Advance warning of disruption to library services on the 16th and 17th March

Last year we took the decision to review our library management system (the software that runs our catalogue and allows us to issue and return books etc.). Following on from that process we decided to switch to a new system - Koha.

What does this mean for all our users?

There will be some disruption on the 16th and 17th of March to normal service while we transfer to Koha which means our catalogue will not be available.

What do you need to know now?

• If you need a list of books you have borrowed from us please print this (or ask staff for help) before March 13th. It will not be possible to provide you with a list after this date.
• The Bookmyne app will no longer work from March 16th.

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

Changes to our fines for overdue items

We appreciate how busy all our members are, and that is isn't always so easy to return or renew your loans exactly on time.

Given that, we have decided to hold a one year trial of scrapping our fines for overdue items.

From the 1st of April we will no longer be charging fines on items returned late to us, with one exception.

You will be guaranteed to keep an item for the initial 6 week or 14 day loan period but after that we can change the due date and ask you to return it earlier than expected if it has been requested by another user.

Fines for late items we have recalled will now be £0.50p per item per day (up to a maximum of £7.50 per item). This is to help ensure that users don't have to wait too long for items in demand.

Very overdue items will be charged at the replacement cost, plus a £25 administration fee, as they are now.

Don't forget you can renew your books in a number of ways:

• Telephone
• Email
• Via our online catalogue (contact us if you don't already have your PIN)
• Our BookMyne app
• Coming into the library

We hope these changes will make our stock more accessible to all staff within NHFT and NGH.

Apps & electronic resources drop-in session, 15th November

Did you know the library has a number of different free apps available to give you easy access to lots of our electronic content?

Do you want to know more about accessing electronic journals, books or databases? Have you had problems with registering for an OpenAthens password? We can help.

The library is holding a drop-in session between 12 and 2 on Wednesday the 15th of November, in Seminar Room 1, Cripps Postgraduate Centre, Northampton General Hospital.

Come along and find out about:

• UpToDate Anywhere app (android / Apple)
• ClinicalKey app (android / Apple)
• The Library's Bookmyne app (android / Apple)
• OvidToday app for accessing current issues of Ovid journals (android / Apple)
• The new BNF (incorporating the BNFC) app (android / Apple)
• Royal Marsden Manual of Clincial Nursing Procedures 
• Medical Masterclass
• OpenAthens passwords
• Accessing electronic journals and books
• Databases

You can also bring along any problems or questions you may have about anything to do with making the best use of our electronic resources (or indeed anything else library-related).

To save time (and your data!), please pre-install the app(s) you are interest in on your device and we would be happy to help you set them up during the session.

If you have any questions please contact the Library. We'd be 'appy to see you on the 15th...

Electronic overdue item reminders unavailable

The Trust email system is still currently out of action so we are unable to send out either email or text (SMS) reminders for overdue items. Instead, we will be posting overdue notices this week.

If you have a book that you think might be due back soon, please check the date stamp label in the front. Alternatively, you can also log into the library catalogue to check your due date(s) and renew any of your loans.

We also have the Bookmyne app (available for Apple and Android devices) which allows you to manage all of your loans and search our catalogue.

Of course you can also pick up the phone and call one of the libraries if you have any questions about your book loans (or anything else).

Our catalogue will be out of action on Tuesday the 12th of May

Courtesy of Flickr

The IT networking team are conducting some essential maintenance and will be moving our catalogue server to a new home on Tuesday the 12th of May, starting at 9am.

This means there will be no access to either our new or old catalogue, and our BookMyne app will also be out of action for the duration of the move.

It is anticipated that the move should be completed and the server up and running again at some point on Tuesday afternoon.

If you need to renew or check any items you have out on loan, or wish to know if we have an item in stock, please contact one of the libraries and we should be able to help you.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Need help with reading lists, reserving or renewing your books? Our updated videos might just be the thing...

Our Channel

We have just updated three of our short (the longest is around 2 minutes) video tutorials on YouTube to help you find and manage the books you borrow from us.

If you are a student either on placement with us or a member of staff undertaking a programme of study, we are able to help you find the material you want on your reading lists. Our video, How to find books on your reading lists shows you how to access everything from your list in one go.

If you find the books you want on our catalogue and want to reserve them, this video shows you how to do it (including specifying which library you would like to collect them from).

Finally, once you have books on loan from us you may want to avoid those pesky overdue fines. Our video on renewing your library books through the library catalogue ensures you can keep them in date without having to come into the library and never have another fine.

Don't forget, we also have the free BookMyne App for smartphones and tablets to help you search our catalogue and manage your loans.