided that all training should be cancelled until at least the end of June as part of their response to the COVID-19 situation.

We are sorry that we can no longer provide this training but there are some online alternatives that you could use.

Health Education England have provided an online course in planning a search and using the Healthcare Databases (HDAS) to carry it out. You can do the training without logging in but if you do it will not record your progress. If you wish to log in you can use an NHS OpenAthens account.

You will also need an OpenAthens account to use the NHS databases for searching for journal articles (module 7). If you do not have one you can register from here. If you already have an account but have problems with it please contact the library.

Once on the HDAS site there is more help available from these 2 pages: https://hdas.nice.org.uk/help/ and https://www.nice.org.uk/about/nice-communities/library-and-knowledge-services-staff/training-materials (which includes links to help videos on YouTube).

If you need a work-related literature search done then you can also contact the library and ask us to do that for you.

There is an online tutorial on critical appraisal. This covers RCTs, systematic reviews and economic evaluations and in each case there is a tutorial and a paper that you can download to appraise and then check your answers against the ones on the site.

The Understanding Health Research site also has a tool which guides you through a series of questions to help you to review and interpret a published health research paper.

We hope these will help, but if you have any questions regarding training, literature searching or critical appraisal, please contact one of the libraries.

New edition of the Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical and Cancer Nursing Procedures now available

The new 10th edition of the Royal Marsden Manual is now available online (we will order print copies when they are published in May).

The Manual is nationally recognised as the essential guide to clinical nursing skills. The online edition is very easy to use, allowing you to search or browse through topic headings.

www.rmmonline.co.uk/

The fully updated 10th edition provides up-to-date, evidence-based clinical skills procedures related to essential aspects of patient care.

The procedures in the Manual are based on the latest research findings and advice from clinical experts, to enable students and qualified nurses to provide the best possible care. All procedures include the rationale for each action and the evidence used is graded to help nurses assess its validity.

You can access the manual without logging in by using the links on your trust's intranet:

• NHFT staff - go to the Library's page on the Staff Room and look under "External links"
• NGH staff - find it in the Quick links section under "Clinical" on the front page of The Street

Alternatively, you can access the Manual from anywhere with an Internet connection via the RMM site. Go to www.rmmonline.co.uk and log in using your OpenAthens account.  If you don't have one you can apply online here (NHS staff and attached students only). 

Please contact one of the libraries if you have any questions or need any help.