The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland

Evidence, resources and updates for health and social care.

Blog

  • The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at Antrim Area Hospital is open!

      The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at Antrim Area Hospital is open. Current opening hours are Monday to Thursday 9.30am – 4.30pm (Friday closed). Services available include:

      • Online requests – place your book and journal article requests as normal
      • Book loans – books can be posted to and returned from your work address via internal mail or Library staff can make arrangements for you to collect your books
      • Study space is available, and has been physically distanced
      • PCs are also available with the same physical distancing measures in place
      • E-resources available via The Healthcare Library website 24/7
      • Literature searches – these can be requested online through the library website
      • Training – online training is available. Please contact Mary Maguire by emailing mary.maguire@healthcarelibrary.qub.ac.uk

      Covid-secure measures have been put in place but please contact the Library before visiting in case opening hours have changed at short notice. You can email the Library at healthcare.library@northerntrust.hscni.net or phone 028 9442 4232 (internal 334232).

    • The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at Altnagelvin Area Hospital – evening and Saturday opening

        The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at Altnagelvin Area Hospital will now be starting evening and Saturday opening.

        • Monday to Wednesday 9am – 8pm
        • Thursday to Friday 9am – 5pm
        • Saturday 9.30am – 1pm

        The Library has introduced measures to provide a safe work and study environment. These include:

        • Protective screening at Borrower Services Desk
        • Reduced study spaces and PCs to facilitate physical distancing
        • Cleaning stations downstairs and upstairs with hand sanitiser and disinfection wipes provided
        • Disinfection wipes will enable all users to clean PC keyboards / study area before and after use
        • Books to be quarantined for 3 days on return

        Services available include:

        • Face to face training and literature search support (masks to be worn and physical distancing maintained whenever possible)
        • Books loans
        • PC access
        • Printing and photocopying
        • Study space

        Please contact The Healthcare Library at Altnagelvin Area Hospital if you have any queries before visiting. You can do this by emailing healthcare.library@westerntrust.hscni.net or by phoning 028 7129 6168.

      • The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at Craigavon is now OPEN

        Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at Craigavon

        Level 1, Medical Education Centre, Craigavon Area Hospital.

        Current opening hours 9.30-4.30 Monday – Friday

        Access to the library is via the Maternity doors only. Please contact the library (3756 2108) in advance for directions. It is not necessary to book a study space at present, but this will be kept under review.

        The Library has implemented guidelines to provide a safe work and study environment. These include:

        • Reduced study spaces to facilitate social distancing
        • Cleaning stations to enable all users to clean down work station / study area before & after use
        • Hand sanitiser available
        • Masks to be worn from the point of entry into the hospital. 

        Services available include:

        Study space

        Book loans

        Access to e-resources

        Book collection service

        Support

        Although it is not possible to provide face to face training and literature search support at present, these are still provided either by phone or online using either Microsoft Teams or Zoom.  To discuss you specific needs please contact:  hazel.neale@healthcarelibrary.qub.ac.uk

      • Further Branches Reopening

          The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland is pleased to announce that it will reopen its branch on the Royal Victoria Hospital site on Monday 17th August 2020. The following services will be offered:

          • Book collection service for items located in The Healthcare Library branches on the RVH and the QUB MBC site, as well as items located in The McClay Library at Queen’s University Belfast
          • Group Study Rooms available with reduced capacity if not already in use
          • Scanned journal articles and book chapters (within applicable copyright limits)
          • Inter-Library Loan requests for journal articles and book chapters

          The book collection service is available from 17th August 2020 and is available to all registered HSC members of the Library. While the service includes available items from The Healthcare Library branches on the RVH and the QUB MBC site, and The McClay Library, the following cannot be requested:

          • Items currently on loan
          • Items located in The Healthcare Library branches outside of the Belfast area
          • Reference items

          Books can be requested by completing the Book Collection form. [Please see note at the end of blog post. Request function has been fully restored].

          Please use the cleaning stations located throughout the Library to sanitise contact services before and after use. Hand sanitising stations are also available in the Library for your use.

