DLnet

Librarians With Class

2005-11-02T00:07:00.000+00:00

A blog for librarians who facilitate training. Librarians With Class their feed is at http://libswithclass.blogspot.com/atom.xml.

Making an impact at meetings

2005-10-06T10:55:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Kieran over at FADE in Liverpool for highlighting this article from the BMJ careers section on how to make an impact at meetings - some tips to add to your list of ways to influence and negotiate with people!

Cheers
Fran

Tips for email success

2005-09-09T15:29:00.000+01:00

This article gives Ten copywriting tips for email success - might be useful for making sure any email newsletters, etc, you send, actually get read!

Fran

NLH RSS Directory - Preview

2005-08-15T14:03:00.000+01:00

Dear all
We're now pleased to be able to offer you the preview version of the NLH RSS Directory, available from the Preview link on the right hand side of the NLH homepage - www.library.nhs.uk.
The directory is designed to be both browsable by categories, and searchable. For those who are new to RSS, there are help files and tutorials to get you started, available from the right hand column of the directory itself.
The directory is still being populated with feeds - if you would like to submit a feed for inclusion, you can use the link on the right hand side of the page.
We'd be grateful for your feedback and comments on the directory before we go for a full launch later in the year - these can be sent to nelh@cfh.nhs.uk

Best wishes
Fran

Evaluating training

2005-08-12T17:11:00.000+01:00

Hi all
This week's Training Zone has an interesting article about evaluating training - the whole thing's at http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=143940&d=680&h=608&f=626

To summarise, the article talks about Kirkpatrick's 4 levels of evaluation - level 1 being the type of "happy sheet" that's often given out at the end of a session to see how satisfied people are with the session. It goes on to say:

"Whenever I am involved in an evaluation project, I advocate getting rid of the smile sheet completely, and replacing that tortured questionnaire with one closed question, plus an open follow-up to encourage respondents to reveal what really matters to them: “Would you recommend this course to a friend or colleague? Why or why not?” The response tells you unambiguously about the level of satisfaction of the learner, and any clarification offered tells you about the issues that really matter to that learner. That’s more than is called for at Level 1."

I think the article has a point - and it makes collating your evaluations a lot easier too!
Any thoughts, ideas, or examples of other useful questions that could be used to get an idea of how your sessions are being received?

Fran

CASPuk Training Week 2005

2005-07-15T11:22:00.000+01:00

CASPuk Training Week 2005
In association with the CASP International Network and the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine

CASPuk Training Week 2005 is taking place from 5th - 9th September 2005. This popular week supports health and social care professionals from across the UK and around the world who wish to disseminate evidence-based practice and decision-making within their organisation or locality. The CASP model promotes a user-friendly, sustainable and cost-effective teaching approach, which has already been implemented in several countries.

This year, as in previous years, the CASPuk team will be joined by international trainers from the CASP International Network, who will facilitate the week's training and share their experience of evidence-based practice

New for 2005
This year, CASPuk Training Week will be run in parallel with the 11th Oxford Workshop on Teaching Evidence-Based Practice. The format of the week will be unchanged, but participants will have the added benefit of attending plenaries by some of the leading exponents of Evidence-Based Practice

Comments from previous participants
"I now feel more confident and feel I have the skills to facilitate CASP more comprehensively and creatively in my organisation"
"I'm pleased with wonderful teachers and so many useful materials"
"[The] course is excellent - met all my needs. The trainers were very helpful"
"I am now going to develop on-line and live journal club in my organisation. Also look at how CASP can facilitate clinical effectiveness and other groups in Trust"
"I understand a lot more than I did previously and I now feel confident that I could successfully run a critical appraisal workshop"

For more information, including the aims and objectives, programme, training team, costs, flyer and booking form, please go to http://www.phru.nhs.uk/casp/trweek05.htm

User Needs Study

2005-07-14T13:14:00.000+01:00

This has just been published on the NLH - For Librarians page http://www.library.nhs.uk/forLibrarians/ under Relevant Documents

Regards

Andy Richardson

Things you can do with RSS

2005-07-12T10:54:00.000+01:00

An interesting article that has some useful (and some daft) ideas for convincing people to start using RSS - http://timyang.com/wiki/doku.php?id=lists:thingsyoucandowithrss - if you've not had a go with RSS yet, you can download the workbook I wrote for the RSS Workshops we ran from the DLnet training materials page.

Any questions, do get in touch.

Fran

Pubmed, RSS and CAS

2005-07-08T07:58:00.000+01:00

The other day at Wrightington I offered my utopian vision of CAS services at a meeting of the LIHNN eResources network, subject specific material from selected journals or direct to full text. Pubmed offers us the ability to do this now. I have three test feeds out with a critical friend right now so I'll let you know how it goes.

