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Women’s Health Library

Specialist Collections (Quarterly Meeting)

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On Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st October 2009, NHS Evidence held their ‘Specialist Collections Quarterly Meeting’ in Manchester. My supervisor (Senior Information Specialist – Shona Kirtley), the women’s health specialist collection clinical lead (Stephen Kennedy) and myself went representing our collection. The aim of such meetings is to discuss and review the progress of the NHS Evidence specialist collections, as well as considering future roles and developments; and discuss the success of NHS Evidence as a whole. I also got to meet up with many of the other specialist collections information specialists and finally put some faces to names!

I found the experience really interesting, and although a lot of what was discussed went over my head a little bit (either I have not yet come across it, or have just started to!); the whole event was rewarding and I’m really glad I got the chance to go.

From a ‘Graduate Library Trainee’ point of view, I appreciate my own role within NHS Evidence a bit more and am coming to understand the implications of working in a healthcare library can have…

…In organising research, evidence and information on particular topics (be it cancer, cardiovascular medicine, or women’s health) and placing such information in a ‘specialist collection’, I am helping (albeit in a distant and indirect way) a consultant or medical professional get the information they need.

Hopefully in the next few months I will have the chance to get some work experience in the Cairns Library which will build on skills I am learning in the medical library environment; and allow me to get a feel for a different type of healthcare library.

 

NHS Evidence – Women’s Health: http://www.library.nhs.uk/WOMENSHEALTH/

Sarah Hogg, Women’s Health Library

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Sarah

Hello, I’m Sarah and I am the library trainee at the Women’s Health Library, based at the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the John Radcliffe Hospital. The library is an online resource, and part of an NHS wide service called ‘NHS Evidence’ and was created as part of the ‘High Quality Care for All Report’ from Lord Darzi who stated that “All NHS Staff will have access to a new NHS Evidence service where they will be able to get, through a single web-based portal, authoritative clinical and non-clinical evidence and best practices” (NHS Evidence webpage).

With librarians and Clinical Leads/Fellows working on the project, it is designed to provide professionals involved in the care of woman access to the best current knowledge available, and is checked and updated regularly. I look forward to learning more about the ways a digital library works, and doing a project which will benefit the library.

Previously, I was working in the NHS as a health records clerk whilst studying for my LL.M in Commercial Law; and before this, I read English Language at Lancaster University.