          Other Healthcare Library branches will reopen in due course and Library staff continue to work remotely. In order to keep up to date with developments, please refer back to our blog or our social media channel as circumstances change and we progress to more routine library services.

          Update 21/09/20 – The request service has now been reinstated. There is no requirement to complete the Book Collection Form detailed above. Please contact Library staff if you have any questions.

        • Reopening of The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland

          The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland is pleased to announce that it will reopen its branch in QUB Medical Biology Centre on Monday 3rd August 2020. This is the first Healthcare Library branch to reopen and will offer the following services:

          • Book collection service for items located in The Healthcare Library branches on the RVH and the QUB MBC site, as well as items located in The McClay Library at Queen’s University Belfast.
          • Bookable study space [No longer applicable, Sept 2020]
          • Scanned journal articles and book chapters (within applicable copyright limits)
          • Inter-Library Loan requests for journal articles and book chapters

          The book collection service is available from 3rd August 2020, and is available to all registered HSC members of the Library. While the service includes available items from The Healthcare Library branches on the RVH and the QUB MBC site, and The McClay Library, the following cannot be requested:

          • Items currently on loan
          • Items located in The Healthcare Library branches outside of the Belfast area
          • Reference items

          Books can be requested by completing the Book Collection form. [Please see note at the end of blog post. Request function has been fully restored].

          Information about the study space booking can be found in a separate blog post. [No longer applicable, Sept 2020]

          Other Healthcare Library branches will reopen in due course and Library staff continue to work remotely. In order to keep up to date with developments, please refer back to our blog, or our social media channels as circumstances change and we progress to more routine library services.

          Update 21/09/20 – The request service has now been reinstated. There is no requirement to complete the Book Collection Form detailed above. Please contact Library staff if you have any questions.

          Update 02/10/20 – It is no longer necessary to book study space in the Healthcare Library on QUB MBC site in order to study, access materials and print/scan/copy.

        • Access to Electronic Resources

          Resolved: The problem below with logging in to electronic resources has been resolved. 12.10 pm 2/7/20

          Please note that any further issues should be resolved by clearing your cache. Details are available here.

          There are currently problems logging into Healthcare Library electronic resources. The issue is being investigated as a matter of urgency and will be resolved as quickly as possible.

          You may see the following message:

          Login Failure: Pool is empty and connection creation failed

          We apologise for this inconvenience.

        • Access to Healthcare Library resources – problem now resolved

            The problem with access to Healthcare Library resources has now been resolved. We apologize again for the inconvenience this may have caused.

          • Problem with Access to Healthcare Library resources

              There is currently a problem accessing some of our resources.

              We are working to restore access as a matter of urgency.

              Our apologies for the inconvenience.

              *NOW RESOLVED*

            • Can I still request books and articles when the Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland is closed?

              During the Library closure period you will still be able to use the Place Request option online for article requests as Library staff will still be working remotely. Unfortunately we will be unable to process requests for physical books however as we will be not be able to retrieve these from our own Library stock, or from external sources.

            • Access to e-resources and e-books

              Many full text articles and books are available to read online.   You can search for both articles and books using the library search box, simply enter a few key words or the title of the article or book you are looking for. The results will then be displayed and you can either identify the source you want or refine the search using the “refine options” on the left hand side.   You need to Login to read the full text.

              For a more detailed article search use the advanced search or one of the many databases available – (Medline, CINAHL etc.  follow the link for databases a-z)  

              If you need help with searching for articles please contact one of the specialist librarians or your local trust based librarian as we can also provide telephone help and support.

              Don’t forget library members also have access to 100’s of e-books that are freely available to read day or night (Internet access required). E-Books are clearly identified in the library catalogue, all you need to do is logon with your library number & password you can read the book online.   

              To find what e-books are available, enter your keyword search as normal in the library search box.  You can limit or refine the search results to only display e-books by selecting resource type, and e-books, (please note you may need to click on show more to see the e-books option – this only displays if there are e-books )

              It is generally possible to copy and print sections or a chapter from an e-book (within copyright restrictions), and most e-books identify how much can be printed.   if the book you want to read isn’t available as an e-book, please contact your trust or specialist librarian and we will endeavour to order an electronic copy.