Key issues so far:

Time to identify full text in MyNCBI, not a task to be taken lightly does take a while and is the capital city of Dullsville. Just think of the end result.

Search strategies have to take into account you are really after pre-medline records and therefore title words are the key.

First subscription to the feed will be scary, lots dragged back but once the user has handled that first batch I anticipate new stuff will be manageable.
Feeds if you want to see how it works or add constructive criticism are:

Obesity

Bipolar

Bariatric Surgery

I've also put links to the Fade Health News feeds at the bottom for any of you RSS heads out there.

Kieran

Kieran Lamb
Head of Library Services
Fade Library
Central Liverpool PCT
Hamilton House
24 Pall Mall
Liverpool
L3 6AL

0151 2852353
www.fade.nhs.uk

News Feeds from FADE

National and International Health News

Cheshire and Merseyside Health News

Cumbria and Lancashire Health News

Greater Manchester Health News

Assertive Communication and Influencing Workshops

2005-06-20T11:56:00.000+01:00

Dear all,
Further to the email that Alison sent on the 7th June, here are more details about the Assertive Communication Workshops she mentioned, which are designed to help you think about how to promote your services effectively and get your messages across to the right people. Places are limited to 30 for each workshop, and the London one on 6th September in particular is booking up quickly. The workshops will be very participative, and will give you the opportunity to look at your own workplace situations.

Times: Each event will start at 10am, and will finish by 4pm - lunch will be provided.

Dates and venues:
Wednesday 6th July - Leeds - Leeds Park Plaza hotel
Tuesday 26th July - London - Thistle Euston hotel
Thursday 28th July - Nottingham - Holiday Inn Nottingham
Tuesday 6th September - London - Radisson Grafton
Thursday 8th September - Wolverhampton - Novotel Wolverhampton
Monday 12th September - Manchester - Palace hotel, Manchester
Friday 16th September - Bristol - Novotel Bristol
Tuesday 27th September - Newcastle - Thistle Newcastle

To book a place, go to http://www.insitefulsurveys.com/Survey.asp?SI=287933310475 - you will receive a confirmation email, and more details will be sent nearer the time.

Overall Aim - to explore the different ways people can be influenced and to identify ways to develop assertive communication techniques

Objectives - at the end of the session delegates will have:

examined ways to increase their ability to influence in a range of situations
explored the difference between agressive, submissive and assertive behaviours
reviewed a number of assertive communication techniques
applied those techniques to a range of workplace situations

Course Content

Who do you need to influence and why?
identifying the underlying sources of power when influencing
building effective relationships
recognising the effect different forms of behaviour have on the outcome of a situation
assertive communication techniques, including choosing the right words, positive body language and saying no

PRODIGY on NLH

2005-06-16T10:43:00.000+01:00

Hi all
Please note that there is now a link to PRODIGY from the National Library for Health homepage - www.library.nhs.uk - under the Guidance section.
PRODIGY guidance is included in the NLH search engine.

Fran

NLH Promotional Materials

2005-05-24T14:48:00.000+01:00

Hello all
We've had several requests recently for NLH promotional materials, so I thought I should let you know the situation.
Stock levels are very low at the moment, for a number of reasons, not least of which is that our budget was frozen while we transferred from the NHSIA to NHS Connecting for Health. We're now at the stage of being able to design, commission and re-order materials, although the new processes for the new organisation mean that this may take a little longer. Our plan is to re-order some items quickly, but to concentrate on getting stocks of materials in place over the summer, in time for Health Libraries Week (14th-18th November - more info coming soon). We're using the information from the recent survey that many of you filled in to choose items for this year. I'll keep you updated on what will be available as I have more news.

In the meantime, I've put a temporary page up on DLnet to show what items are currently available in what quantities. You can find the page at http://www.nelh.nhs.uk/dlnet/publicitymaterials.asp (it's also linked from the Promote page within DLnet).

Cheers
Fran

NeLH Migration to NLH

2005-05-10T14:56:00.000+01:00

Dear all
As you'll be aware, the National Library for Health website (www.library.nhs.uk) is up and running, and will continue to grow in the services it offers to users over the coming months and years. There is a lot of development work going on within the NeLH team, to ensure that services from NeLH are incorporated into the National Library for Health successfully. This posting is intended to be the first in a series of communications to keep you informed of developments, so that you can plan training sessions and inform end-users accordingly

Key messages

The NeLH web address and home page will not disappear for some time to come, and certainly not before March 2006.
You will see changes to both the NeLH home page and the NLH site as more services migrate to the NLH site and branding. However, not all of the NeLH content will migrate, as we intend to re-configure some services for the NLH site.Certain content will migrate to www.library.nhs.uk and be re-branded or re-configured as new services.
For example:
· The National Service Framework Zones will be reconfigured. Specialist Libraries will have a role in cataloguing key resources, reducing the need for the NSF portal pages. There will also be current awareness services on NSF topics offered as RSS feeds. The existing full-text html section will be taken down. An NLH NSF gateway will direct users to these new services.
· Specialist Libraries will be re-designed to take on the look of NLH and will migrate to www.library.nhs.uk. The links on the NeLH home page will be re-directed to these updated versions of the Specialist Libraries.

