It’s National Apprenticeship Week!

For those of you on your apprenticeship journey we want to make sure you know how the library can support you in your work and studies. We can give you ‘space to think and knowledge to act’:

If you need space to work, away from your department and home, we have 3 libraries (at Berrywood Hospital; Northampton General Hospital and Isebrook Hospital in Wellingborough) and you can use any or all of them. NGH has 24/7 opening for members so you can use it in the evenings or weekends. All 3 libraries have computers and Wi-Fi if you want to bring your own laptop.

You will need to find information throughout your course, we have a wide stock, both print and online, of clinical and non-clinical books and journals, including books on study skills. If you can’t find what you need locally we can usually get hold of a copy for you from another library. We can also help you develop the skills you need to find information from the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub.

Interested in how we can help?

Fill in the form linked from here to join the library or contact one of the libraries if you have any questions:

Berrywood Library | 03000 271585 | berrywoodlibrary@nhft.nhs.uk

Isebrook Library | 03000 272095 | isebrooklibrary@nhft.nhs.uk

Richmond Library, NGH | 01604 545929 | richmondlibrary@nhft.nhs.uk

Need help with referencing? We have updated our guide to Harvard.

Citing documents in the text, and referencing the resources you have used when writing can be tricky, but we can help.

Harvard is one of the most common forms of referencing for documents and academic assignments, and should be used for all trust policies, guidelines and reports.

We have updated our guide to Harvard, which will take you through the basics of citing and referencing, as well as providing numerous specific examples of the correct format for items such as:

• Books and reports
• Journal articles
• Act of Parliament, Statutory Instruments, and other government publications
• British Standards
• NICE guidelines, Cochrane reviews and UpToDate topics
• EU documents
• eBooks and online journals
• Podcasts and webinars
• Websites, online images, videos and streamed content

Whatever resource you have used in your document, our guide to Harvard will show you the right way to cite it in the text and add to your bibliography.

You can also find lots of other useful guides on our website here, covering eBooks and journals, literature searching, OpenAthens, the BNF and more. 

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.

About to start studying? Our course for people about to start a course is back

Our Pre-Course Course is back! Designed for NHS staff about to start (or who may have already started) a programme of study, the Pre-Course Course can help equip you with the skills you need to make finding information for your studies as painless as possible.

Whether it is a module, short course, degree or masters, is freely available to NHFT and NGH staff.

You may already be confident in using the library and finding the information you need, but if you think Athens is a good holiday destination rather than your gateway to online resources this may be the course for you. Whether it is a module, short course, degree or masters the Pre-Course Course can help.

In this 3 hour session we will you set you up to:

• tackle reading lists and find the books you need
• use databases
• identify good quality information
• search for evidence and guidelines
• access full text electronic journal articles
• make best use of the support the Library Service can offer you throughout your studies

There will also be an opportunity to join the library and apply for an Athens account to access online journals and databases if you haven't already.

Find the course dates on our web site here.

New dates available on our course for staff who are studying

We've added three new dates to our Pre-course Course programme, aimed at NHS Staff who are about to start (or may have already started) new studies.

You may already be confident in using the library and finding the information you need, but if not this course will help you get ahead of the information skills game.

There will also be an opportunity to join the library and apply for an Athens account to access online journals and databases if you haven't already.

The new dates are:

• Tuesday the 15th October, 9.3- 12.30, Northampton General Hospital
• Monday the 11th November, 1.30 - 4.30, Berrywood Hospital
• Monday the 2nd December, 1.30 - 4.30, Northampton General Hospital

For more information see the course page on our web site.

Web site of the month: University of Northampton Skills Hub

The Skills Hub is produced by the University of Northampton's Library and Learning Services. It aims to provide support to anyone undertaking further study by helping the development of academic skills.

http://skillshub.northampton.ac.uk/

On the Skills Hub you will find lots of useful material including:

• Interactive guides to Harvard referencing, including quizzes to test your knowledge
• Video tutorials on using the statistics package SPSS 
• Video guides on academic writing
• Interactive tutorials on critical thinking
• Guide and video to reflecting writing
• Time management and note taking tips, and more.
• Guides for UoN students on using the Library (including a virtual tour), using TurnItIn and more

You can also follow the latest developments on the site via the Skills Hub Twitter feed.

Most of the material on the Skills Hub is open access and we highly recommend it for anyone undertaking a course of further study, whether at the University of Northampton or beyond (and don't forget, if you are about to start a course of study we can help too).

Places still left on our course for staff about to start studying

We still have some places left in July, August and September on our Pre-course Course.

It is designed to give anyone about to start an academic programme a flying start in dealing with:

• Sourcing material from reading lists
• Getting an Athens password
• Accessing electronic journals
• Searching databases
• Getting the most from the support the Library Service can offer you.

If you are going back to education, whether it is a module, short course, degree or postgraduate qualification, this course could help to make your academic life a little easier.

To find out more, including course dates and venues, and how to book, visit our web site.