Some content will be wound down on NeLH and will not be replaced on NLH, for example:
· Some of the Editorial Resources on the home page will be archived, whilst some will be taken up by the Knowledge Management Specialist Library
· Professional Portals as they appear on the NeLH site will be wound down, but replaced with current awareness and other services in conjunction with professional bodies, societies, etc

Key milestones
The migration will occur in three distinct phases, with warning and details of changes circulated in advance, so that you will be able to plan for changes. The precise changes to service will be discussed with providers such as Specialist Libraries, but are likely to be in:

July 2005
Sept 2005
Jan 2006
March 2006

News and information about Migration
Details of each phase will be emailed, and will appear within the “For Librarians” section of NLH at www.library.nhs.uk/forlibrarians

Contact for individual queries and feedback
If you have any queries, comments or suggestions, please contact me in the first instance -

Best wishes

Fran

Test for RSS

2005-04-12T11:51:00.000+01:00

Test posting for the RSS training taking place today!

Fran

New NLH site demo

2005-04-11T16:28:00.000+01:00

Hello all

Just to let you know that I've made a new robodemo of the NLH site, in case anyone wants it for showing what the site looks like.
It's available from the DLnet robodemos page.
If you want to download and run it on your own computers, use the bottom links to the zip files.
There are 2 versions - one that runs once and stops, and a rolling one for use on stands, etc.

Let me know if you have any problems - drop me an email.

Fran

Change requests for Cochrane on Wiley InterScience

2005-03-21T12:02:00.000+00:00

This message was sent to the Cochrane Library User Group:

At it's February 2004 meeting, the Steering Group approved the procedure for introducing new developments / changes to The Cochrane Library on Wiley InterScience. This involves an annual introduction of new features or enhancements, with Issue 1 of every year.

In a nutshell, the process is...
1. All requests for new functionality, features, corrections, changes to the way information is displayed, additional content or services must be submitted no later than April 2005.
2. Change request forms are to be used to submit requests. This greatly helps in the evaluation and prioritisation of developments. While all requests will be considered, we cannot guarantee
that they can be implemented.
3. Publication Policy Group (PPG) will review all requests and prioritise for consideration and review by Wiley.
4. PPG and Wiley will together agree the developments for implementation.
5. Requirements documents, wireframes, information architecture and functional specifications prepared for review between June and September 2005.
6. Development and testing will take place in latter half of 2005.
7. The October Colloquium in Melbourne will provide an opportunity to showcase forthcoming enhancements.
8. Enhancements will appear in Issue 1, January 2006 (or as per an agreed schedule)

To request changes, you must use the Change Request form, and send them in by 30th April 2005.
I've put a copy of the form up in the box on the right hand side of the DLnet homepage

Fran

"Blogs And Podcasts Can Harm Your Job Prospects"

2005-03-15T19:56:00.000+00:00

An interesting article warning bloggers of the hazards of ill considered blogs. The comments at the bottom of the article contain several links to related websites. The article can be found on the Health Informatics Community website. This is the summary from last weeks HIC e-bulletin:

"Commenting on your working life in blogs and podcasts over the internet could cost you your job. A British employee faced losing his job in January for gross misconduct for criticising his employer in a blog."

Click here to read the article

IT Safety site

2005-02-25T17:16:00.000+00:00

This looks like a good site for librarians to recommend to their users. The following appeared in today's "Government Computing weekly" e-newsletter:

"Government pushes IT safety
A new public service has been launched to help protect home computer users and micro businesses from online threats"

To read the article please click here

To visit the site please click here

Allison

National Knowledge Grid for Health

2005-02-25T11:20:00.000+00:00

There is an advert in this week's BMJ encouraging NHS staff in all regions of the UK to make the most of their electronic resources. There is a card with url details of how to register to get Athens access for your particular area of NHS in the UK.

So - this is to alert NHS libraries and trainers of the possible influx of interest on Athens registration and training requests over the coming week.

If I may make one comment. What could be regarded as a national advertising campaign through a high profile journal needs some sort of co-ordination - especially before the ad gets printed. Not only do we look a bit stupid if users come in brandishing cards we don't know about but we may not have the immediate capacity to properly train the initial influx of new users.

Also the phrase "National Knowledge Grid for Health" is a concept some of us have never come across before.

DLNet is presumably the ideal medium to co-ordinate such advertising campaigns and has not mentioned anything about this advert.

Library Clipart

2005-02-21T10:50:00.000+00:00

Hello
Just found this website, with some free library images - www.libraryclipart.com
While it is free, you can't just download them - you have to email and ask for a particular image, and then they'll email the file to you.
Lots of them are more aimed at public libraries, but you might find something of use!

Fran

"Making sense of RSS" - a pilot workshop

2005-02-16T08:29:00.000+00:00

Dear all

As the use of RSS and news feeds increases on the NLH website, we thought we would trial a "Making Sense of RSS" workshop, for those people who feel that they don't know much about RSS or how they could use it within their library services.

If the pilot workshops are successful and useful, we will look at running them in different locations around the country.

There are 2 dates available in Manchester, with a maximum of 12 places available on each:

Tuesday 12th April - 10am - 1pm
Monday 18th April - 1pm - 4pm

Venue: Waulk Mill, Bengal Street, Ancoats, M4 6LN (5 mins in a taxi, or about 20 mins walk from Piccadilly - map and parking info available on request!)

The objectives of the session are:

to raise awareness amongst library staff of RSS as a method of informing health professionals of clinical information
to give library staff an opportunity for guided hands-on practice with RSS feeds and readers

The sessions are being provided free of charge by the NeLH - you will have to make your own travel arrangements.

If you would like to book a place on one of the Manchester sessions, please email NeLH, stating which date you would prefer. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, and you will receive confirmation of your booking by email.

Best wishes
Fran

Skin Conditions Specialist Library

2005-02-11T14:36:00.000+00:00

Hello all
Further to the launch of the Skin Conditions SL, there is now a POD-format flyer available (scroll down the page a little), and a Robodemo for doing off-line demonstrations of the site (use the 2nd link to download and unzip the file to save onto your own pcs).
I've been experimenting with Robodemo, and the one I've made for skin is a bit more interactive, asking you to click in various places, and type into the search box - would be grateful for feedback about this new style of demo (had comments previously about them being too passive) - all comments to the NeLH inbox please.

Cheers
Fran

Emergency Care and Diabetes Specialist Library flyers

2005-01-26T16:04:00.000+00:00

Also, there are updated versions of the POD templates for these leaflets, available from www.nelh.nhs.uk/dlnet/pod.asp

Cheers
Fran

Robodemo for Screening Specialist Library

2005-01-26T16:02:00.000+00:00

Just to let you know that there is a new robodemo for the Screening Specialist Library available from www.nelh.nhs.uk/dlnet/robodemos.asp - you can run the Shockwave version in your web browser, or download the zipped file, save it on your computer, and use it for off-line demos.

Any comments, please email.

Cheers

Fran

EBM for librarians

2005-01-25T15:09:00.000+00:00

Are you interested in learning about evidence-based practice? Would you like to use your information and teaching skills to assist health professionals to find good quality evidence? If so, read on...

The NeLH Librarian Development Programme is pleased to offer sponsorship for 5 librarians to attend the "Workshop on the Practice of Evidence-Based Medicine/Mental Health" run by the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM), Oxford. You will have the opportunity to gain knowledge of critical appraisal, and experience in the practice of evidence-based health care at the 3 day workshop in March (21st - 23rd): http://www.cebm.net/view_course.asp?course_id=7
Thanks to a successful pilot scheme that included librarian tutors in the main EBM workshop in September 2004, this year librarian tutors are required again to teach on the 5 day EBM workshop in September: http://www.cebm.net/view_course.asp?course_id=1. Librarians can practice and enhance the skills learnt from attending the March workshop, and will teach other participants to find good quality evidence.

NeLH Sponsorship covers the March workshop fee of £850 which includes course materials, refreshments, lunches and workshop dinner. Ideally, applicants must be available to participate in both the March and September 2005 workshops. If you are able to teach at the September workshop, your fees, accommodation and meals will be covered by the course organisers.
Applicants would be responsible for organising their own accommodation and travel for the March workshop.

You must be employed involved directly in teaching searching skills to health professionals in the NHS. Librarians that are not employed by the NHS are eligible to apply for the places on the course, but priority will be given to NHS librarians or academic librarians providing services to NHS staff.
If you're interested in this opportunity, please send a few paragraphs to Fran by 21st February, outlining your skills and background, and why you would like to attend this EBM workshop. You'll need to gain your line manager's approval in order to receive sponsorship so that we can be sure you will be given time to attend the courses.